Schwarz Tackles Parker for Atria
At Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books, Greer Hendricks bought North American rights to Bonnie by Christina Schwarz. The book is a fictionalized take on Bonnie Parker and the path that led her to become Clyde Barrow’s partner. In Bonnie, Atria said, Schwarz “animates the few known facts” about Parker to create “a plaintive and fast-paced account of a woman destroyed by the lethal combination of boredom and love.” Jennifer Rudolph Walsh at William Morris Endeavor represented Schwarz (Drowning Ruth); the novel is set for 2015.
FSG Finds Jew Among Nazis
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers’ Wesley Adams pre-empted world English rights to Georg Rauch’s memoir An Unlikely Warrior: A Jewish Soldier in Hitler’s Army from Stonesong agent Emmanuelle Morgen. Rauch, who died in 2006, was 18, part Jewish, and living in Austria when he was drafted into the Führer’s army in 1943. The book, Morgen said, is an “indelible portrait of a reluctant soldier’s battle for survival.” (Rauch was a well-known painter, and his widow, Phyllis, submitted the completed memoir after he died.)
Harlequin Teen Re-Ups Cross
Kady Cross, who wrote the Steampunk Chronicles, has signed a three-book deal with her current publisher, Harlequin Teen, for a new series. The first book is called Abandon and follows twin sisters—one living, and one dead—who are able to communicate with one another; Harlequin said the series was pitched as “Supernatural meets Sweet Valley High.” T.S. Ferguson bought world English rights to the titles from agent Miriam Kriss at Irene Goodman Literary. (Kady Cross is the pseudonym for author Kathryn Smith.)
Gallery Throws Down to Keep Jones
Gallery Books’s Micki Nuding signed a world rights deal with bestseller Lisa Renee Jones for two more books and three e-novellas in her successful Inside Out series. All the titles in the deal are set for 2014, and the e-novellas will be released by Pocket Star. The series currently includes three books published by Gallery—If I Were You (June 2013), Being Me (June 2013), and Revealing Us (Sept. 2013)—as well as five related e-shorts (all also released in 2013). The series is currently being developed into a TV show by producer Suzanne Todd (who produced the film Alice in Wonderland). Nuding took world rights from agent Louise Fury at the Bent Agency.
Levin Stays with Threshold
Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin sold two more books to Louise Burke at Threshold Editions. Levin, who has a self-titled syndicated talk show on WABC and whose most recent bestseller is The Liberty Amendments (Threshold, Aug. 2013), will be writing two more political books through the deal. Burke took world rights to the books from David Limbaugh, and Mitchell Ivers will edit.
Briefs
Cara Bedick at the Experiment bought world rights to Rochelle Billow’s memoir, Waiting for Rain, from Rachel Stout at Dystel & Goderich. The book, which Stout dubbed “farm lit,” is about Billow’s attempt to make a new life in the country at a small farm in upstate New York. Stout said the book is “sensual and raw”—after becoming a country mouse, Billow has, per Stout, “a passionate romance”—and will appeal to readers interested in the new “farm chic.”
Physician/bestseller Dr. Joseph Mercola sold Let Your Body Do the Work to Heather Jackson at Crown Harmony. Mercola has written a number of books, including The No Grain Diet (Dutton, 2003) and Dr. Mercola’s Total Health Program (which he self-published in 2010); in this one he tackles the book’s subtitle: 9 Keys to Unlock Your Power to Fight Disease, Optimize Health, and Protect Yourself from the Negative Fallout of Modern Living. Yfat Reiss Gendell at Foundry Literary + Media represented Mercola, selling North American rights.
Correction: In the original version of this column, Mark Levin was said to be writing two books about animals for Threshold. Although Levin has previously written on the topic--he recounted losing his dog in Rescuing Sprite (2007)--this deal is for two more poltical books.