People & Publishing Roundup, March 2022
BRONTE-MARIE WESSON is now represented by the John Jarrold Literary Agency. She is an Australian bookseller and influencer.
SUZAN PALUMBO is now represented by Michael Curry of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
IORI KUSANO is now represented by Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
Author COLM TÓIBÍN has been named the new Laureate for Irish Fiction by the Arts Council of Ireland, a position which seeks to acknowledge the contribution of fiction writers to Irish artistic and cultural life by honouring an established Irish writer of fiction, encouraging a new generation of writers, promoting Irish literature nationally and internationally and encouraging the public to engage with Irish fiction. His term runs from 2022-24.
PAWEŁ FRELIK has been elected president of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts and will assume the presidency from DALE KNICKERBOCKER at the end of the 43rd ICFA in March 2022. Frelik is associate professor and the leader of the Speculative Texts and Media Research Group at the American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw, Poland, and has served as Science Fiction division head of the IAFA since 2017.
DAVID GERROLD is the winner of the 2022 Robert A. Heinlein Award, given for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space. Winners are chosen by a committee of SF authors chaired by Michael F. Flynn, and receive a certificate plaque, a sterling silver medallion, and two lapel pins, all featuring the likeness of Robert A. Heinlein. The award will be presented at Balticon in Maryland on May 27, 2022, where Gerrold is invited to be a headlining guest.
JENN REESE’s A Game of Fox and Squirrels (Henry Holt) won the 2020 Oregon Spirit Book Award in the middle-grade category. The award honors books that engage and encourage readers’ imagination, discovery, and understanding, ref lecting the spirit and values held by Oregonians.
CORY DOCTOROW sold Red Team Blues and two more books, launching a new thriller series about a forensic accountant, to Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Tor via Russell Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency.
SCOTT SIGLER sold five books in new SF series The Crypt to Rhett Bruno at Aethon.
CARMEN MARIA MACHADO sold linked story collection A Brief and Fearful Star to Diana Tejerina Miller at Knopf at auct ion via Kent Wolf of Neon Literary.
RICHARD CHIZMAR sold Return of the Boogeyman, sequel to Chasing the Boogeyman, and a second book to Ed Schlesinger at Gallery via Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary Agency.
KOSOKO JACKSON sold dark paranormal thriller The Forest Demands Its Due and a second book to Karen Chaplin at Quill Tree via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
ANA MENENDEZ sold magical realist novel The Apartment to Dan Smetanka at Counterpoint via Joy Harris of Joy Harris Agency.
GINA MAXWELL sold The Dark King, launching the Deviant Kings fantasy series, and two more volumes to Liz Pelletier at Amara in a pre-empt via Nicole Resciniti of the Seymour Agency.
MICKEY DUBROW’s literary fantasy Sadie Dreams of Coney Island sold to Sheri Williams at TouchPoint Press.
NEAL POLLACK sold near-future pandemic novel Edge of Safety to Adam Bellow at Bombardier Books via Murray Weiss of Catalyst Literary Management.
SARA SHEPARD’s contemporary fantasy Wait for Me sold to Emily Meehan at Union Square & Co via Richard Abate of 3 Arts Entertainment. Suzy Capozzi will edit.
ANTHONY RYAN, writing as A.J. RYAN, sold postapocalyptic thriller A River Red and Black to Bradley Englert at Orbit and James Long at Orbit UK via Paul Lucas of Janklow & Nesbit.
LEANNA RENEE HIEBER sold Glazier’s Gap: The Curse in the Archive, first in a new series described as a gothic romance Broadchurch meets Twilight Zone, to Jason Henderson at Castle Bridge Media via Paul E. Stevens at Donald Maass Literary Agency. In Churl Yo will edit.
RAJNAR VAJRA sold Opening Wonders has sold to Kevin J. Anderson a t WordFire Press via Christine Cohen of the Virginia Kidd Agency.
YUME KITASEI sold SF novel The Narrow Road to the Deep Sky and a second book to Maxine Charles at Flatiron Books in a pre-empt via Mary C. Moore of Kimberley Cameron & Associates.
THEODORE MCCOMBS sold collection Exit Arias and a novel expanding on one of the stories to Deborah Ghim at Astra House via Kirby Kim of Janklow & Nesbit.
PAULETTE KENNEDY’s southern Gothic The Witch of Tin Mountain went to Jodi Warshaw at Lake Union Publishing via Jill Marr of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
KRISTEN CICCARELLI sold fantasy duology The Crimson Moth, inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel, to Vicki Lame at Wednesday Books via Danielle Burby of Mad Woman Literary Agency.
MELISSA LOZADA-OLIVA’s surreal collection Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus Is Alive and novel Candelaria went to Danny Vazquez at Astra House via Rachel Kim of 3 Arts Entertainment.
MARU AYASE’s Japanese surrealist fable The Forest Brims Over, translated by Haydn Trowel l, went to Jack Shoemaker at Counterpoint via Kawade Shobo Shinsha. Yukiko Tominaga will edit.
DANIEL HORNSBY sold speculative Silicon Valley satire Sucker to Anna Kaufman at Anchor via Chris Clemans of Janklow & Nesbit.
NESS BROWN’s SF horror novel The Scourge Between Stars sold to Kristin Temple at Nightfire via Hannah Fergesen of kt literary.
KATIE MARIE’s A Man in Winter, about a man visited by the ghost of his murdered wife, went to Heather Vassallo at Brigids Gate.
KARA MCDOWELL’s The Prince & the Apocalypse and a second title sold to Sarah Grill at Wednesday Books via Katelyn Detweiler of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.
REBECCA SCHAEFFER’s fantasy City of Nightmares and a second novel went to Elizabeth Agyemang at Clarion via Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media.
RAQUEL VASQUEZ GILLILAND sold first adult novel, romantic fantasy The Book of Sage, plus a second title to Miranda Hill at Berkley in a pre-empt via Elizabeth Bewley of Sterling Lord Literistic.
NICK STEVENSON sold dark fantasy Nethergeist to Tina Beier at Rising Action in Canada.
J.M. CLARKE sold the Mark of the Fool series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon.
RYAN RIMMEL sold two LitRPG series, The Chronicles of the Unfortunate Five and The Amazing Sword of Justice, and Yorick, to Rhett Bruno at Aethon.
ROBERT OTTONE sold Sasquatch novel Nocturnal Primates and a second book to Raven Tale.
MERCEDES M. YARDLEY sold Darling – The Lovely Bones meets The Lottery – to Lindy Ryan at Black Spot Books.
JOHN RUSSO sold horror novels A Long Ago Murder, Movie Rites, Justifiable Homicide, Earthlings, Channel 666, Rufus Buck, and The Crown and the Citadel to Mike Bray at Wolfpack.
ELLE E. IRE sold Harsh Reality to Elizabeth North at Dreamspinner Press via Naomi Davis of BookEnds.
J.R.H. LAWLESS sold This Is the Good Part, third in the General Buzz series, to Rick Lewis at Uproar Books via Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary Agency.
KRISTY GARDNER’s SF novel The Stars in Their Eyes went to Heather McCorkle at City Owl Press via Julie Gwinn of The Seymour Agency.
ASHLEY KING sold Night Race to Heather McCorkle at Mystic Owl.
LESLIE O’SULLIVAN sold Gilded Butterfly, second in the Rockin’ Fairytale series, to Lisa Green at Mystic Owl.
KELLY HARPER sold Marked for Grace to Lisa Green at City Owl Press.
NIA DAVENPORT’s YA body-swap thriller Out of Body and a second book sold to Tiara Kittrell at Balzer + Bray at auction via Chelsea Eberly at Greenhouse Literary Agency on behalf of Dovetail Fiction/ Working Par tners and Caitie Flum of Liza Dawson Associates.
MIRANDA SUN’s YA fantasy If I Have to Be Haunted and a second book sold to Alice Jerman at Harper Children’s for six figures at auction via Paige Terlip of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
KATHRYN PURDIE sold YA fantasy The Forest Grimm and a second book to Sara Goodman at Wednesday Books for six figures in a pre-empt via Josh Adams of Adams Literary.
COCO MA sold Deathlings and the second book in a new urban fantasy duology set in a near-future New York City to Jenny Bak at Viking Children’s at auction via Holly Root of Root Literary.
SHELBY MAHURIN’s The Scarlet Veil, first in a YA fantasy duology in the world of Serpent & Dove, and two more books sold to Erica Sussman at Harper Teen via Sarah Landis of Sterling Lord Literistic.
CORINNE DUYVIS sold near-future YA thriller #VIRAL to Maggie Lehrman at Abrams Children’s via Ammi-Joan Paquette of Erin Murphy Literary Agency.
KRISTEN SIMMONS sold YA thriller Find Him Where You Left Him Dead – Jumanji meets I Know What You Did Last Summer – plus a second title to Ali Fisher at Tor Teen via Joanna MacKenzie of Nelson Literary Agency.
D.B. WOODLING’s The Immortal Detective, sequel to The Immortal Twin, went to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Bridget McFadden will edit.
JORDAN H. BARTLETT sold Queen’s Catacombs, sequel to Contest of Queens, to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Bridget McFadden will edit.
ERIN DULIN & BRITTANY COOPER sold Mistress of Blades, second in the Chronicles of Fayble, to Jamie Rose at Finch via Amy Brewer of Metamorphosis Literary Agency.
Musician and actor WILLOW & JESS HENDEL sold debut Black Shield Maiden and two more books in a historical fantasy trilogy about a young African woman taken to the world of the Vikings to Tricia Narwani at Del Rey via Cait Hoyt of CAA.
NICK FULLER GOOGINS sold first novel The Great Transition, in the tradition of Station Eleven and Ursula K. Le Guin, to Sean deLone at Atria in a pre-empt via Danielle Bukowski of Sterling Lord Literistic.
First novelist JULIA BARTZ sold The Writing Retreat and a second title to Emily Bestler at Emily Bestler Books via Alexandra Machinist of ICM. UK rights sold to Jenny Parrott at Point Blank via Cathryn Summerhayes of Curtis Brown.
PRASHANTH SRIVATSA’s first novel The Spice Gate, an Indian-inspired fantasy, went to David Pomerico at Voyager at auction via Naomi Davis of BookEnds.
QUINLAN GRIM sold debut The Ghost of Danny Mcgee, about a summer camp program that transfers adults’ consciousness into clones of their childhood selves, to Robert Peterson at California Coldblood via Emmy Nordstrom Higdon of Westwood Creative Artists.
ANGELA MONTOYA sold debut fantasy romance Sinner’s Isle and a second book to Bria Ragin, Nicola Yoon, and David Yoon at Joy Revolution at auction via Larissa Melo Pienkowski of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.
PHOEBE WAGNER’s debut urban fantasy A Shot of Gin went to Malorie Nilson at Parliament House Press.
New writer B. RANEY sold superhero novel The Meister of Decimen City to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Elana Gibson will edit.
Debut novelist JASMINE SKYE sold YA fantasy duology Daughter of the Bone Forest and Daughter of the Witch King to Holly West at Feiwel and Friends via Mary C. Moore of Kimberley Cameron & Associates.
ANDY MANGELS will edit Castle of Horror Anthology: LGBTQ+ Horror, with stories from authors in the LGBTQ+ community, for Jason Henderson at Castle Bridge Media. In Churl Yo will edit.
LAURA SILVERMAN will edit Firsts and Lasts, an anthology including multiple genres from classic contemporary to suspense to fantasy that celebrates all of the thrilling first experiences and momentous last experiences of your teenage years, for Anuoluwapo Ohioma at Penguin Workshop via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
AMANDA DOWNUM resold collection Still So Strange to Betsy Mitchell at Open Road Media via Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
ALEXENE FAROL FOLLMUTH, writing as OLIVIE BLAKE, resold The Atlas Six Trilogy to Bella Pagan at Tor UK at auction via Chris Scheina at US publisher Macmillan. Molly McGhee will edit.
C.E. MCGILL’s Our Hideous Progeny, a queer take on the Mary Shelley classic, resold to Wendy Wong at Harper UK in a pre-empt via Tamara Kawar of ICM on behalf of Sue Armstrong of C+W. Doubleday will publish in the US.
JANNY WURTS delivered Song of the Mysteries, the 11th and final volume in the Wars of Light and Shadows series, to Harper Voyager UK.
DIANA GILL has started her own editing and publishing consultant business, Diana Gill Editorial. She’s worked as an editor at Penguin Random House, Macmillan, and HarperCollins. For more: <dianagilleditorial.com>.
JODY LYNN NYE has been named the new coordinating judge for the L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Contest, appointed by Galaxy Press following the death of former coordinating judge Dave Wolverton in January 2022. Nye has been a contest judge since 2016.
ANDY HUNTER stepped down as publisher of Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull on February 18, 2022. Chief operating officer ALYSON FORBES will serve as interim publisher.
BARBARA BRIEL has been promoted to the new role of president of Sourcebooks. She was senior vice president and chief operating officer for the past ten years, and started at the company in 2004.
RICK RIORDAN’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians is becoming a series on streaming service Disney+. Riordan & Jon Steinberg will write the pilot, James Bobin will direct, and Steinberg will oversee with producing partner Dan Shotz.
MARGARET WEIS & TRACY HICKMAN sold Dragonlance: Dragons of Deceit, first in a new Dragonlance trilogy, to Anne Groell at Del Rey via Christi Cardenas of the Plains Agency for Weis and Matt Bialer of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates for Hickman.
Film rights to MARISSA MEYER’s The Lunar Chronicles series were optioned by Locksmith Animation.
KAREN LYNCH’s Relentless, Refuge, Rogue, Warrior, Haven, Fated, and Hellion were optioned for TV by Dario Kirola at Force Majeure, with Victoria Rose to write the pilot, via Stephanie Hansen of Metamorphosis Literary Agency.
Film rights to BRIAN FRANCIS’s Fruit were optioned by Hawkeye Pictures and Big Jump Entertainment for an animated series.
Film and TV rights to LAEL LITTKE’s haunted dress novel Prom Dress were optioned by Stampede Development via Jack Byrne of the Sternig & Byrne Literary Agency.
Read the full interview in the March 2022 issue of Locus.
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