People & Publishing Roundup, September 2024
REBECCA YARROS’s Fourth Wing (Red Tower) won in the International Book of the Year category at the TikTok Book Awards, held July 25, 2024 in London. Winners were voted on by the #BookTok community.
’PEMI AGUDA’s “Breastmilk” (One Story 5/27/21) is a finalist for the £10,000 Caine Prize for African Writing. The winner will be selected by a panel of judges and announced September 17, 2024.
KATHRYN GOSSOW won the 2024 Australian Fairy Tale Society (AFTS) Award for “her many contributions to the field of fairy tales in Australia, particularly in building and nurturing the community of fairytalers.”
JO CALLAGHAN’s In the Blink of an Eye (Simon & Schuster UK) won the £3,000 Harrowgate Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, celebrating “excellence, originality and the very best in crime fiction from UK and Irish authors.”
SAMUEL R. DELANY’s Last Tales, with new and uncollected stories, sold to Jeremy Davies at Coffee House Press via John Silbersack of the Bent Agency.
JOHN SCALZI sold ten more books to Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Tor and Bella Pagan at Tor UK for seven figures via Ethan Ellenberg of Ethan Ellenberg Agency. The first book in this new contract is expected to appear in 2029.
ELIZABETH BEAR sold The Folded Sky and The Shipwreck Star in the White Space series to Joe Monti at Saga Press via Jennifer Jackson of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
RAMSEY CAMPBELL sold horror novel An Echo of Children to Don D’Auria at Flame Tree Press via John Jarrold of John Jarrold Literary Agency.
ILONA ANDREWS sold three books in epic romantic fantasy series Maggie the Undying to Stephanie Stein at Tor for seven figures via Nancy Yost of Nancy Yost Literary Agency.
ROBERT MCCAMMON sold Leviathan, the tenth and concluding volume in his Matthew Corbett, to Brian James Freeman at Lividian (for print) and to Betsy Mitchell at Open Road (for ebook) via Cameron McClure of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
MALKA OLDER sold The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses, third in the Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti series, and two more books to Eli Goldman at Tor. Brent Lambert will edit.
EUGEN BACON sold Novic (a prequel to Claiming T-Mo) and The Rawness of You: Stories to Tricia Reeks at Meerkat Press.
CASSANDRA KHAW’s horror novel Hellebore and a second book went to Kristin Temple at Nightfire, along with two novellas to be edited by Ellen Datlow, via Michael Curry of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
CHUCK TINGLE sold Lucky Day, Never Be Apart, Fabulous Bodies, and a fourth book to Kelly Lonesome at Nightfire via DongWon Song of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
DANIEL KRAUS sold SF novel The Sixth Nik and a second book to Joe Monti at Saga Press via Richard Abate of 3 Arts Entertainment. Kraus also sold Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World, a “cinematic memoir” about George Romero’s classic film and its impact on the author and the world, to Dan Smetanka at Counterpoint via Abate.
GARETH L. POWELL sold space adventure Jitterbug to Cath Trechman at Titan Books via Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency.
BITTER KARELLA sold horror novel Moonflow and a second title to Angelica Chong at Run For It via John Baker and Julie Gourinchas of Bell Lomax Moreton Agency.
SEB DOUBINSKY sold Liberation Now! to Tricia Reeks at Meerkat Press via Matt Bialer of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
FREDERIC S. DURBIN’s fantasy western The Country Under Heaven went to Carl Bromley at Melville House via Valentina Sainato and Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
CRAIG DILOUIE sold My Ex, The Antichrist and two more books to Bradley Englert at Run For It.
MCCORMICK TEMPLEMAN’s horror novel Atlas of Unknowable Things and a second book sold to Peter Wolverton at St. Martin’s in a pre-empt via Anne Tibbets of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
M. STEVENSON sold fantasy romance Behooved and two more books to Lindsey Hall at Bramble via Maddy Belton of Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency. UK rights sold to Calah Singleton at Hodderscape for six figures.
MARINA SCOTT’s historical gothic The Night Guests sold to Nancy Holmes at Lake Union Publishing via Melissa Danaczko of Stuart Krichevsky Agency.
KIRI CALLAGHAN sold The Hearth Witch’s Guide to Magic And Murder, the first in a series, to Rachel Gilmer at Poisoned Pen Press via Danielle Burby of Mad Woman Literary Agency.
MIA TSAI sold sapphic science fantasy The Memory Hunters and another title to Sarah Guan at Erewhon via Anne Tibbets of Donald Maass Literary Agency. Viengsamai Fetters will edit.
BRONTE-MARIE WESSON sold the Broken Cycle fantasy trilogy to Christine Ebbs at Random House Australia via John Jarrold.
J.M. LEE’s Where I Cease to Be, “a high-concept AI thriller with a very human touch,” went to Alexandra Torrealba at Amazon Crossing via Barbara Zitwer at Barbara Zitwer Agency.
RAQUEL VASQUEZ GILLILAND’s romantasy The Magic of Untamed Hearts sold to Kristine Swartz at Berkley via Elizabeth Bewley of Sterling Lord Literistic.
ALLISON RUSHBY, writing as A. RUSHBY, sold feminist body horror historical gothic novel Slashed Beauties and another title to Annie Odders at Berkley in a pre-empt via Jason Yarn of Jason Yarn Literary Agency on behalf of Mulcahy Sweeney Associates. UK rights went Jenna Gordon and Demi Echezona at Verve Books.
CAROLYN HUYNH sold near-future novel The Department of Arranged Entanglements to Loan Le at Atria via Jordan Hill of New Leaf Literary & Media.
WEN-YI LEE’s sapphic fantasy duology When They Burned the Butterfly sold to Ruoxi Chen at Tor at auction for six figures via Isabel Kaufman of Fox Literary. Sanaa Ali-Virani will edit.
JOHN FRAM’s The Midnight Knock – “Agatha Christie meets Blake Crouch” – sold to Loan Le at Atria via Melissa Danaczko of Stuart Krichevsky Agency.
ASHLEY SCHUMACHER’s rom-com “with a hint of magic,” Say It Out Loud, and two more books sold to Emily Archbold at Del Rey via Thao Le of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
COREY FARRENKOPF’s speculative collection Haunted Ecologies went to Christopher Payne at JournalStone at auction via Marie Lamba of Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.
ELLERY ADAMS sold feminist fantasy Invasive Species and a second book to Leah Mol at Mira via Jessica Faust of BookEnds.
GRACE CURTIS sold epic fantasy Idolfire and a second title to Navah Wolfe at DAW via Martha Perotto-Wills of the Bent Agency on behalf of Zoe Plant. UK Rights sold to Molly Powell at Hodderscape via Plant.
SARA TANTLINGER’s collection Cyanide Constellations sold to Rob Carroll at Dark Matter Ink.
PEDRO URVI’s fantasy The Cure went to Marilyn Kretzer at Blackstone via Mark Gottlieb and Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.
DEVA FAGAN’s first adult fantasy House of Dusk and a second book sold to Navah Wolfe at DAW in a pre-empt via Pam Gruber of High Line Literary Collective.
BOBBY ADAIR sold three books in the Blood, Mud, and Steel SF series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon.
CHRISTOPH PAUL sold horror novels The Haunted House that Swallowed the Universe and Mummies and Sorcerers in South Boston to Alan Lastufka at Shortwave at auction via Michael Mungiello of Inkwell Management.
SABRINA BLACKBURRY sold Dirty Lying Sirens, fourth in the Enchanted Fates series, and Half Wylde, Half Magic, and Wylde Magic in a new fantasy series, to Deanna McFadden at W by Wattpad via Ali Herring of Spencerhill Associates. Fiona Simpson will edit.
WA SIMPSON’s Steelbound, fifth in the Riven Isles series, sold to Don D’Auria at Flame Tree Press via Anne Tibbets of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
MEGAN LYNCH’s Hymn for the Forsaken, an Appalachian fantasy set in West Virginia, sold to Danielle DeVor at City Owl Press.
MICHAEL G. WILLIAMS sold his queer Appalachian horror novel Contemporary Ancestors to Jason Scott Roach at Gold Dust Publishing.
ISABEL IBAÑEZ’s first adult fantasy Ravenna and a second title sold to Eileen Rothschild at Saturday Books via Sarah Landis of Sterling Lord Literistic.
HARLEQUIN GRIM sold The Black Carnival to Cassandra Thompson at Quill & Crow.
LAURA STRICKLAND sold fantasy romances For a Warrior’s Heart, For an Exile’s Heart, For a Wild Woman’s Heart, For a Viking’s Heart, and For a Heart Come Home in the Ancient Songs series to Kathryn Le Veque at Dragonblade Originals.
C.F. PAGE sold horror novel The Swallowed Town to TruBorn Press.
BRENNAN LAFARO sold Where the Daybreak Ends in the Buzzard’s Edge saga, illustrated by VAL HALVORSON, and three more books to Heather Vassallo at Brigids Gate.
KATHERINE SILVA’s horror novel Where the Soul Goes went to Kristina Osborn at TruBorn Press.
VILLIMEY MIST’s collection What Protects Our Heritage and Other Aberrations, illustrated by KRISTINA OSBORN, sold to S.D. Vassallo at Brigids Gate.
RORY POWER’s YA horror novel Kill Creatures went to Krista Marino at Delacorte via Jessica Mileo and Kim Witherspoon of Inkwell Management on behalf of Daisy Parente of Lutyens & Rubinstein.
SARA JAFARI’s YA romantasy Heavensent & Hellbent went to Bria Ragin at Delacorte via Katie Greenstreet of Paper Literary.
NANCY BANKS sold YA vampire novel The Uninvited to Alison Romig at Delacorte via Daniel Lazar of Writers House.
KATHERINE QUINN sold YA fantasy Stolen Midnights and a second book to Alison Romig at Delacorte via Cole Lanahan of the Seymour Agency.
TORI ANNE MARTIN’s first YA novel, sapphic rom-com fantasy No Charm Done, sold to Mora Couch at Holiday House via Rebecca Strauss of DeFiore and Company.
ANGELA MONTOYA’s YA romantasy Carnival Fantastico sold to Bria Ragin, David Yoon, and Nicola Yoon at Joy Revolution via Larissa Melo Pienkowski of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.
ASHLEE LATIMER’s YA fantasy Witchkiller, “a dark reimagining of Hansel and Gretel,” sold to Talia Seidenfeld at Scholastic via Marietta Zacker of Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency.
CARYL LEWIS’s dystopian YA novel The Danger of Small Things went to Reka Simonsen at Atheneum via Allison Hellegers of Stimola Literary Studio on behalf of Anwen Hooson of Bird Literary Agency. UK rights sold to Michelle Misra at Simon & Schuster UK Children’s via Bird Literary Agency.
AMA OFOSUA LIEB sold YA near-future fantasy mystery Goldenborn and a second title to Jennifer Thompson at Scholastic in a pre-empt via Ammi-Joan Paquette of Erin Murphy Literary Agency.
JJ FLEMING sold near-future science fantasy YA novel Wonders of Shadow Key to Jaynie Royal at Fitzroy Books.
CAROLINE J. TRUSSELL sold Enhanced and Liberated in the new Enhanced YA series, plus three more books, to Nancy Schumacher at Fire & Ice.
New author BEATRICE IKER’s horror novel I’ll Make a Spectacle Out of You sold to Nivia Evans while at Redhook via Jordan Hill of New Leaf Literary & Media on behalf of Electric Postcard Entertainment. Alyea Canada will edit.
TOMAS Q. MORIN’s debut SF novel Cat Love went to Deborah Garrison at Pantheon via Dan Mandel of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
First novelist DELANEY NOLAN’s near-future SF novel Happy Bad sold to Emily Bell at Astra House via Ellen Levine and Audrey Crooks of Trident Media Group.
New writer SHALINI ABEYSEKARA sold romantasy This Monster of Mine to Mahalaleel M. Clinton at Union Square & Co via Ginger Clark of Ginger Clark Literary. UK rights went to Calah Singleton at Hodderscape via Molly Jamieson of United Agents.
GARRETT CURBOW’s first novel, literary fantasy Won’t You Fly Away with Me, sold to Chantelle Aimee Osman at Lake Union Publishing via Brent Taylor of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
BRITTNEY ARENA’s debut fantasy A Dance of Lies sold to Anne Groell at Del Rey and Amanda Ferreira at Random House Canada at auction via Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary Agency. UK rights sold to Vicky Leech Mateos at Bloomsbury UK at auction.
SAM BECKBESSINGER’s first novel, Femme Feral – “a feminist Jekyll and Hyde comedy-horror” – and a second book sold to Nidhi Pugalia at Penguin in a pre-empt, while UK rights went to Vicky Leech Mateos at Bloomsbury UK at auction, all via Oliver Munson of A.M. Heath.
QURRATULAYN MUHAMMAD’s debut historical fantasy “with elements of horror,” Blood and Breath, sold to Tamara Grasty at Page Street via Kelly Van Sant of kt literary.
CAROLINE BONIN’s debut YA fantasy romance Worth a Dream sold to Foyinsi Adegbonmire at Feiwel and Friends via Emelie Burl of Susan Schulman Literary Agency.
First novelist SHAMEEN ABUBAKAR sold two books in the Echo of Empires crossover fantasy series to Christine Collins at Disney-Hyperion via Keir Alekseii of Azantian Literary Agency.
JASON SANFORD sold novella We Who Hunt Alexanders to Apex Book Company.
Agent JESSICA REINO sold debut YA fantasy novel Coming Up for Air to Nancy Schumacher at Fire & Ice via Amy Brewer of Metamorphosis Literary Agency.
S.L. HUANG sold science-fantasy novella The Echo Spy to Oliver Dougherty at Tordotcom via Russell Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency.
SHANE HAWK & THEODORE C. VAN ALST, JR., will edit follow-up horror anthology Never Whistle at Night Part II: Back for Blood for Anna Kaufman at Vintage via Rachel Letofsky of CookeMcDermid. Canadian rights went to Sue Kuruvilla and Sarah Jackson at Random House Canada, and to Stephanie Sinclair and Joe Lee at McClelland & Stewart.
M.H. AYINDE resold fantasy novel A Song of Legends Lost and sold two more books to Nivia Evans at Saga at auction via Jessica Purdue of Little, Brown UK.
SAM MILLS resold time-travel metafiction The Watermark to Mike Lindgren at Melville House via Dan Milaschewski of UTA on behalf of Cathryn Summerhayes of Curtis Brown UK.
JENEVA ROSE resold self-published speculative novel The Girl I Was to Dina Davis at Mira via Sandy Lu of Book Wyrm Literary Agency.
TIM HOLMAN has been promoted to president and publisher of Orbit.
This report and more like it in the August 2024 issue of Locus.
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