People & Publishing Roundup, February 2025
MEGAN CHEE is now represented by Stevie Finegan of Zeno Agency Ltd.
EVE HILL-AGNUS won the 2024 Albertine Translation Prize for her translation of Ultramarine by MARIETTE NAVARRO (Deep Vellum), presented by the French Embassy in the US and selected by a jury.
STEPHEN KING will write Hansel and Gretel, a “reimagining” of the fairy tale, with illustrations by the late MAURICE SENDAK (originally created as designs for a 1997 opera). King will also write an introduction. Nancy Inteli and Megan Ilnitzki acquired the title for HarperCollins Children’s Books via Liz Darhansoff of Darhansoff & Verrill for King, and via the Maurice Sendak Foundation. UK rights went to Jo Dickinson at Hodder & Stoughton and Hannah Ray at Hachette Children’s Group via Darhansoff for King, and via Luke Ingram of the Wylie Agency for the Maurice Sendak Foundation.
MARGARET ATWOOD sold Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts to Lee Boudreaux at Doubleday via Karolina Sutton of CAA. McClelland & Stewart will publish in Canada, and Chatto & Windus in the UK.
URSULA VERNON, writing as T. KINGFISHER, sold fantasy Snake-Eater to Elizabeth Agyemang at 47North via Helen Breitwieser of Cornerstone Literary.
LESLYE PENELOPE’s urban fantasy December 32 went to Alyea Canada at Orbit via Arley Sorg of kt literary.
SARAH LANGAN’s Trad Wife, described as “Get Out meets Behind Her Eyes with echoes of The Yellow Wallpaper,” sold to Sophie Robinson at Tor UK via Stacia Decker of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.
SARAH BETH DURST sold fantasy romance Sea of Charms and a second title to Ali Fisher and Dianna Vega at Bramble via Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger. UK rights sold to Gillian Green at Tor UK via Chris Scheina at Macmillan.
CHARLES STROSS sold The Regicide Report, the final book in the Laundry Files series, to Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Tor via Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates. UK rights sold to Jenni Hill at Orbit UK.
REBECCA ROSS sold standalone fantasy Wild Reverence, set in the world of Divine Rivals, to Eileen Rothschild at Saturday Books via Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media.
ALEXIS HALL sold Hell’s Heart – “ a futuristic retelling of Moby-Dick that recasts Ishmael as a trans woman” – and another novel to Mal Frazier at Tor via Courtney Miller-Callihan of Handspun Literary. UK rights went to Bella Pagan at Tor UK at auction.
CANDAS JANE DORSEY sold literary speculative novel (At the) Freak Show to University of Calgary Press.
JACK CAMPBELL sold SF novel Alien Hunt to Rhett Bruno at Aethon via Joshua Bilmes and Arielle DeVito of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
MALLORY MARLOWE sold paranormal rom-com Entities to Lovers to Mary Baker at Berkley via Jill Marr of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
MEG SHAFFER sold fantasy The Book Witch and a second title to Shauna Summers at Ballantine via Amy Tannenbaum of Jane Rotrosen Agency.
J.D. NETTO sold Winterborne and two more books in the eponymous fantasy trilogy to Kate Runde at Podium Publishing via Susan Velazquez of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
LESLIE RENÉ’s cozy romantasy Maggie and Arthur’s Magic Moment and a second book went to Sarah Blumenstock at Berkley for six figures in a pre-empt via Brent Taylor of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
FRANCESCO DIMITRI sold Pan, translated by Sophia McDougall, and a second book to Lee Harris at Tor via Sheil Land Associates.
KESHE CHOW sold Strange Familiars, set at a magical veterinary college, and a second title to Kristine Swartz at Ace in a pre-empt via Lauren Spieller of Folio Literary Management. UK rights went to Calah Singleton at Hodderscape at auction.
CORTNEY L. WINN sold romantasy Vesselless and another book to Nate Lanman at Voyager for six figures at auction via Brenna English-Loeb and Alexandra D’Amico of Transatlantic Literary Agency. UK rights sold to Chloe Gough at Voyager UK.
DIEGO MUZZIO’s fantasy The Eye of Goliath sold to Rory Williamson at Pushkin Press via Maria Juncosa of Casanovas & Lynch Agency.
SARA LEVINE’s fantasy The Hitch went to Roxane Gay at Roxane Gay Books via Emily Forland of Brandt & Hochman.
ARVIND ETHAN DAVID sold The Dread and the Envy, a historical mystery featuring iconic literary characters, to Kjersti Egerdahl at Thomas & Mercer via Eric Smith while at P.S. Literary Agency.
CJ LEEDE’s horror novel Night Fever and two more books sold to Kelly Lonesome at Nightfire via Chad Luibl of Janklow & Nesbit.
CATHARINA MAURA resold self-published fantasy A Curse of Shadows and Ice and sold a second book to Junessa Viloria at Forever in a pre-empt via Thao Le of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
CLAY MCLEOD CHAPMAN’s “horror love story” Devil Inside went to Emma Cole at Mira via Nick McCabe of The Gotham Group.
FORREST BRAZEAL’s satirical SF novel The Bleb Project, “asking what happens when Silicon Valley invents time travel,” sold to Julian Pavia at Ballantine in a pre-empt via Eric Showers of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
NATASHA SIEGEL sold literary fantasy Leander and the Lantern to Ariana Sinclair at William Morrow for six figures via Catherine Cho of Paper Literary.
T.R. MOORE sold fantasy novel The Gods Must Burn to Amy Borsuk at Solaris via Allegra Martschenko of Ladderbird Literary Agency.
MARY BERMAN’s horror novel Until Death went to Helen O’Hare at Little, Brown in a pre-empt via Stephanie Delman and Allison Malecha of Trellis Literary Management. UK rights sold to Florence Rees at AM Heath.
RICHARD SWAN sold SF novel The Infinite State and two more titles to Robert Davis at Tor via Harry Illingworth of DHH Literary. UK rights went to Brendan Durkin at Gollancz.
DEL SANDEEN sold horror novel Death Is My Castle to Anne Sowards at Berkley via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
AJA GABEL’s SF novel Lightbreakers went to Alison Fairbrother at Riverhead via Andrea Morrison of Writers House.
ISABEL STERLING’s sapphic paranormal novel With All My Haunted Heart and a second book sold to Liz Sellers at Berkley via Danielle Burby of Mad Woman Literary Agency.
CARISSA BROADBENT resold Daughter of No Worlds and two more in the self-published War of Lost Hearts trilogy to Monique Patterson at Bramble via Bibi Lewis of Ethan Ellenberg Agency. Erika Tsang will edit. UK rights went to Gillian Green at Bramble UK.
V.L. BOVALINO sold fantasy The Second Death of Locke and two more books to Madeleine Colavita at Forever via Maddy Belton of Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency.
I.V. OPHELIA sold gothic romantic horror novel Fruit of the Flesh and steampunk horror Florescentia to Megan Sakoi at Montlake via Angie Ojeda Hazen of Lunar Literary Agency.
BRIDGET MORRISSEY, AUSTIN SIEGEMUND-BROKA, and EMILY WIBBERLEY, writing as E.B. ASHER, sold fantasy This Will Be Interesting, a standalone set in world of This Will Be Fun, to Priyanka Krishnan at Avon via Taylor Haggerty of Root Literary for Morrissey, and via Katie Shea Boutillier of Donald Maass Literary Agency for Siegemund-Broka and Wibberley.
CHELSEA IVERSEN sold thriller “with a speculative twist” What These Woods Remember and a second title to Jenna Jankowski at Sourcebooks Landmark via Nicole Cunningham of The Book Group.
S.E. KISER’s fantasy Hunt the Ever Wild went to Desola Coker at Angry Robot via Eric Showers of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
MAISEY YATES sold fantasy First Witches Club to Selena James at Montlake via Helen Breitwieser of Cornerstone Literary.
INVI WRIGHT sold five books in fantasy romance series The Female and two books in the Cursed Kingdom fantasy romance series to Jason Pinter at Simon Maverick.
CAILEAN STEED sold fantasy novel The Mirror Halls and a second title to Helen O’Hare at Little, Brown in a pre-empt via Oliver Munson of A.M. Heath. UK rights went to Charlotte Robathan at John Murray Press in a pre-empt.
BRITTANY AMARA’s fantasy novel Jasperwood sold to Elizabeth Agyemang at 47North via Monica Rodriguez of Context Literary Agency.
CLARE OSONGCO sold ghost story Unfinished Business to Jenny Chen at Bantam Dell in a pre-empt via Amy Bishop-Wycisk of Trellis Literary Management.
MCKAYLA COYLE sold cozy romance collection Mothman Is My Boyfriend: Stories of Cryptid Love, Lust, and Longing along with digital-exclusive “spicier” collection Mothman Is My Daddy, to Jess Zimmerman at Quirk Books via Rebecca Podos of Rees Literary Agency.
ANDY MARINO’s horror novel Cold Empty Rooms and a second book went to Bradley Englert at Run For It via Cameron McClure of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
K. VALENTIN sold fantasy An Amateur Witch’s Guide to Murder to Rebecca Nelson at Alcove Press via Cameron McClure of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
DEB OLIN UNFERTH’s “near-apocalyptic love story” Earth 7 sold to Ethan Nosowsky at Graywolf via Bill Clegg of The Clegg Agency.
ASHLEY COWAN sold fantasy holiday romance Not Another Christmas Movie to Jess Verdi at Alcove Press via Claire Cavanagh of The Rights Factory.
ANNIE NEUGEBAUER’s doppelgänger horror novels The Other and The Spare, set in the world of The Extra, sold to Alan Lastufka at Shortwave via Alec Shane of Writers House.
MATT WITTEN’s near-future novel Free for All went to Verena Rose at Level Best via Josh Getzler of HG Literary.
KATHRYN BERLA sold vampire novel John Doe Does Not Suck to Geoff Habiger at Shadow Dragon Press.
JOHN R. KELLY sold The Inklings Detective Agency, a historical mystery where J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and other Inklings hunt a killer, to Jamie Lapeyrolerie at WaterBrook Multnomah in a pre-empt via Adam Chromy of Movable Type Management.
COLLEEN DELANEY sold books three, four, and five in the Witches of Star Island paranormal romance series to Tee Tate at City Owl Press.
SAM MUNSON’s “Kafkaesque, slow-burn” domestic horror novel The Sofa went to Eric Obenauf at Two Dollar Radio via Jacqueline Ko of The Wylie Agency.
LIZZY GAYLE’s fantasy novel The Imrati Trials went to Tina Moss at City Owl Press.
MARIE PARKS sold fantasy heist novel Flightless to Geoff Habiger at Shadow Dragon Press.
BRITTANY COOK’s A Voice of Wrath, a queer reimagining of “The Little Mermaid”, sold to Lisa Green at City Owl Press.
IBI ZOBOI sold children’s fantasy The Serpent, The Rainbow, The Island Below and a second title to Alessandra Balzer at Balzer + Bray via Elena Giovinazzo while at Pippin Properties.
KIERSTEN WHITE sold YA supernatural mystery The House of Quiet and a second book to Wendy Loggia at Delacorte via Michelle Wolfson at Wolfson Literary Agency.
HEATHER KASSNER’s YA fantasy Spellwright sold to Julia McCarthy at Atheneum via Sheyla Knigge and Victoria Marini of High Line Literary Collective.
SUSIE NADLER sold SF YA novel Lies We Tell About the Stars and a second title to Andrew Karre at Dutton Children’s at auction via Molly Ker Hawn of The Bent Agency.
EMILY LLOYD-JONES sold YA SF novel Augusta Pine Does Not Exist and a second book to Donna Bray at Balzer + Bray at auction via Sarah Landis of Sterling Lord Literistic. UK rights sold to Penguin Children’s UK in a pre-empt via Rachel Clements of Abner Stein.
JADE ADIA sold YA SF thriller Delete Before Reading to Stacey Barney at Nancy Paulsen Books via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
TEHLOR KAY MEJIA’s YA dark academia fantasy Marrow sold to Mara Delgado-Sanchez at Wednesday Books via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. Vanessa Aguirre will edit.
YAMILE SAIED MENDEZ sold historical fantasy Hear Ye Mortals to Irene Vazquez at Levine Querido via Linda Camacho of Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency.
BRIANNA JETT sold YA fantasy novel in verse Under a Carnivore Sky to Lauren Knowles at Page Street via Brent Taylor of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
ERICA RIDLEY’s YA horror novel Insatiable went to Bria Ragin at Delacorte via Lauren Abramo of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
MAE COYIUTO magical contemporary YA Goodbye and Everything After sold to Anna Roberto at Feiwel and Friends via Thao Le of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
SEEMA YASMIN’s YA novel The Voices sold to Justin Chanda at Simon & Schuster Children’s via Lilly Ghahremani of Full Circle Literary.
ADRIANA MATHER’s YA dark academia romantasy The Gifted sold to Holly West at Feiwel and Friends via Rosemary Stimola of Stimola Literary Studio.
B. SCHER’s YA fantasy The Nowhere in Between went to Joshua Dean Perry at Tiny Ghost Press via Steve Harris of CSG Literary Partners.
SAMI ELLIS sold YA horror novel Funerals Are for the Living to Claire Stetzer at Amulet via Maeve MacLysaght of Aevitas Creative Management.
RYAN LA SALA’s YA horror novel The Dead of Summer and a second title sold to Jody Corbett at Scholastic via Pete Knapp of Park, Fine & Brower Literary Management.
JUNO DAWSON sold two books in the postapocalyptic YA DOLLHOU5E Survival Show series to Yasmin Morrissey at Gallery YA via Sallyanne Sweeney of Mulcahy Sweeney.
CATHERINE DOYLE sold the third book in the YA fantasy City of Fantome series and another book to Kate Prosswimmer at Margaret K. McElderry Books via Pete Knapp of Park, Fine & Brower Literary Management on behalf of Claire Wilson at Rogers, Coleridge & White.
REBECCA CARVALHO sold Cecily, first in a crossover YA romantic fantasy series, plus two more books to Sarah Barley at Sarah Barley Books in a pre-empt via Thao Le of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. UK rights sold to Lucy Pearse at Simon & Schuster UK via Abner Stein.
JOHANNA VAN VEEN’s fantasy The Witch of Hagstone Hill and two more in the Triplets Grim trilogy went to Karen Wojtyla at Margaret K. McElderry Books at auction via Kristina Pérez of Pérez Literary & Entertainment. UK rights sold to Laura Smith at WF Howes.
ERIC SMITH’s children’s space opera The Astronautics sold to Emily Daluga at Chronicle Children’s via Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary Agency.
ALEESE LIN’s first novel Samantha Spuk: Paranormal Wedding Planner and a second title went to Amara Hoshijo at Saga Press via Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates.
Debut author NATALIE MESSIER’s fantasy novel Every Version of You and a second book sold to Carrie Feron at Gallery at auction via Holly Root of Root Literary. UK rights sold to Transworld at auction.
New writer THOMAS KENT WEST sold historical romantasy City of Iron & Ivy to Alex Logan at Forever in a pre-empt via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
First novelist LAURA CRANEHILL sold Wife Shaped Bodies, about a newlywed in a spore-infected world where women are covered in fungal growths, to Sareena Kamath at Saga Press via Kurestin Armada of Root Literary.
KENNEDY COLE sold debut historical SF novel There Used to Be People and a second book to Candice Coote at Berkley in a pre-empt via Alex Brown of Mad Woman Literary Agency.
First novelist CHRISTINA FERKO sold sapphic horror novel The Darkness Greeted Her and a second title to Gabbi Calabrese at Sourcebooks Fire via Cole Lanahan of The Seymour Agency.
Debut author LEXI ALEXANDER’s speculative rom-com Hating You, Interrupted sold to Holly Ingraham at Alcove Press via Aurora Fernandez of Trident Media Group.
First novelist ANUJA VARGHESE sold A Kiss of Crimson Ash, first in a romantasy trilogy, to Tiana Coven at Orbit via Hana El Niwairi of CookeMcDermid. Rights also sold to Emily Byron at Orbit UK, and to Lara Hinchberger at Penguin Canada at auction.
HOLLIE NELSON’s first novel A Little Hate, a horror romance, went to Melissa Rechter at Alcove Press via Joanna Rasheed of Ultra Literary.
KRISTINA TEN sold debut collection Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine to Bodie Fox at Stillhouse Press.
First novelist ALLISON MICK sold eco-horror novel Humboldt Cut and a second book to Diana M. Pho at Erewhon Books via John Baker of Bell Lomax Moreton Agency.
ANNA FITENI sold debut YA The Wicked Lies of Habren Faire to Sarah Alpert at Algonquin Young Readers via Lydia Silver of Darley Anderson. The Algonquin imprint closed in 2024; Ruqayyah Daud at Little, Brown Children’s will edit.
KELSEY DAY’s debut speculative horror novel The Spiral Key went to Jenny Bak at Viking Children’s at auction via Chelsea Eberly of Greenhouse Literary Agency on behalf of Dovetail Fiction/Working Partners and Laura Southern of Wolf Literary Services.
SHANNON J. SPANN’s first YA romantasy A Stage Set for Villains and a second title went to Liz Pelletier at Mayhem Books in a pre-empt via Ellen Goff of HG Literary. Jen Bouvier will edit.
H.T. ASHMEAD sold YA fantasy debut Establishing a Legend and sequels Developing a Legend and Securing a Legend to Lindsay Flanagan at Mad Cat. Riley Bess will edit.
JOHNNY COMPTON’s SF horror novella Chimera Skin went to Alan Lastufka at Shortwave via Lane Heymont of The Tobias Literary Agency.
MOLLYHALL SEELEY resold humorous fantasy novel We Hexed the Moon to Sareena Kamath at Saga Press via Alyssa Jennette at Stonesong.
PER JACOBSEN resold self-published holiday horror novel 25 Days to Emily Bestler at Emily Bestler Books and Jason Pinter at Simon Maverick via David Hale Smith of Inkwell Management.
MARYSUE RUCCI has been named the new publisher of Scribner following the departure of NAN GRAHAM from that role. Marysue Rucci Books will publish through 2025, and their authors will follow Rucci to Scribner.
BRENDAN DURKIN has been promoted to editorial director at UK SF publisher Gollancz. He joined the company in 2018.
Agent CAITLIN MAHONY has been promoted to partner at WME.
This report and more like it in the February 2025 issue of Locus.
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