People & Publishing Roundup, January 2025
MARK W. TIEDEMANN is now represented by Vaughne Hansen of the Virginia Kidd Agency.
ESPAÑA SHERIFF is the winner of the 2024 Rotsler Award for “long-time wonder-working with graphic art in amateur publications of the science fiction community,’’ announced during Loscon 50, held November 29 – December 1, 2024 at the Marriott Los Angeles Airport Hotel in Los Angeles CA. The award was established in 1998 by the Southern California Institute for Fan Interests, Inc. The winner receives a $300 honorarium. The Rotsler judges this year were John Hertz, Sue Mason, and Suzanne Tompkins.
FRANCES OGAMBA and YVETTE LISA NDLOVU were selected as two of the four winners of the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship, which provides a grant of £18,000, paid monthly over 12 months.
ISABEL ALLENDE sold My Name Is Emilia del Valle to Jennifer Hershey at Ballantine for seven figures via Johanna Castillo of Writers House. UK rights went to Bloomsbury UK via Peggy Boulos Smith of Writers House.
KEN LIU sold All That We See Or Seem and two more books in a new near-future thriller trilogy, plus collection The Passing of the Dragon and Other Stories, to Joe Monti at Saga Press via Russell Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency.
KOSOKO JACKSON sold The Epidemiology of Witchcraft to David Pomerico at Voyager via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
KATHE KOJA resold Kink and sold another book to David Niall Wilson at Macabre Ink via Christopher Schelling of Selectric Artists.
ALEX BLEDSOE sold thriller While the City aNever Sleeps to John Hartness at Falstaff Books via Anne Tibbets of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
HAILEY PIPER’s collection of ‘‘coming-of-rage’’ stories Teenage Girls Can Be Demons and two more books went to Daniel Carpenter at Titan Books via Lane Heymont of The Tobias Literary Agency.
N.E. DAVENPORT’s fantasy Our Vicious Oaths and a second title sold to David Pomerico at Voyager via Caitie Flum of Liza Dawson Associates. UK rights went to Chloe Gough at Voyager UK.
BRITTANY KELLEY’s cozy fantasy Meat’s Back on the Menu, about a retired orc who opens a butcher shop, and a second title sold to Sareer Khader at Berkley via Jessica Watterson of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
JOHNNY COMPTON’s ‘‘supernatural neo-noir’’ Dead First and a second book sold to Daphne Durham at Putnam for six figures via Lane Heymont of The Tobias Literary Agency.
TAYLOR EPPERSON sold cozy fantasy rom-com Second Time’s a Charm and another book to Kirsiah Depp at Grand Central via Emily Forney of BookEnds.
L.R. LAM sold gaslamp fantasy trilogy Pantomime, Shadowplay, and Masquerade to Aranya Jain at DAW via Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment. UK rights went to Jo Dickinson at Hodderscape.
NATASHA SIEGEL’s fantasy As Many Souls as Stars and a second book sold to Vicky Leech Mateos at Bloomsbury UK via Catherine Cho of Paper Literary. US rights went to Ariana Sinclair at Morrow in a six-figure pre-empt.
TRICIA O’MALLEY sold Love’s a Witch and a cozy Scottish romantasy to Ghjulia Romiti at Gallery at auction. Carrie Feron will edit. UK rights went to Molly Crawford at Simon & Schuster UK via Christina Hogrebe and Casey Conniff of Jane Rotrosen Agency.
SIERRA BRANHAM sold SF novel Love Galaxy and two more books to Navah Wolfe at DAW at auction via Cameron McClure of Donald Maass Literary Agency. UK rights went to Imogen Nelson at Transworld in a pre-empt via John Baker of Bell Lomax Moreton Agency on behalf of McClure.
EMILY HAMILTON sold ‘‘epic queer cyberpunk trilogy’’ Ascendancy, Transcendency, and Resplendency to Nate Lanman at Voyager via Roma Panganiban of Janklow & Nesbit.
ASHLEY BENNETT’s vampire novel Rugged Blood and a second book sold to Kristine Swartz at Berkley in a pre-empt in a two-book deal via Jessica Watterson of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
S.D. SMITH sold The Secret of the Valley and two more in a new fantasy series to Kyle Hatfield at Harvest House at auction via Alexander Field of The Bindery.
HANNAH WHITTEN’s horror novel Reliquary, Celtic romantasy Hawkheart, and contemporary romantic fantasy duology The Greening Court went to Brit Hvide at Orbit in separate two-book deals via Whitney Ross of High Line Literary Collective.
WALLIS KINNEY’s ‘‘cozy Yuletide romantasy’’ About You went to Melissa Rechter at Alcove Press via Amy Giuffrida of Belcastro Agency.
AMANDA MORTLOCK’s paranormal novel Familiar and a second book went to Hydia Scott-Riley at Emily Bestler Books at auction via Emma Kapson of Verve Talent & Literary.
GUY IMMEGA sold Eye of the Beholder: Beauty, Truth and Aliens to Brian Hades at EDGE.
JOSIE LLOYD & EMLYN REES’s SF novel You & Me & You & Me & You & Me went to Tara Singh Carlson at Putnam at auction, via Meredith Miller of UTA on behalf of Felicity Blunt and Rosie Pierce of Curtis Brown UK for Lloyd, and Phil Patterson of Marjacq for Rees. UK rights went to Liz Foley at Harvill Secker.
JENNIFER THORNE’s Newbourne Park – ‘‘Saltburn with werewolves’’ – and a second title sold to Daphne Durham at Putnam via Katelyn Detweiler of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.
AIMIE K. RUNYAN sold Sabrina Sorensen Seeks the Stars and another title to Kimberly Carlton at Harper Muse via Kevan Lyon of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
RAVEN KENNEDY sold a duology ‘‘loosely inspired by the Pied Piper myth with a fae twist’’ to Julia Elliott at Avon in a seven-figure pre-empt via Kimberly Whalen of The Whalen Agency. Rebecca Hilsdon at Michael Joseph acquired UK rights.
CRAIG SCHAEFER sold three books in the Neon Meridian fantasy series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon via Andrea Hurst of Andrea Hurst Literary Management.
ANGELIQUE ARMAE’s Knight of Sin, Knight of Magic, and Knight of Deception, part of Skye Warriors historical fantasy romance series, sold to Kathryn Le Veque at Dragonblade Moonrise.
EMILY RUTH VERONA’s Shiva went to Rob Carroll at Dark Matter Ink via Jennifer Weltz of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.
TREVAUGHN MALIK ROACH-CARTER sold Bryn’s Virtues: Courage, about a young trans woman who discovers she’s an Amazon, to Craig Gibb at Dreamsphere.
DEBBIE CASSIDY’s first four books in the Wicked Onyx series sold to Meredith Wild at Page & Vine via Nikki Groom of SBR Media.
AL PESSIN’s near-future political novel Body Man sold to Stacey Walker at Blank Slate Press via Mira Perrizo at Wordlink. Lisa Miller will edit.
THOMAS KING’s Aliens on the Moon went to Iris Tupholme at Harper Canada via Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists.
REBECCA ROWLAND sold Eminence Front to Christoph Paul at Clash via Becky LeJeune of Bond Literary Agency.
DON SAWYER’s romantic fantasy The Tunnels of Buda went to Jason Henderson at Castle Bridge Media. In Churl Yo will edit.
LOR GISLASON sold horror novel Cosmic Dyke Patrol, described as ‘‘Hellboy meets Steven Universe,’’ to Max Booth III at Ghoulish Books.
SAMANTHA RYAN’s fantasy These Are Not My Final Words sold to TruBorn Press.
DEVNEY PERRY’s fantasy Shield of Sparrows and two more books sold to Liz Pelletier at Red Tower via Georgana Grinstead of The Seymour Agency.
CYNTHIA PELAYO sold Never Ever – ‘‘J.M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy meets Stephen King’s It’’ – to Melissa Rechter at Crooked Lane via Lane Heymont of The Tobias Literary Agency.
Spouses PAUL KNIGHT & CHRIS ALLEN sold SF novel The Music of Creation to Geoff Habiger at Shadow Dragon Press.
SUSAN HARRIS’s dark paranormal romance duology Reaper’s Kiss went to Veronica English at CTP.
ASHTON MACAULAY sold SF novel One Night at Kedasi to Geoff Habiger at Shadow Dragon Press.
WENDY GODDING’s Daughter of Dragons and Diamonds went to Lisa Green at City Owl Press.
TYLER JONES sold horror novel Depth Charge to Alan Lastufka at Shortwave via Elizabeth Copps at Copps Literary Services.
RICARDO VICTORIA sold story collection The Lost Knight and Other Tales, set in the Tempest Blades universe, to Geoff Habiger at Shadow Dragon Press.
ADAM CESARE’s YA horror novel Blood Sick and a second title sold to Ardyce Alspach at Union Square Kids in a pre-empt via Alec Shane of Writers House.
DAVID FERRARO’s YA fantasy Soul of a Gentleman Witch went to Tamara Grasty at Page Street via Eva Scalzo of Speilburg Literary Agency.
KIKA HATZOPOULOU sold YA fantasy Moth Dark to Gretchen Durning at Putnam Children’s via Michaela Whatnall at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
K.H. SAXTON sold YA fantasy All Souls Academy to Ardyce Alspach at Union Square Kids via Erin Clyburn of Howland Literary.
KIERA AZAR’s YA romantasy Thorn Season and two more titles sold to Kristin Daly Rens at HarperTeen at auction via Pete Knapp of Park & Fine Literary and Media on behalf of Claire Wilson at Rogers, Coleridge & White. UK rights went to Tom Bonnick at Harper Children’s UK at auction via Wilson.
A.T. QURESHI’s YA romantasy Baby Dragon Café sold to Amy Baxter at Avon UK, while sequel Baby Dragon Bakery and a third book in the trilogy also sold to Baxter in a separate deal, via Sheyla Knigge and Victoria Marini of High Line Literary Collective.
MANUIA HEINRICH’s YA ‘‘speculative thriller’’ Salt Water Blood and another title sold to Sarah Barley at Sarah Barley Books at auction via Marin Takikawa of Friedrich Agency. Australian and New Zealand rights sold to Anna McFarlane at Allen & Unwin at auction via Anna Carmichael of Abner Stein on behalf of Marin Takikawa.
LOUANGIE BOU-MONTES’s queer fantasy YA novel Cold Blows the Wind sold to Kortney Nash at Godwin Books via Saritza Hernandez of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
ERICA GOMEZ sold YA fantasy School for Fireflies to Eishar Brar at Knights Of via Saffron Dodd of ASH Literary.
AI JIANG’s first novel, science fantasy An Empire Above Opera, plus a second title sold to Cath Trechman at Titan Books at auction via Lisa Abellera of Kimberley Cameron & Associates.
LEAH HOLBROOK SACKETT sold YA fantasy novel Death Is a Hungry Angel to Geoff Habiger at Kinkajou Press.
REENA MCCARTY’s first novel The Tricky Business of Fairy Bargains and another book sold to Alyea Canada at Orbit and Emily Byron at Orbit UK via Jennie Goloboy of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
JACOB ROLLINSON’s debut novel The Truth of Carcosa, a tribute to The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers, sold to Mika Kasuga at Union Square & Co via Helen Edwards of Helen Edwards Rights Agency.
New writer KEVIN DG JOHNSON sold Christmas horror novel ‘Twas the Night to Nate Lanman at William Morrow via Naomi Eisenbeiss of Inkwell Management.
CHERI RADKE’s debut novel An Accident of Dragons and a second book sold to Diana Pho at Erewhon via Brenna English-Loeb of Transatlantic Literary Agency.
SEAMUS SULLIVAN’s first novel Daedalus Is Dead went to Eli Goldman at Tordotcom via Cameron McClure of Donald Maass Literary Agency. Matt Rusin will edit.
CAITLIN BREEZE sold debut fantasy The Fox Hunt to Liv Ryan at Little, Brown in a pre-empt via Nicole Cunningham of The Book Group. UK rights went Lucy Courtenay at Electric Monkey.
Debut author ELLE GRENIER sold YA This Wretched Beauty – ‘‘a transfeminine remix of The Picture of Dorian Gray’’ by Oscar Wilde – to Emily Settle at Feiwel and Friends for the Remixed Classics series via Alexandra Levick of Writers House.
ROSE KEATING sold debut horror collection Oddbody to Leah Woodburn at Canonate in the UK via Ed Wilson of Johnson & Alcock. Simon & Schuster will publish in the US.
GETHAN DICK’s Water in the Desert Fire in the Night, ‘‘a postapocalyptic feminist debut, went to Sarah Davis-Goff at Tramp Press in Ireland via Philip Gwyn Jones of Greyhound Literary.
ANDY C. NARANJO’s debut YA fantasy Don’t Kiss the Prince and a second title sold to Asia Harden at Farrar, Straus Children’s via Chelsea Hensley of Mad Woman Literary Agency.
SARAH GAILEY sold erotic horror novella Spread Me to Nightfire.
DAVID NAIMON sold a collection of essays and interviews about Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed to Ramsey Kanaan at PM Press via Kelsey Day of Aragi Inc.
LAWRENCE C. CONNOLLY’s superpowered mercenary novel Minute-Men: Execute and Run sold to Shahid Mahmud for Arc Manor’s Caezik imprint via Vaughne Hansen of the Virginia Kidd Agency, Inc.
DAVID QUANTICK sold fantasy novella Imagine a Friend to Jendia Gammon and Gareth L. Powell at Stars and Sabers Publishing.
TRISTA MATEER sold Dead Girls Don’t Dream: A Gothic Novella, ‘‘an LGBTQ+ retelling of Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla,’’ to Michelle Halket at Central Avenue.
LIZ DELEO sold non-fiction book The Illustrated Compendium of Horror to Maria Espinosa at Simon Element via Leigh Eisenman at Wolf Literary Services.
COLLEEN ANDERSON sold Vellum Leaves and Lettered Skins, ‘‘an exploration of the Rapunzel fairytale through verse,’’ to Stephanie Wytovich at Raw Dog Screaming Press. Jennifer Barnes will edit.
E.G. CONDÉ sold novellas Caciques and Maqueches, set in the world of Sordidez, to Selena Middleton at Stelliform Press.
ÍDE HENNESSY, JOHN K. PECK, and L. MAHLER each sold a novelette to Matt Blairstone and Alex Woodroe at Tenebrous Press for anthology Split Scream: Off the Map. Alex Ebenstein will edit.
NATHAN BALLINGRUD resold collection North American Lake Monsters to Nathan Connolly at New Ruins via Small Beer Press. Connolly also acquired collection Atlas of Hell via Anna Carmichael at Abner Stein. Film rights to his novel The Strange went to Black Label Media, with Aisha Porter-Christie to adapt and J.D. Dillard directing. Molly Smith, Rachel Smith, Thad Luckinbill, and Trent Luckinbill will produce for Black Label along with Dillard and David Eisenberg. Ballingrud was represented by Hotchkiss Daily & Associates and Massie and McQuilkin Literary Agents.
RACHEL GREENLAW resold dark academia fantasy The Ordeals and another title to Alicia Clancy at Bantam Dell via Allison Hunter of Trellis Literary Management on behalf of Maddalena Cavaciuti at David Higham Associates. HarperCollins will publish in the UK.
PAULA LAFFERTY resold Arthurian novel La Vie de Guinevere and two more titles to Alexandra Sunshine at Erewhon in a pre-empt via Taryn Fagerness of Taryn Fagerness Agency. UK rights sold to Calah Singleton at Hodderscape via Imogen Bovill of Abner Stein.
K.A. TUCKER resold A Dawn of Gods & Fury, fourth and final book in the Fate & Flame series, to Kate McHale at Cornerstone in the UK via Stacey Donaghy of Donaghy Literary Group.
MAX DOTY sold US rights to The House that Eats the Dead and a second book to Wendy Wong at Bantam Dell in a pre-empt via Jon Mitchell of Pan Macmillan in the UK.
First novelist SAVANNAH STEPHENS resold the Blood and Magic duology to Gabrielle Pachon at Ace in a pre-empt in a two-book deal via Tara Hiatt at UK publisher Gollancz.
NAN GRAHAM will step down as publisher of Scribner in 2025, but will continue to edit existing authors and acquire new books. She was the first editor-in-chief at the imprint, starting in 1994. S&S plans ‘‘an open and thorough search for the next publisher of Scribner.’’
RUOXI CHEN has joined Putnam as executive editor after seven years at Tor. She will acquire ‘‘crossover fantasy, romantasy, and science fiction titles for the general reader.’’
WALT BOYES and JOY WARD have joined Misti Media as editors-at-large, and will oversee the launch of new SF, fantasy, and horror imprint Nazca Press, as well as working on other imprints.
ANDREA HALL has joined Metamorphosis Literary Agency to handle subsidiary rights for children’s literature.
DARIAN BIANCO is now managing editor for Apex Book Company.
C.S. LEWIS’s Chronicles of Narnia series is being adapted for film (again), this time for Netflix by director Greta Gerwig and producer Amy Pascal.
Film rights to JASON PINTER’s Past Crimes were optioned by A&E via Lucy Stille at Lucy Stille Literary on behalf of Amy Tannenbaum and Jessica Errera of Jane Rotrosen Agency.
Film rights to CALLIE HART’s romantasy Quicksilver were optioned by Netflix, with Elizabeth Cantillon of The Cantillon Company to produce, for a reported seven figures via William Morris Endeavor.
This report and more like it in the January 2024 issue of Locus.
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