Two Dollar Radio Goes Graphic
Ohio-based indie press Two Dollar Radio has acquired its first graphic novel, nabbing North American rights to Ricardo Cavolo’s Daniel Johnston. The book, originally published in Spain as El Desorganismo de Daniel Johnston, was bought by Eric Obenauf, who brokered the agreement with Montserrat Terrones at the Garbuix Agency. (Terrones did the deal on behalf of Spanish publisher Edicions de Ponent.) Cavolo is a familiar figure for Two Dollar Radio, having done the cover art for Karolina Waclawiak’s How to Get into the Twin Palms, which the press released in 2012. Cavolo’s book is about American singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, whose struggles with mental illness were examined in the 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. The book, slated for June 2016, will feature original text by Scott McClanahan (Crappalachia) adapted from the Spanish edition.
Harper Gets ‘Extreme’ with O’Hagan
Sarah Robb O’Hagan, president of the high-end fitness brand Equinox, sold North American rights to Extreme You to Hollis Heimbouch, v-p of HarperBusiness. Carol Franco at Kneerim & Williams brokered the deal, at auction, for O’Hagan, who was previously an executive at companies like Nike and Gatorade. The book, which is subtitled Bring All of You to All You Do, will, Franco said, detail how the author, a self-described “ordinary person with no standout talents,” achieved professional success. Franco elaborated that the book will explain how O’Hagan “overcame the odds with a unique approach to reaching your personal best in all areas of your life.”
Pioneer Woman Lands at HC Kids
Ree Drummond, known to viewers of the Food Network as the star of The Pioneer Woman, closed a three-book deal at HarperCollins Children’s Books. Kate Morgan Jackson took world English rights to the series, about a small red-headed girl who, the publisher explained, has a series of adventures when her family moves from the city to the country. Susanna Einstein, who has an eponymous shingle, represented Drummond in the deal.
Thompson Drops ‘Six’ at SMP
St. Martin’s Press executive editor Charles Spicer took North American rights to a biography of the Mitford sisters by Laura Thompson. In Six, Thompson chronicles these once-famous siblings who, SMP said, became “bright young things” in high society London during the early 20th century. When Europe descended into war in the late 1930s, however, the six sisters’ divergent political views came to reflect the clashing ideologies of the era, SMP elaborated. The book will focus on the “intertwined stories of their stylish and scandalous lives.” Six was originally acquired by U.K. house Head of Zeus (which is publishing the book there in October); Spicer brokered the deal with Head of Zeus rights director Claire Nozieres.
Norton Goes to the ‘Underworld’ with Canty
Kevin Canty sold The Underworld to Jill Bialosky at Norton. The novel was acquired at auction from Denise Shannon at the Denise Shannon Literary Agency. Canty teaches at the University of Montana at Missoula and is the author of four novels and a number of short story collections; his latest novel, Everything, was published by Nan A. Talese in 2010. The Underworld, Norton said, is “in the vein of Russell Banks’s The Sweet Hereafter” and follows the effects of a local mining disaster on the residents of an Idaho town. Norton added that it believes The Underworld will be Canty’s “breakout book.”
