Antopol Inks Double at Norton
Stegner Fellow Molly Antopol has signed a two-book deal with Norton, selling a story collection and a novel. Jill Bialosky took North American rights at auction from Bill Clegg at William Morris Endeavor. The UnAmericans, the collection that will mark Antopol’s debut, features tales set throughout the U.S., Israel, and Eastern Europe. The second book in the deal is a novel titled The After Party, about a husband and wife who regularly put their lives on the line to publish an anticommunist newspaper in Prague. Antopol has an M.F.A. from Columbia University and her short fiction has appeared in, among other publications, One Story and Glimmer Train.
SMP Re-Ups Soli
Tatjana Soli, who won the 2011 James Tait Black Award for her 2010 novel The Lotus Eaters, signed to do her third book with her current publisher, St. Martin’s Press. Andrew Wylie at The Wylie Agency sold North American rights to the currently untitled novel to Hilary Rubin Teeman. The book, SMP said, is about a married couple from Los Angeles who, on the run from the law, set out to make a new life on an island in the South Pacific. The book is scheduled for 2015. The Lotus Eaters and Soli’s previous novel, The Forgetting Tree, were both named New York Times Notable Books.
Simon Pulse Stays in Biz with Ockler
Simon & Schuster’s Simon Pulse imprint has signed up two new contemporary teen romances from its author Sarah Ockler (Twenty Boy Summer and Fixing Delilah). Ted Malawer at Upstart Crow Literary brokered the North American rights deal with Patrick Price. The first book, Love & Other Internet Disasters, is, Malawer said, about a 17-year-old girl who is caught in a “compromising situation” with her best friend’s guy on prom night, only to have the evidence of the scandal go viral. The novel is currently scheduled for spring 2014.
Martin Takes ‘Against’ to Kensington Bestseller
Kat Martin is moving her contemporary romance series Against from Harlequin to Kensington. Alicia Condon bought world English, German, French and Italian translation rights to three new titles in the six-book series, the first of which is set for fall 2014. Alexandra Machinist at Janklow & Nesbit represented Martin. The deal marks a homecoming for Martin, whose Sinclair Sisters trilogy was published by Kensington from 2003 through 2005. Martin has published over 50 romance novels and, Kensington noted, there are more than 13 million copies of her books in print.
Anshaw Returns to S&S
Carol Anshaw (Carry the One) has signed a new deal with Simon & Schuster. The author, whose 2012 novel drew strong reviews and became a New York Times bestseller (as well as one of the paper’s Notable Books for the year), sold a currently untitled novel to her S&S editor, Trish Todd. Joy Harris, who has an eponymous agency, did the negotiation, moving U.S., Canadian, and open market rights. S&S said the book “explores what happens when three ordinarily good, middle-class people are tested by an event that steals their innocence.”
Pollan Women Join ‘Table’ for Four
Famed food writer Michael Pollan is getting a run for his literary money from his mother and three sisters. The quartet—Corky (the mom), Lori, Tracy, and Dana Pollan—sold world rights to a cookbook called The Pollan Family Table to Shannon Welch at Scribner. Andrea Barzvi at ICM Partners represented the women, and Barzvi said the book will feature “healthy and delicious meals” that have been shared “from generation to generation.”
