People & Publishing Roundup, May 2023
SALMAN RUSHDIE will receive a Hay Festival Medal for Prose for “exceptional work” as one of four “groundbreaking storytellers” during the Hay Festival event in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, to be held May 25 – June 4, 2023.
ARLEY SORG received the fourth annual Space Cowboy Award, for “someone whose work has helped to enhance and support our ever growing and changing field,” administered by Space Cowboy Books in Joshua Tree CA. He has joined kt literary agency as an associate agent, primarily focusing on adult SF/F and speculative horror.
MICHELLE DE KRETSER’s Scary Monsters (Atlantic/Allen and Unwin) won the £2,000 Rathbones Folio Prize in the Fiction category.
YIYUN LI’s The Book of Goose (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) won the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award, given for “the best published works of fiction by American citizens in a calendar year.” The winner receives $15,000 and finalists each receive $5,000.
DEBORAH P. KOLODJI won the inaugural President’s Lifetime Service Award, presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association to “an individual who has furthered the knowledge, appreciation and acceptance of the speculative poetry genre, and who has served the SFPA in a significant volunteer capacity.”
The late DAVE DUNCAN’s previously unpublished novels The Traitor’s Son and Corridor to Nightmare, edited by Robert Runte, sold to Edward Willett at Shadowpaw Press, via Wayne Arthurson.
SARAH BETH DURST sold The Lies Among Us to Erin Adair-Hodges at Lake Union Publishing via Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger.
ZEN CHO sold Buying Into You and a second book to Monique Patterson at Bramble via Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates.
KELLEY ARMSTRONG sold books three and four in the Rip Through Time mystery series to Kelley Ragland at Minotaur via Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency.
T.R. NAPPER’s SF novel The Escher Man and a novella went to George Sandison at Titan Books via John Jarrold of John Jarrold Literary Agency.
CHARLIE N. HOLMBERG sold romantasy Still the Sun and two more novels to Adrienne Procaccini at 47North.
CHARLES E. GANNON & CHRIS KENNEDY sold Admiral and Commander, in Gannon’s “Caine Riordan” series, to Toni Weisskopf at Baen Books in association with Chris Kennedy Publishing via Justin Bell of Spectrum Literary Agency.
P.H. LOW’s Peter Pan fantasy novel These Deathless Shores went to Brit Hvide at Orbit via Savannah Brooks of kt literary.
AMMI-JOAN PAQUETTE writing as JO PAQUETTE, sold adult fiction debut Stories I Told My Dead Lover, a collection, to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Blackstone Publishing via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
Actor and author LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS sold fantasy novel The Tinderbox: Underground Movement to Rhett Bruno at Aethon via Penelope Burns of Gelfman Schneider/ICM.
MASON COILE sold SF horror novel Daemon to Daphne Durham at MCD/FSG in a pre-empt via Kirby Kim of Janklow & Nesbit. UK rights went to Yassine Belkacemi at Baskerville Press in a pre-empt via Kerry-Ann Bentley of Janklow & Nesbit UK.
MAREN UTHAUG’s dystopian novel 11%, “an inverse Handmaid’s Tale,” went to Elisabeth Dyssegaard at St. Martin’s via Sophia Hersi Smith of Copenhagen Literary Agency.
ALLISON SAFT sold A Dark and Drowning Tide and another book to Sarah Peed at Del Rey via Jessica Mileo and Claire Friedman of Inkwell Management.
HOLLY RACE sold feminist fantasy novel Six Wild Crowns and two more books to Brit Hvide at Orbit via Zoë Plant of The Bent Agency; Nadia Saward acquired rights for Orbit UK.
GREG F. GIFUNE’s horror mystery Smoke, In Crimson sold to Kevin Lucia at Cemetery Dance.
L.P. HERNANDEZ sold collection No Gods, Only Chaos to Kevin Lucia at Cemetery Dance.
EMMA STERNER-RADLEY sold historical fantasy Snowblooded to Amy Borsuk at Solaris via Anna Carmichael of Abner Stein on behalf of Saint Gibson.
REBECCA FRAIMOW sold SF novel Lady Eve’s Last Con to Amy Borsuk at Solaris via Bridget Smith of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
MAKANA YAMAMOTO’s “lesbian space heist” Hammajang Luck and two more books went to Claire Ormsby-Potter and Bethan Morgan at Gollancz in a pre-empt via Keir Alekseii of Azantian Literary Agency.
ALLI DYER sold fantasy Strange Folk and a second title to Natalie Hallak at Atria via Alexandra Machinist of CAA.
HARMON COOPER sold three books in the Reborn Assassin series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon.
DEAN HENEGAR sold three books in the Mythica series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon.
IZZY LEE sold horror novel I Can See Your Lies to Sadie Hartmann at Dark Hart.
CAROLINE MACON FLEISCHER’s fantasy A Play About a Curse went to Christoph Paul at Clash via Alicia Brooks of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.
LEE GUZMAN’s horror novel Dominic sold to Jason Henderson and In Churl Yo at Castle Bridge Media.
CHRISTOPHER ARNONE sold Necropolis Alpha, second in the Jayu City Chronicles, to Jason Henderson and In Churl Yo at Castle Bridge Media via Katie Salvo of Metamorphosis Literary Agency.
A.G. RODRIGUEZ sold fantasy Stone Feather Fang to Craig Gibb at Deep Hearts via Stephanie Hansen of Metamorphosis Literary Agency.
ABBY GOLDSMITH sold six books in the Torth series to Podium Publishing.
E.J. MELLOW sold the Way of Wings fantasy duology to Lauren Plude at Montlake via Aimee Ashcraft of Brower Literary.
HELEN PHILLIPS sold SF novel Hum to Marysue Rucci at Marysue Rucci Books via Faye Bender of The Book Group.
LILLIAN HOWAN’s fantasy novel The Spellbound went to Peg Alford Pursell at WTAW Press.
NANCY TABER’s fantasy Born an Islander went to Tracy Belsher at Acorn Press Canada via Alice Speilburg of Speilburg Literary Agency.
MATTHEW SULLIVAN sold Midnight in the Orchard by the Lake, “a modern day Twin Peaks,” to John Glynn at Hanover Square Press in a pre-empt via Kirby Kim of Janklow & Nesbit.
STEVE STRED’s horror novel When I Look at the Sky, All I See Are Stars went to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
KRISTY GARDNER sold The Darkest Stars, first in The Broken Stars series, along with the second in the sequence, to Tina Moss at City Owl Press via Julie Gwinn of The Seymour Agency.
GWENDOLYN N. NIX’s Bone Knuckles and the Rose Scavenger went to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
KELBY LOSACK’s horror collection God Is Wearing Black went to J. David Osborne at Broken River.
JOHN DURGIN sold horror novel Kosa to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
JO GRAHAM sold Fortune’s Favor, third in The Calpurnian Wars series, illustrated by Eleni Tsami, to Athena Andre adis at Candlemark & Gleam.
RED LAGOE sold In Excess of Dark to Andrew Robert at DarkLit, in an exclusive submission.
DANIEL A. OLIVAS sold Chicano Frankenstein to Laura Stanfill at Forest Avenue Press.
GLENN ROLFE’s horror novel Vincent went to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
COLIN LEONARD’s horror novel Country Roads, illustrated by Elizabeth Leggett, sold to S.D. Vassallo at Brigids Gate.
M.E. GREY’s Waves of Smoke & Salt sold to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
RICHARD LEISE sold ghost story Being Dead, illustrated by Elizabeth Leggett, to S.D. Vassallo at Brigids Gate.
SYLVESTER BARZEY sold Dead Soil to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
MO MOSHATY sold horror collection Love the Sinner, illustrated by Elizabeth Leggett, to S.D. Vassallo at Brigids Gate.
CHRISTOPHER ROBERTSON’s Of Black Flags and Devil Birds went to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
e rathke sold Iron Wolf, sequel to novella Howl, and three more books to J. David Osborne at Broken River.
ALYSON HASSON sold Island of the Unclaimed to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
DAVID SIMMONS sold Ghosts of West Baltimore, sequel to Ghosts of East Baltimore, to J. David Osborne at Broken River.
DAMIEN CASEY sold The Nine Teeth of the River Styx to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
KYRA R. TORRES sold Abyssal Melody to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
ZACHARY ROSENBERG’s Devils and the Deep Blue Sea went to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
LOR GISLASON & SHELLEY LAVIGNE’s The Flesh of the Sea sold to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
BRENNAN LAFARO sold The Demon of Devil’s Cavern to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
YOLANDA SFETSOS sold Wings of Sorrow to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
CAITLIN MARCEAU sold It Bubbles Under the Skin and Where the Dead Once Bloomed to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
LESLIE O’SULLIVAN’s fantasy Crimson Melodies sold to Lisa Green at Mystic Owl.
DREW STARLING sold After to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
CHUCK WENDIG’s middle-grade novel Monster Movie! and a second book sold to Deirdre Jones at Little, Brown Children’s via Stacia Decker of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.
MARIEKE NIJKAMP sold three books in middle-grade fantasy series Splinter & Ash to Martha Mihalick at Greenwillow at auction via Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media.
KACEN CALLENDER’s YA fantasy Infinity Alchemist and a second book went to Ali Fisher at Tor Teen via Beth Phelan of Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency.
ADDIE THORLEY sold YA fantasy Burn the Kingdom Down and a second book to Annie Berger at Sourcebooks Fire via Katelyn Detweiler of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.
EMILY LLOYD-JONES sold YA fantasy The Wild Hunters, in the world of The Bone Houses, to Alexandra Hightower at Little, Brown Children’s via Sarah Landis of Sterling Lord Literistic.
MICHELLE KULWICKI’s YA fantasy At the End of the River Styx sold to Tamara Grasty at Page Street Kids via Lauren Bittrich of Lucinda Literary.
ANIA PORANEK’s YA fantasy Where the Dark Stands Still and a second book sold to Karen Wojtyla at Margaret K. McElderry Books via Victoria Marini of Irene Goodman Agency. UK rights went to Carmen McCullough at Penguin UK via Catherine Cho of Paper Literary.
A.M. STRICKLAND sold YA sapphic romantasy Lady Dragon to Rachel Diebel at Feiwel and Friends via Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates.
A.R. VISHNY’s YA fantasy The Night Owls sold to Sara Schonfeld at Harper Teen via Linda Epstein of Emerald City Literary Agency.
SOYOUNG PARK sold a sequel to dystopian YA novel Snowglobe to Krista Marino at Delacorte via Sue Park at Barbara Zitwer Agency.
JUNE CL TAN’s YA fantasy Darker by Four and another title sold to Alice Jerman at Harper Teen via Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. UK rights sold to Molly Powell at Hodder & Stoughton.
LAUREN BLACKWOOD sold historical YA vampire novel The Dangerous Ones to Vicki Lame at Wednesday Books via Lauren Spieller of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
ERICA HOLLIS sold YA fantasy A Curse Set in Stone to Jen Bouvier at Entangled Teen.
DANA CLAIRE sold YA fantasy Hunterlore, sequel to Hunterland, to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Elana Gibson will edit.
S.A. MACLEAN sold queer fantasy debut The Phoenix Keeper and two more books to Priyanka Krishnan at Orbit and Bethan Morgan at Gollancz in pre-empts via John Baker of Bell Lomax Moreton Agency.
CONSTANCE FAY’s debut, SF romance Calamity, plus two more books sold to Monique Patterson at Bramble via Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates.
First novelist HOLLY GRAMAZIO sold literary fantasy The Husbands to Lee Boudreaux at Doubleday for seven figures at auction via Grainne Fox of UTA on behalf of Veronique Baxter of David Higham Associates.
First novelist SHANNON IVES sold sapphic fantasy Those Fatal Flowers to Mae Martinez at Bantam Dell via John Baker of Bell Lomax Moreton Agency.
Debut author CHANNELLE DESAMOURS sold Needy Little Things and a second book to Tiffany Shelton at Wednesday Books at auction via Molly Ker Hawn of The Bent Agency.
JUSTINIAN HUANG’s debut novel The Emperor and the Endless Palace sold to Nicole Brebner at Mira for six figures at auction via Dan Milaschewski of UTA. Evan Yeong will edit.
First novelist ALLISON GUNN sold Nowhere – “Mare of Easttown if written by Stephen King” – to Loan Le at Atria in a pre-empt via Logan Harper of Jane Rotrosen Agency.
SIERRA GREER’s debut SF novel Annie Bot went to Kate Nintzel at Mariner in a pre-empt via Kirby Kim of Janklow & Nesbit. Suzie Doore will edit.
SYDNEY SHIELDS sold first novel The Honey Witch, “a regency-inspired sapphic fantasy,” and a second title to Brit Hvide at Orbit and Nadia Saward at Orbit UK in six-figure pre-empts via Mollie Glick of CAA.
First novelist CRYSTAL J. BELL sold historical horror novel The Lamplighter to Meg Gaertner at Flux via Michelle Hauck of Storm Literary Agency.
CODIE CROWLEY’s debut YA horror novel Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch and a second book sold to Rachel Stark at Disney-Hyperion for six figures at auction via Larissa Melo Pienkowski of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.
KAITLYN CAVALANCIA’s debut YA novel The Strange Will of Xavier Stoutmire and a second book went to Kelsey Sullivan at Disney-Hyperion via Brent Taylor of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
New writer LORI KEATING’s fantasy Butterfly Ink went to Jennifer Lowry at Monarch.
Debut novelist JC sold Fall of the Order to Kreceda Tyler at Black Odyssey Media. Tiffani Wilson will edit.
TAYLOR MUNSELL’s first novel Touch of Death went to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Elana Gibson will edit.
CHERIE PRIEST’s Southern gothic novella Cinderwich sold to Jason Sizemore at Apex via Stacia Decker of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.
GRANT WAMACK sold cyberpunk novella Melancholy’s Finest, first in the Motorpapi Chronicles, and two more books to J. David Osborne at Broken River.
CLAIRE WINN’s novella One Last Midnight, a companion to the Requiem Dark series, went to Meg Gaertner at Flux via Cortney Radocaj of Belcastro Agency.
MARK RAINEY will edit horror anthology Deathrealm: Spirits for Alan Lastufka at Shortwave.
LINDY RYAN & LEE MURRAY will edit domestic horror poetry anthology Under Her Eye for Black Spot in association with domestic violence non-profit The Pixel Project. RYAN will edit horror anthology In the Bleak Midwinter for Melissa Rechter at Crooked Lane in a pre-empt via Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo Helin and Fountain Literary Management.
JOHANNA SINISALO resold Troll: A Love Story to Adam Freudenheim at Pushkin Press via Elina Ahlback of Elina Ahlback Literary Agenc
JAMES LOWDER has left his position as executiveeditor and fiction program director for roleplaying game company Chaosium. He will return to freelance work as a writer, editor, game designer, and publishing consultant.
MADELINE GOLDBERG has been hired as an editorial assistant at DAW.
Comics legend GAIL SIMONE sold first novel Red Sonja: The Consumed to Brit Hvide at Orbit at auction via Yfat Reiss Gendell of YRG Partners. UK rights went to Jenni Hill at Orbit UK.
Film rights to ALEXANDRA BRACKEN’s Lore were optioned by Universal via Dana Spector at CAA on behalf of Merrilee Heifetz of Writers House.
TV rights to KIERSTEN WHITE’s Hide were optioned by Universal Television via Lucy Stille of Lucy Stille Literary on behalf of Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary Agency. John Davis, Jordan Davis, and John Fox of Davis Entertainment will executive produce, while Ingrid Escajeda will write the pilot and serve as showrunner, and executive produce through her new company, Sugarwitch Productions.
CESCA MAJOR’s Maybe Next Time will be developed as a film by Apple Studios, with Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter at Hello Sunshine producing, via CAA on behalf of Alice Lutyens at Curtis Brown UK. Major will be an executive producer.
J.K. ROWLING’s Harry Potter series is being adapted as a “decade-long” show for streaming service Max (formerly HBO Max). Rowling will executive produce with Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts
This report and more like it in the March 2023 issue of Locus.
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