People & Publishing Roundup, May 2021
ALICE BELL is now represented by Stevie Finegan of Zeno Agency.
JEAN-CLAUDE MOURLEVAT won the 2021 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, honoring children’s and young adult literature, which includes a prize of five million krona ($572,000).
MICAIAH JOHNSON‘s The Space Between Worlds (Del Rey) won the 2021 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Award for the “best debut novel in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres.” The $1,000 award will be presented at Balticon 55, to be held online May 28-31, 2021. Selection was by vote of the BSFS membership.
N.K. JEMISIN‘s The City We Became (Orbit US; Orbit UK) received an honorable mention in the inaugural Gotham Book Prize.
MONIQUE ROFFEY‘s The Mermaid of Black Conch (Peepal Tree Press) is on the shortlist for the £10,000 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize. Roffey resold the novel to John Freeman at Pantheon in the US via Isobel Dixon of Blake Friedmann.
A new edition of J.R.R. TOLKIEN‘s The Lord of the Rings, with illustrations by the author, is forthcoming from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in October 2021.
MARGARET ATWOOD & DOUGLAS PRESTON and the Authors Guild sold Fourteen Days, “a collaborative novel set in a tenement in New York City during the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns,” with each character written by a different author, including EMMA DONOGHUE, DIANA GABALDON, TESS GERRITSEN, CELESTE NG, ISHMAEL REED, and more, to Millicent Bennett at Sugar23 in a pre-empt via Dan Conaway of Writers House. Beth Coates at Vintage will publish in the UK. Author proceeds will be donated to the Authors Guild Foundation.
KIM HARRISON sold two novels in the Hollows series and two more novels in a new fantasy series to Anne Sowards at Ace via Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
SHARON LEE & STEVE MILLER sold Constellation Five, a new collection of Liaden Universe stories, to Toni Weisskopf at Baen via Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
JONATHAN MABERRY sold Kagen the Damned and a second title to Michael Homler at Griffin via Sara Crowe of Pippin Properties.
CASSANDRA KHAW sold first collection Breakable Things to Michael Kelly at Undertow Publications via Michael Curry of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI sold fantasy novel The Piper’s Dance to Stephen James Walker at Telos Publishing via Sarah Such of the Sarah Such Literary Agency.
FOZ MEADOWS sold A Strange and Stubborn Endurance and a second book to Claire Eddy at Tor in a pre-empt via Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates.
HANYA YANAGIHARA‘s literary SF To Paradise, set in the past and future of an alternate America, went to Doubleday via Anna Stein of ICM.
DAN HANKS sold fantasy Swashbucklers to Eleanor Teasdale at Angry Robot via Sara Megibow at kt literary.
SAMIT BASU‘s The City Inside – “a postcolonial Ready Player One meets Severance” – and another book sold to Ruoxi Chen at Tordotcom via Diana Fox of Fox Literary. Sanaa Ali-Virani will edit.
SARAH LANGAN sold Mom’s Night Out to Loan Le at Atria via Stacia Decker at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.
LEV AC ROSEN sold Lavender House and a second book to Kristin Sevick at Forge at auction via Joy Tutela of David Black Literary Agency.
OTTESSA MOSHFEGH‘s Lapvona went to Scott Moyers at Penguin Press via Bill Clegg of the Clegg Agency.
LIZ KERIN‘s hor ror novel Night’s Edge and another title sold to Kelly Lonesome at Nightfire at auction via Liz Parker of Verve Talent & Literary.
RACHEL LINDEN sold fantasy Lemon Drop and a second book to Kate Seaver at Berkley in a pre-empt via Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
B.R. MYERS sold Gothic A Dreadful Splendor to Julia Elliott at William Morrow at auction via Jill Marr of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
DENNARD DAYLE‘s satirical story collection Everything Abridged, including stories with speculative elements, went to Chelsea Cutchens at Overlook at auction via Reeves Hamilton of Vertical Ink Agency.
REBECCA NETLEY‘s ghost story The Whistling and a second book went to Clio Cornish at Michael Joseph in the UK at auction via Giles Milburn of Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency.
SANDRA NEWMAN sold SF novel The Men to Peter Blackstock at Grove Atlantic via Victoria Hobbs of A.M. Heath.
JESSE BALL‘s dystopian novel The Repeat Room and “literary self-portrait” Autoportrait sold to Jonathan Lee at Catapult via Jim Rutman of Sterling Lord Literistic.
BENJAMIN HEWITT sold The New World and two more titles to Rhett Bruno at Aethon.
THOMAS WHARTON sold The Book of Rain, “inspired by Cloud Atlas and The Overstory,” to Anne Collins at Random House Canada via Denise Bukowski of the Bukowski Agency.
CHOI JEONG-HWA sold The White City Tale, about a virus that destroys memories, to Nathan Rostron at Restless Books via Alex Lee of Milkwood Agency and Jessica Craig of Craig Literary on behalf of Munhakdongne. Alison Gore will edit. This will be the author’s first novel translated into English.
MARIE JONES, PEARRY TEO, MERCEDES YARDLEY, MONIQUE SNYMAN, JULIEANNE LYNCH, EVA POHLER, DOROTHY DREYER & BURKE BRYANT sold the Black Mariah series – “V For Vendetta meets The Stand” – to Lindy Ryan at Black Spot.
TORI ELDRIDGE sold historical fantasy Dance Among the Flames to Lisa Diane Kastner at Running Wild via Nicole Resciniti of the Seymour Agency.
SOPHIE MORGAN sold paranormal romance mystery Dead Smart to Tera Cuskaden at Crazy Maple Studio via Elizabeth Poteet of the Seymour Agency.
MEGAN VAN DYKE sold Second Star to the Left, set in the world of J.M. BARRIE‘s Peter Pan, to Heather McCorkle at City Owl Press.
AMBER GARR sold fantasy Every Which Fae to Tera Cuskaden at Crazy Maple Studio via Stephanie Phillips at SBR Media.
BRYAN JOHNSTON sold Death Warrant to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Helga Schier will edit.
RUTH FOX sold Under the Heavens to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Bridget McFadden will edit.
JACK CLEMONS sold hidden history novel The Outliers to Ron Sauder at Secant Publishing.
NICOLE BEA sold fantasy Be neath the Starlit Sea to MaryBeth Dalto-McCarthy at Sword and Silk.
JOAN SMITH sold YA It Ends with December to Kat Brzozowski at Feiwel and Friends via Kerry D’Agostino of Curtis Brown.
ERIK J. BROWN sold post-apocalyptic YA All That’s Left in the World and a second book to Kristin Daly Rens at Balzer + Bray via Michael Bourret of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
NICOLE LESPERANCE sold YA Gothic horror The Depths to Gretchen Durning at Razorbill via Kathleen Rushall of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
CLAIRE ANDREWS sold YA epic fantasy Blood of Troy, sequel to Daughter of Sparta, to T.S. Ferguson at Little, Brown Children’s via Amy Elizabeth Bishop of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. Hallie Tibbetts will edit.
AMY TINTERA‘s YA SF novel The Q and a second book went to Emily Easton at Crown Children’s at auction via Emmanuelle Morgen of Stonesong.
TANVI BERWAH‘s YA fantasy Monsters Born and Made and a second title sold to Annie Berger at Sourcebooks Fire at auction via Rena Rossner of Deborah Harris Agency.
ALYSON NOEL‘s YA Stealing Infinity and two more books sold to Liz Pelletier at Entangled Teen via Elizabeth Bewley of Sterling Lord Literistic.
SHAKIR RASHAAN‘s YA romantic fantasy Keepers of the Kutokufa Scrolls and two more titles went to Liz Pelletier at Entangled Teen via Lissa Woodson of Macro Marketing & Promotions.
SHARINA HARRIS sold YA fantasy Soul of the Slayer and two more to Liz Pelletier at Entangled Teen via Amanda Leuck of Spencerhill Associates.
ISADORA BROWN sold fantasies Sea & Ash, Bone & Ash, and Thorn & Ash to Boroughs Publishing via Bethany Weaver of Weaver Literary Agency.
MICHAEL MORRISON‘s YA time-travel novel Hannah Goodheart & The Secret of Erebos sold to Twyla Beth Lambert at Fawkes Press.
BRANDIE JUNE sold a sequel to YA Gold Spun to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books via Steven Hutson at WordWise Media Services. Helga Schier will edit.
EMILIA HART‘s first novel Weyward, about “witchcraft and female intuitive powers, told over five centuries through the lens of three connected women,” and another book went to Sarah Cantin at St. Martin’s at auction via Alexandra Machinist of ICM. UK rights sold to Carla Josephson at The Borough Press in a pre-empt via Felicity Blunt of Curtis Brown UK.
Debut novelist SUNYA MARA‘s YA fantasy The Darkening and the second book in the duology sold to Nicole Sclama and Emilia Rhodes at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s for six figures in a pre-empt via Tracey Adams of Adams Literary. Hodder & Stoughton will publish in the UK.
KATHRYN HARLAN sold debut collection Fruiting Bodies, with “mostly queer, often genre-bending stories ranging from the fantastical to the Gothic to the eerily realistic,” and a second book to Jill Bialosky at Norton in a pre-empt via Meredith Kaffel Simonoff of DeFiore and Company.
SABRINA BLACKBURRY sold debut Dirty Lying Fairies and two more in a paranormal romance series to Deanna McFadden at Wattpad via Amanda Leuck of Spencerhill Associates.
TIFFANY TERLOP sold first novel Bed & Bloodfest to Amarilys Acosta at Amara Next.
New writer ROMA CORDON sold How to Bewitch a Highlander to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Bridget McFadden will edit.
OGHENECHOVWE DONALD EKPEKI, SHEREE RENÉE THOMAS & ZELDA KNIGHT will edit original anthology Africa Risen for Emily Goldman at Tordotcom via Kristopher O’Higgins of Scribe Agency.
MARK LAWRENCE resold fantasy The Book That Wouldn’t Burn and two more books to Jessica Wade at Ace via Ian Drury of Sheil Land Associates. Voyager will publish in the UK.
MICHAEL HODGES resold horror novel The Puller to Rene Sears at Pyr via Lane Heymont of the Tobias Literary Agency.
LUCY HOLLAND resold historical fantasy Sistersong, “inspired by the murder ballad ‘The Twa Sisters’,” and another book to Priyanka Krishnan at Redhook via Jon Mitchell of Pan Macmillan UK.
ELEANOR TEASDALE has been promoted to associate publisher at Angry Robot “in recognition of building out the imprint’s list of talent as well as her contributions to the overall success of its parent publisher, Watkins Books.” GEMMA CREFFIELD was promoted to managing editor, and SAM MCQUEEN to publishing assistant. AILSA STUART has joined in the new position of marketing executive, while SF publishing veteran SIMON SPANTON has joined as commissioning editor at large. CAROLINE LAMBE, formerly Angry Robot’s publicity manager, has rejoined to do publicity on a freelance basis.
ZOLA MASHARIKI is now head of Audible Studios, overseeing creation of original content.
Hachette Livre CEO ARNAUD NOURRY “has decided to part ways… on an amicable basis” with Lagardère (parent company of Hachette Book Group). Co-managing partner PIERRE LEROY is now chairman and CEO, with CFO FABRICE BAKHOUCHE promoted to deputy CEO.
SARAH J. MAAS‘s A Court of Thorns and Roses series is being adapted as a series on Hulu via Jill Gillett at WME on behalf of Robin Rue and Cecilia de la Campa at Writers House. Maas & Ronald D. Moore are writing the pilot and serving as executive producers via Disney TV Studios.
IAN ROGERS‘s story “The House on Ashley Avenue” is being adapted as Every House is Haunted for Netflix, with a script by Jason Pagan & Andrew Deutschman, and Corin Hardy to direct. Sam Raimi and Zainab Azizi of Raimi Productions are producing with Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment, and Andrew Childs of Vertigo is executive producer. Raimi has a deal with Starlight, which optioned Rogers’s collection Every House is Haunted.
TV rights to JENNY ELDER MOKE‘s Curse of the Specter Queen were optioned by 20th Century via Will Watkins of ICM Partners on behalf of Elizabeth Bewley of Sterling Lord Literistic.
MARIEKE NIJKAMP sold Critical Role: Vox Machina – Kith & Kin, based on RPG live-streaming show Critical Role, to Elizabeth Schaefer at Del Rey via Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media.
This and more like it in the May 2021 issue of Locus.
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