People & Publishing Roundup, November 2022
JEFF VANDERMEER’s literary interests are now represented by Joe Veltre of the Gersh Agency, who was already his film and TV agent. VanderMeer has also joined the Gersh Speakers Bureau as a client. Alex Kohner of Yorn Levine provides additional representation as VanderMeer’s entertainment attorney.
DEREK KÜNSKEN is stepping down as programming co-chair of Can*Con, Ottawa’s literary SF/F conference, after 11 years working on the conference. Co-chair MARIE BILODEAU will take over.
OCTAVIA E. BUTLER (1947- 2006) is this year’s recipient of the Forry Award for lifetime achievement in the SF field, presented by the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society at their October 6, 2022 meeting. The award, named for Forrest J Ackerman, has been given annually since 1966.
STEVEN HARPER’s “Eight Mile and the City” (When Worlds Collide) won the 2022 Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award for Short Fiction for “the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year.” The award was presented at Capclave, September 30 – October 2, 2022 in Rockville MD.
HELEN OYEYEMI’s Peaces (Riverhead; Faber & Faber) is on the six-title shortlist for the £10,000 Goldsmiths Prize, for a book by a British or Irish author that “breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form.” The winner will be announced November 10, 2022.
GREGORY FROST sold Rhymer and two more books in an epic fantasy series about Thomas the Rhymer, “legendary 12th-century figure of Scottish balladry, as he battles throughout time to save the world from an alien race known to everyone as elves,” to Toni Weisskopf at Baen Books via Marie Lamba of Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.
SAMANTHA SHANNON sold another book in the Roots of Chaos series, plus a fantasy novel about the Greek goddess Iris, to Grace McNamee at Bloomsbury and Paul Baggaley at Bloomsbury UK via David Godwin at David Godwin Associates.
SUZAN PALUMBO’s new space opera, Countess, “a queer Caribbean Count of Monte Cristo,” went to Jen Albert at ECW Press via Michael Curry of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
GARETH HANRAHAN’s new trilogy starting with The Sword Defiant sold to Emily Byron at Orbit UK and Bradley Englert at Orbit US via John Jarrold.
ANNE BISHOP sold The Lady in Glass and Other Stories, collecting the author’s short fiction to date, “with rare early pieces and an all-new story,” to Anne Sowards at Ace via Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
STEPHEN ARYAN sold The Judas Blossom to Angry Robot via Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment.
ANDREA STEWART sold The Gods Below fantasy trilogy to Brit Hvide at Orbit and James Long at Orbit UK via Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment.
PHILIP FRACASSI’s horror collection No One Is Safe went to Steve Berman at Lethe Press.
CAROLINE HARDAKER sold Mothtown to Angry Robot via Ed Wilson of Johnson & Alcock.
Japanese author MIZUKI TSUJIMURA sold Tsunagu and Tsunagu: How to Keep Someone in Your Heart to Jane Lawson at Doubleday.
AMY AVERY’s fantasy novel The Longest Autumn went to Maxine Charles at Flatiron Books via Amanda Rutter of Azantian Literary Agency.
GENOVEVA DIMOVA sold Foul Days and another book in the Witch’s Compendium of Monsters duology to Sanaa Ali-Virani at Tor via Brenna English-Loeb of Transatlantic Agency.
KJ DELL’ANTONIA’s Playing the Witch Card, described as “Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic,” sold to Tara Singh Carlson at Putnam via Caryn Karmatz Rudy of DeFiore and Company.
CHRIS FARADAY’s Trine went to Angry Robot via Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.
RACHEL GREENLAW sold holiday time-loop novel One Christmas Morning to Ariana Sinclair at Avon via Allison Hunter of Trellis Literary Management on behalf of Maddalena Cavaciuti of David Higham Associates. UK rights sold to Melanie Hayes at HQ via Cavaciuti.
KATYA APEKINA’s ghost story Mother Doll sold to Tina Pohlman at Overlook via Bill Clegg of the Clegg Agency.
SOPHIE H. MORGAN’s fantasy Witch Please sold to Stephanie Doig at Carina Press via Cole Lanahan and Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Agency.
S.L. CHOI sold a novel about fae to Heather McCorkle at City Owl Press via Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Agency. Tina Moss will edit.
MICHAEL BUCHSBAUM sold near-future novel Break the Moon to Ashley Hutchinson at Lost Boys via Amy A. Collins of Talcott Notch Literary Services.
CARSON WINTER’s fantasy Soft Targets went to Matt Blairstone at Tenebrous Press. Alex Woodroe will edit.
GRETCHEN RUE sold a new Lucky Pie Mystery to Melissa Rechter at Crooked Lane.
ERICK S. GRAY’s fantasy novel Gun went to Kreceda Tyler at Black Odyssey Media. Shawanda Williams will edit.
MICHAEL J. SEIDLINGER sold Deal of the Day, described as “Scream meets Battle Royale,” about authors competing for a seven-figure advance, to Leza Cantoral at Clash via Lane Heymont of the Tobias Literary Agency.
KAYLA MORTON’s fantasy Those Who Burn the Brightest sold to Brittany Weisrock at Lake Country Press.
LESLIE O’SULLIVAN’s fantasy romance Wild Azure Waves, latest in the Rockin’ Fairy Tales series, went to Lisa Green at Mystic Owl Press.
JACK ALLISON & KATE SHAPIRO sold satirical near-future political thriller Kill the Rich to Christoph Paul at Clash.
ALBERT WENDLAND sold SF novel Haunted Stars to Jennifer Barnes at Dog Star Books.
EMILY HABECK’s fantasy Shark Heart: A Love Story went to Marysue Rucci at Marysue Rucci Books in a pre-empt via Sarah Bedingfield of Levine Greenberg Rostan.
COY HALL sold dark fantasy The Promise of Plague Wolves to David Neal at Nosetouch Press.
R. LEE FRYAR’s fantasy Tree Gods went to Cate Pearce at Hansen House.
DIDI ANOFIENEM sold Essien of Alkebulan, first in a fantasy series set in an Africa that was never colonized by foreign powers, and another title to Ryan Smernoff at Turner Publishing via Felice Laverne at ArtHouse Literary Agency.
KELSEA YU’s modern gothic horror novel The Bones Beneath Paris sold to Rob Carroll at Dark Matter Ink.
POLLY SCHATTEL sold “darkly comic” horror novel 8:59:29 to Scarlett Algee at Trepidatio.
NINA SCHUYLER sold SF novel Afterword to Christoph Paul at Clash.
KAYLI SCHOLZ sold horror novel Saint Grit to Max Booth III at Ghoulish Books.
K. ANCRUM sold a YA retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to Emily Settle at Feiwel and Friends for their Remixed Classics line via Eric Smith of P.S. LiteraryAgency.
JUDY I. LIN’s YA fantasy Song of the Six Realms, “Chinese mythology meets Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca,” sold to Emily Settle at Feiwel and Friends via Rachel Brooks of BookEnds.
The late LANI FORBES’s YA fantasy Face the Night, “Zorro meets The Lion King,” sold to Naomi Hynes at Blackstone Children’s via Samantha Wekstein of Thompson Literary Agency.
KELLY ANDREW sold YA contemporary fantasy Your Blood, My Bones to Mallory Kass at Scholastic via Josh Adams of Adams Literary.
ANDREA TANG’s contemporary YA fantasy These Deadly Prophecies, “a magical Knives Out,” went to Julie Rosenberg at Razorbill via Thao Le of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Gretchen Durning will edit.
C.G. DREWS’s YA horror novel Skeleton Boys sold to Emily Settle at Feiwel and Friends via Tara Gilbert of Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.
LEXI RYAN sold two books in a romantic dark fantasy series set in the world of These Hollow Vows to Lily Kessinger at Clarion via Dan Mandel of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
GINNY MYERS SAIN sold YA fantasy thriller One Last Breath and a second book to Rūta Rimas at Razorbill via Pete Knapp of Park & Fine Literary and Media.
MORGAN SHAMY sold YA fantasy The Stricken to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books via Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary Agency. Elana Gibson will edit.
JEFF WOOTEN’s YA fantasy Kill Call sold to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Elana Gibson will edit.
JERRI CHISHOLM sold threebooks in the YA Pretty Little Robots series to Jake Bray at Wise Wolf via Rachel Beck of Liza Dawson Associates.
MARK FORRESTER sold SF YA novel Above, But Not Up to Carrie Givens at Bandersnatch.
Sisters ERIN DULIN & BRITT COOPER sold YA fantasy Daughter of Neverwoode, third work in their Chronicles of Fayble series, to Jamie Rose at Finch via Amy Brewer of Metamorphosis Literary Agency.
JOHN WISWELL’s first novel Someone You Can Build a Nest In, “a creepy, charming monster-slaying sapphic fantasy romance – from the perspective of the monster,” and a second book to Katie Hoffman at DAW at auction via Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates.
BRIAN ASMAN sold debut werewolf novel Good Dogs and horror collection Man, F**K This House (And Other Disasters), including the internet sensation title novella, to Brendan Deneen at Blackstone Publishing via Jennie Dunham of Dunham Literary.
CHỊKỌDỊLỊ EMELỤMADỤ’s fantasy debut Dazzling, winner of the Curtis Brown First Novel Prize, went to Abby Muller at Overlook via Hillary Jacobson at CAA on behalf of Lucy Morris at Curtis Brown UK. UK rights went to Ella Gordon at Wildfire via Morris.
First novelist CARMELLA LOWKIS sold queer historical novel Spitting Gold, about con artist mediums who “begin to question whether they really are at the mercy of a vengeful spirit,” and a second book to Loan Le at Atria in a pre-empt via Ginger Clark of Ginger Clark Literary on behalf of Rachel Neely at Mushens Entertainment. UK rights sold to Charlotte Trumble at Doubleday UK for six figures in a pre-empt.
SILVIA PARK’s first novel, Luminous, set in a future unified Korea, went to Tim O’Connell at Simon & Schuster at auction via Lucy Carson of Friedrich Agency. UK rights sold to Juliet Mabey at Oneworld in a pre-empt, and film and TV rights were optioned by Media Res in a pre-empt.
MICHELLE MCGILL-VARGAS’s first novel American Ghoul, “Thelma & Louise meets Interview with the Vampire,” sold to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Blackstone Publishing via Melissa Danaczko of Stuart KrichevskyAgency.
CHRISTOPHER BROWN sold non-fiction book The Secret History of Empty Lots: Finding the Path to a Greener Future in America’s Hidden Urban Wilderness to Stacee Gravelle Lawrence at Timber Press via Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.
K-MING CHANG sold fantasy novella Cecilia to Lizzie Davis at Coffee House Press via Julia Kardon of HG Literary.
DAVID LAWSON, JR. sold anthology Haunted Reels, with SF, fantasy, and horror stories written by professional filmmakers, to Rob Carroll at Dark Matter Ink. Sadie Hartmann will edit.
CANDAS JANE DORSEY resold What’s the Matter with Mary Jane?: An Epitome Apartments Mystery to Harriett Wade at Pushkin Press in the UK via Jennifer Thompson and Isabelle Bleecker of Nordlyset Literary Agency on behalf of ECW Press.
LIZ HYDER’s first novel for adults, historical fantasy The Gifts, resold to Shana Drehs at Sourcebooks Landmark in the US via Ruth Logan of Bonnier UK.
MARC RESNICK has been promoted to vice president and editorial director at St. Martin’s Press. Associate editors SARAH GRILL, SALLIE LOTZ, and HANNAH PHILLIPS will report to him.
ANNE PERRY has taken over as publishing director of Jo Fletcher Books at Quercus, replacing outgoing imprint founder JO FLETCHER.
AMARA HOSHIJO is now a senior editor at Saga Press.
CRAIG LAURANCE GIDNEY is stepping down as co-editor of Baffling Magazine, with KEL COLEMAN taking over as the new co-editor, joining dave ring.
AMY PORTSMOUTH has been hired as a Campaigns Assistant at Angry Robot.
VICTOR LAVALLE’s The Devil in Silver is being adapted as the first season in a potential horror anthology series for AMC and AMC+. LaValle is an executive producer, Christopher Cantwell is showrunner, and other executive producers are Scott Free, EMJAG, and Entertainment 360.
TV rights to A.C. WISE’s Wendy, Darling were optioned by Sony Television via the Gotham Group on behalf of Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary.
Film rights to XIRAN JAY ZHAO’s Iron Widow were optioned by Erik Feig’s Picturestart and its producers Jessica Switch and Julia Hammer, while Samie Kim Falvey is executive producer. J.C. Lee will write the screenplay. Zhao was represented by CAA on behalf of Rachel Brooks of BookEnds Literary.
TV rights to RACHEL DODES & LAUREN MECHLING’s time-travel novel The Memo were optioned by wiip, to be developed in collaboration with Lean Machine, with executive producers Paul Lee and Mark Roybal, Aline Brosh McKenna, Heather Morris, Dodes, and Mechling, via William Morris Endeavor on behalf of Gráinne Fox of Fletcher & Company.
TV rights to MASANDE NTSHANGA’s Afrofuturist novel Triangulum were optioned by SK Global Entertainment, Bluelight, and Black Mic Mac, via Anna Soler-Pont of Pontas Literary & Film Agency.
JALEIGH JOHNSON sold Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The Road to Neverwinter to Elizabeth Schaefer at Random House Worlds via Sara Megibow at kt literary.
This report and more like it in the November 2022 issue of Locus.
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