People & Publishing Roundup, April 2023
BONNIE JO STUFFLEBEAM is now represented by Scribe Agency.
LING MA’s Bliss Montage (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) won the Story Prize, “honoring the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction,” presented March 15, 2023. The prize includes $20,000 and an engraved silver bowl.
The late TERRY PRATCHETT’s estate sold collection A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories to Transworld for six figures. The book features 20 stories first published in a regional newspaper in the 1970s and ‘80s under the name PATRICK KEARNS, and never previously attributed to Pratchett.
LEIGH BARDUGO signed a 12-book, eight-figure deal with Jonathan Yaged at Macmillan, with books in a “variety of formats, age categories and genres” to appear under the Nightfire, Roaring Brook Press, First Second, and Flatiron imprints, via Joanna Volpe of New Leaf Literary & Media.
SARAH J. MAAS sold four novels to Adrienne Vaughan at Bloomsbury via Robin Rue of Writers House. Noa Wheeler will edit.
FONDA LEE sold SF novel The Last Contract of Isako and a second book to Nivia Evans at Orbit and Jenni Hill at Orbit UK via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
SUZANNE PALMER sold Ghostdrift, fourth novel in the Finder series, and a second book to Katie Hoffman at DAW via Joshua Bilmes of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
ISAAC FELLMAN’s As Above, So Below went to Carl Engle-Laird at Tor via Kate McKean of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
KAREN LORD sold The Blue, Beautiful World and resold Redemption in Indigo and Unraveling to Tricia Narwani at Del Rey via Sally Harding of CookeMcDermid Literary Agency. Del Rey will also reissue the The Best of All Possible Worlds and The Galaxy Game this year.
MELISSA MARR’s romantic fantasy Remedial Magic and a second title sold to Monique Patterson at Bramble via Merrilee Heifetz of Writers House.
MELISSA CARUSO’s time-loop novel The Last Hour Between Worlds and a second title sold to Nivia Evans at Orbit and Emily Byron at Orbit UK via Naomi Davis of BookEnds.
JEDEDIAH BERRY sold The Naming Song, “an epic novel set in a world transformed by the obliteration of language,” and a literary fantasy novella, to Carl Engle-Laird at Tordotcom via Esmond Harmsworth of Aevitas Creative Management.
LIZ BOWERY, writing as LUCY LEHANE, sold fantasy romance Thirsty and a second book to Alexandra Sehulster at St. Martin’s in a pre-empt via Laura Zats of Headwater Literary Management.
NATALY GRUENDER’s Severed – a retelling of the story of Medusa from the gorgon’s point of view – and a second book sold to Kirsiah Depp at Grand Central in a pre-empt via Melanie Figueroa of Root Literary.
C.L. CLARK sold fantasy Fate’s Bane and another book to Carl Engle-Laird at Tordotcom via Mary C. Moore of Kimberley Cameron & Associates.
TRISHA R. THOMAS sold fantasy romance The Lost Matchmaker and another title to Rachel Kahan at William Morrow via Jeff Kleinman and Claudia Cross of Folio Literary Management.
CHAD CORRIE sold the YA fantasy Sojourners’ Saga – As the Sparrow Flies, As the Paths Converge, and As the Fire Falls – plus collection Rainier’s Legacy and graphic novel The Last Wizard King, to Rose Weitz at Dark Horse.
E.K. JOHNSTON sold Titan of the Stars – “Alien meets Titanic” – and a second title to Peter Phillips at Tundra Books for six figures in a pre-empt via David Purse of Inked Entertainment.
NUZO ONOH sold story suite The Ghost in the Moon to Cath Trechman at Titan Books via Bieke van Aggelen of African Literary Agency.
JAMES BENNETT’s collection Preaching to the Perverted went to Steve Berman at Lethe Press via John Jarrold.
SAMANTHA SOTTO YAMBAO’s fantasy Water Moon and a second book sold to Tricia Narwani at Del Rey via Amy Elizabeth Bishop of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. UK rights sold to Frankie Gray at Transworld at auction for six figures.
SHANA GALEN’s historical fantasy romance The King and Vi and two more books sold to Kathryn Le Veque at Dragonblade Originals via Joanna MacKenzie of Nelson Literary Agency.
JUSTIN HOLLEY’s SF novel Hellweg’s Keep went to Don D’Auria at Flame Tree Press.
RICHARD SPARKS sold fantasy trilogy New Rock, New Role to Shahid Mahmud at Caezik SF & Fantasy via Julia Lord of Julia Lord Literary Management. Lezli Robyn will edit. Film rights were optioned by Yu Fai Suen at Berkeley Media Group.
BETH MERLIN & DANIELLE MODAFFERI’s fantasy romance The Last Phone Booth went to Maria Gomez at Montlake via Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
ANBARA SALAM’s historical fantasy Hazardous Spirits sold to Masie Cochran at Tin House Books via Catherine Drayton of Inkwell Management on behalf of Hattie Grunewald at The Blair Partnership. Jade Chandler at Baskerville Press bought UK rights.
MERCEDES MURDOCK YARDLEY’s dark fantasy collection Love Is a Crematorium went to Cemetery Dance via Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo Helin and Fountain Literary Management.
THOMAS SMITH’s collection Other Places sold to Cemetery Dance.
CATHERINE FEARNS sold cosmic horror romance Buried Lightning to Cassandra Thompson at Quill & Crow. Stephen Black will edit.
ALLISON ANDERSON sold The Spring Maiden, The Shadow Lord, The Unseen King, and The Unwanted Queen to Tanya Anne Crosby at Primera.
DAVID FERRARO’s vampire romance A Vile Season sold to Tamara Grasty at Page Street via Eva Scalzo of Speilburg Literary Agency.
WEYODI OLDBEAR sold As Many Ships as Stars, “a futurist retelling of one Numunu oral history of how the Comanche acquired horses,” to Android.
MV MELCER sold SF novel Refractions and a second book to Kathryn Taussig at Storm Publishing via Lisa Rodgers of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
PAIGE ROBERTS sold Explosive Chemistry, sequel to Precise Oaths, to Lisa Green at City Owl Press via Michelle Hauck of Storm Literary Agency.
SAMANTHA MILLS sold fantasy The Rise and Fall of Winged Zemolai to Jacob Weisman at Tachyon Publications via Lisa Rodgers of JABberwocky Literary Agency. Jaymee Goh will edit.
CL FARLEY sold fantasy The Invisible Girl to Francesca Barbini at Luna via Bieke van Aggelen of African Literary Agency.
SOPHIE WILLIAMSON sold the first two books in the Witch Trials series to Kathryn Taussig at Storm Publishing via Marlene Stringer of Stringer Literary Agency.
MELANIE GOLDING’s fantasy The Sight went to Holly Ingraham at Crooked Lane via Rachel Yeoh of Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency.
E.C. FARRELL sold Code Word for Chaos to Josette Arthur at The Wild Rose Press.
HANNAH NICOLE MAEHRER sold Assistant to the Villain and two more books to Liz Pelletier at Red Tower via Brent Taylor of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
NOUR ABI-NAKHOUL’s horror novel Supplication went to Haley Cullingham at Strange Light.
JOHN F.D. TAFF sold SF novel Plastic Space House to Scarlett Algee at Trepidatio via Mark Falkin of Falkin Literary.
ANGELA SYLVAINE’s horror collection The Dead Spot: Stories of Lost Girls sold to Rob Carroll at Dark Matter Ink.
CHARLENE ELSBY’s horror novel Violent Faculties sold to Christoph Paul at Clash.
BELICIA RHEA’s horror novel Voracious went to Rob Carroll at Dark Matter Ink.
SAMANTHA SCHOECH’s collection My Mother’s Boyfriends sold to Leland Cheuk at 7.13 Books.
Z.W. TAYLOR sold The Hunt to Margot Mallinson at W by Wattpad.
MOLLY RINGLE sold Ballad for Jasmine Town in the Eidolonia fantasy series to Michelle Halket at Central Avenue in a pre-empt.
DREW HUFF sold Free Burn to Rob Carroll at Dark Matter Ink.
JULIE KAGAWA sold the middle-grade fantasy Storm Dragon trilogy to Kieran Viola at Disney-Hyperion in a pre-empt via Laurie McLean of Fuse Literary.
ADALYN GRACE sold Wisteria, third in the Belladonna series, to Deirdre Jones at Little, Brown Children’s via Pete Knapp of Park & Fine Literary and Media. UK rights sold to Molly Powell at Hodder & Stoughton.
F.T. LUKENS sold YA fantasy The Future Tense and another book to Kate Prosswimmer at Margaret K. McElderry Books via Eva Scalzo of Speilburg Literary Agency.
WEN-YI LEE’s YA horror novel The Dark We Know sold to Tiffany Liao at Gillian Flynn Books – as the publisher’s first YA title – at auction via Isabel Kaufman of Fox Literary.
CATHERINE DOYLE & KATHERINE WEBBER’s final book in the Twin Crowns trilogy went to Kristin Daly Rens at Balzer + Bray via Pete Knapp of Park & Fine Literary and Media on behalf of Claire Wilson of RCW Literary.
JILL BAGUCHINSKY’s queer feminist YA horror novel So Witches We Became sold to Alexandra Hightower at Little, Brown Children’s via Eric Smith of P.S. Literary Agency.
SHER LEE’s Legend of the White Snake, inspired by Chinese folk tales, and a second title sold to Alexandra Cooper at Quill Tree at auction via Jessica Regel at Helm Literary. UK rights went to Emma Jones & Charlie Castelletti at Macmillan UK Children’s at auction.
ROSELLE LIM’s Celestial Banquet, set in a world inspired by Chinese folklore, went to Tiffany Liao at Sweet July at auction, via Jenny Bent of The Bent Agency.
MARC J GREGSON sold Among Serpents and Downfall, second and third in the Above the Black YA trilogy, to Jonah Heller at Peachtree Teen via Heather Cashman of Storm Literary Agency.
TOMI OYEMAKINDE sold YA horror novel The Changing Man and a second book to Foyinsi Adegbonmire at Feiwel and Friends at auction via Pete Knapp of Park & Fine Literary and Media on behalf of Claire Wilson of RCW Literary Agency.
MICHAELBRENT COLLINGS sold YA horror novel The Witch in the Woods to Chris Schoebinger at Shadow Mountain via Alec Shane of Writers House.
MIA ARAUJO’s YA fantasy Afia in the Land of Wonders went to Olivia Valcarce at Scholastic in a pre-empt via Regina Brooks of Serendipity Literary Agency. Lisa Sandell will edit.
B.P. SWEANY sold YA fantasy The Sword and the Sophomore, plus two more titles, to Michael DeVito at Th3rd World Studios via Joy Tutela of David Black Literary Agency.
MINSOO KANG’s debut fantasy novel, The Melancholy of Untold History, sold to Morrow.
HILDUR KNÚTSDÓTTIR’s first novel The Night Guest, translated from the Icelandic by MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL, sold to Lindsey Hall at Nightfire via Seth Fishman of The Gernert Company.
KAILEE PEDERSEN’s first novel Sacrificial Animals sold to Michael Homler at St. Martin’s via Paul Lucas of Janklow & Nesbit.
New writer SHAWN CARPENTER sold fantasy The Price of Redemption and sequel The Silver Hand to Joe Monti at Saga Press.
First novelist AMY LEOW sold the False Goddess Trilogy to Brit Hvide at Orbit in a pre-empt via Alice Sutherland-Hawes of ASH Literary.
First novelist JAQ EVANS sold horror novel What Grows in the Dark to Leah Mol at Mira via Erica Bauman of Aevitas Creative Management.
ELIZABETH STIX sold her debut, linked story collection Things I Want Back from You, to Black Lawrence Press via Henry Dunow of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.
DAISUKE SHEN’s first collection Vague Predictions and Prophecies sold to Christoph Paul at Clash via Michael Mungiello of Inkwell Management.
New writer JILL TEW’s SF novel The Dividing Sky sold to Bria Ragin, Nicola Yoon, and David Yoon at Joy Revolution via Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary Agency.
MEL MATTISON’s debut SF novel The Wizard of Quoz went to Anthony Ziccardi at Post Hill Press.
NATALIE LEIF’s debut The Last Kids in Town sold to Della Farrell at Holiday House via Bibi Lewis of Ethan Ellenberg Agency.
First novelist LANCALI sold debut YA novel I Fell in Love with Hope and YA fantasy mystery Blue’s Shadow to Emily Bestler at Emily Bestler Books at auction via Jeff Silberman of Folio Literary Management.
SASA HAWK’s debut YA novel Unlock the Night and a second book sold to Sarah Homer at Harper Children’s via Amy Giuffrida of Belcastro Agency.
ERIN LUKEN’s debut YA fantasy Our Shattered Masks went to Camille Kellogg at Bloomsbury Children’s via Sarah Fisk of The Tobias Literary Agency.
SUYI DAVIES OKUNGBOWA’s SF novella Lost Ark Dreaming sold to Emily Goldman at Tordotcom via Tamara Kawar of DeFiore and Company and Alexander Cochran at C+W. Jonathan Strahan will edit.
SHAWN E. MARCHESE & ALAN SISTO sold non-fiction book Why We Love Middle-earth: An Enthusiast’s Book About Tolkien, Middle-earth & the LOTR Fandom to Brenda Knight at Mango.
MARGRÉT HELGADÓTTIR will edit Nordic Visions: The Best of Nordic Speculative Fiction, with 15 stories “from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands” for Michael Rowley at Solaris.
JOHNNY MAINS will edit horror anthology Bound in Blood for Daniel Carpenter at Titan Books.
CHANCE FORSHEE will edit A Terrifying Tome of Terror, with stories by authors who appeared on the Terrifying Tomes of Terror podcast, for Jennifer Barnes at Raw Dog Screaming Press.
MARISSA VAN UDEN will edit New Weird horror anthology The Off-Season for Rob Carroll at Dark Matter Ink.
The estate of MICHAEL CRICHTON resold eight books he published under the name JOHN LANGE to Josh Stanton at Blackstone Publishing for seven figures via Shane Salerno of the Story Factory for CrichtonSun. Odds on, Scratch One, Easy Go, Zero Cool, The Venom Business, Drug of Choice, Grave Descend, and Binary were written in the ‘60s and ‘70s while Crichton was at Harvard Medical School.
KENNETH W. HARMON resold self-published fantasy In the Realm of Ash and Sorrow to Adriana Senior at Regalo Press via Lindsay Guzzardo of Martin Literary Management. Gretchen Young will edit.
BETHAN MORGAN was promoted to editorial director at UK publisher Gollancz. She will report to deputy publisher GILLIAN REDFEARN, recently back from maternity leave.
Editor and author GEORGIA SUMMERS has left Tor UK “to concentrate on her own writing and travel.” GRACE BARBER has joined as an editorial assistant.
STEPHANIE LIPPITT CLARK has joined Orbit US as an editor.
TV rights to JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT’s From Blood and Ash series were optioned by Amazon Studios via Lucy Stille of Lucy Stille Literary on behalf of Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. Luke Ryan and Sascha Hecks of Chaotic Good Studios will produce.
Film rights to A.M. SHINE’s horror novel The Watchers were optioned by M. Night Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan at Blinding Edge via John Baker of Bell Lomax Moreton.
This report and more like it in the March 2023 issue of Locus.
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