Shipman’s ‘Charm’ Lures U.S. and Int’l. Buyers
North American rights to Viola Shipman’s novel, The Charm Bracelet, sold at auction to Laurie Chittenden at St. Martin’s Thomas Dunne imprint. Agent Wendy Sherman, at Wendy Sherman Associates, who represented Shipman, said the novel is “deeply emotional” and that it brings “three generations of women together to share the stories of their lives as told through the charms on an heirloom bracelet.” The U.S. deal dovetailed with a notable amount of action on the novel abroad; the book was sold, at auction, to publishers in Germany and Italy. The novel was also pre-empted in Russia.
Sabermetrician Jaffe to Thomas Dunne
In another deal at Thomas Dunne this week, Rob Kirkpatrick pre-empted world rights to Jay Jaffe’s The Cooperstown Casebook from Eric Nelson at the Susan Rabiner Agency. Jaffe, who writes for SI.com and consults for the MLB Network, developed a proprietary ranking system for players called JAWS—the Jaffe WAR Score System—which claims to measure their worthiness for inclusion in the Hall of Fame. In the book, Kirkpatrick said, Jaffe will use JAWS to offer a “revolutionary look at all current Hall of Famers as well as overlooked players.” The book will also, Kirkpatrick noted, include essays that detail the ways in which “advanced data now allows us to better compare players across eras.”
HC Nabs Neff’s New Middle-Grade Fantasy
Henry H. Neff, author/illustrator of the bestselling fantasy series the Tapestry (Random House), sold a new middle-grade fantasy, called Impyrium, to HarperCollins Children’s Books. Antonia Markiet bought North American rights to the novel, in a three-book pre-empt, from Josh Adams at Adams Literary. The book, the first in a planned series, is set in the Kingdom of Impyrium; it follows the unlikely friendship between a 12-year-old sorceress, who is the last scion of the dynasty that has ruled the kingdom for thousands of years, and a 13-year-old boy who left his small mining town for a chance to serve in the capital. Their friendship, Adams said, will ensure one thing: “Impyrium will never again be the same.” Adams confirmed that multiple pre-empts came in on the series, before HC won it; the first book is set for 2016.
Another ‘Simon’s Cat’ Book to Akashic
Johnny Temple at Akashic acquired U.S. rights to the third title in the Simon’s Cat series, Simon’s Cat: Off to the Vet, by British author/illustrator Simon Tofield. Akashic has been publishing the U.S. editions of the series—which grew out of a popular set of animations posted on YouTube—since 2009. Simon’s Cat: Off to the Vet will be published in the U.S. and U.K. (by Canongate) simultaneously in fall 2015.
Avery Gets ‘Cut’ with Zuzka
Zuzka Light, a fitness expert whose YouTube channel boasts over 200,000 subscribers, sold her debut fitness book, Get Z-Cut, to Megan Newman and Gigi Campo at Avery. The book, Avery said, will offer a fitness and nutrition plan that can be done in 15 minutes a day. Marc Gerald at the Agency Group did the deal on behalf of Will Hobbs at Key Priority Management.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said Thomas Dunne acquired U.S. rights to The Charm Bracelet; the imprint bought North American rights.
