Skyhorse Gets Genovese Book
Tony Lyons at Skyhorse Publishing closed a deal to bring an out-of-print nonfiction book about the controversial 1964 stabbing of Kitty Genovese back into print. Lyons took world English rights to A.M. Rosenthal’s Thirty-Eight Witnesses: The Kitty Genovese Case. Rosenthal was a metro editor at the New York Times when Genovese was murdered; the case drew national headlines because it was thought that her stabbing, which took place in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, was witnessed (in some fashion) by a significant number of people who failed to report the attack. Rosenthal’s book about the case, originally published by McGraw-Hill, came out just three months after Genovese’s death. Andrew Blauner at the Blauner Books Literary Agency said the title has been in and out of print over the years; he brokered this deal on behalf of the Rosenthal estate (since the author died in 2006). Separately, Tina Pohlman at Open Road Media acquired e-book rights to the book. Blauner said Skyhorse and Open Road are planning to coordinate their releases, aiming for an early 2016 publication. The case also happens to be back in the news, thanks in part to a new documentary: James Solomon’s film The Witness will be premiering at next month’s New York Film Festival.
Swedish Trilogy Nabbed in Major U.K. Deal
Stefan Ahnhem’s Fabian Risk series, which Canadian publisher House of Anansi acquired world English rights to, has been sold in a six-figure sale to U.K. publisher Head of Zeus. Anansi’s editorial director Janie Yoon, along with editor Meredith Dees, initially bought the book from the Swedish literary agency Partners in Stories. Anansi’s rights director Gillian Fizet, working with rights assistant Jolise Beaton, brokered the U.K. sale with Head of Zeus publisher Laura Palmer. The series, which has not yet sold in the U.S., follows an unconventional 40-something detective. The first two Fabian Risk books have been published in Sweden, by Bokförlaget Forum; the first installment, which will be translated as Victim Without a Face, was released there in June 2014, and the second book was published in May. Nine other foreign sales for the series have closed, with acquisitions in Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, among other countries. Anansi is translating the books into English and plans to release its edition in November. (Head of Zeus aims to release book one in the series in spring 2016.) Fizet said Ahnhem is a successful film and TV writer in Sweden and these books mark his literary debut; she added that Victim Without a Face is written in the vein of the Scandinavian TV thriller The Bridge.
'Mrs. Einstein’ Schools Sourcebooks
Editorial director at Sourcebooks Shana Drehs nabbed world English rights to Marie Benedict’s historical novel, tentatively titled Mrs. Einstein’s Secret. The book explores Mileva Maric, the wife of Albert Einstein; as an accomplished physicist in her own right, she may have contributed more to the theory of relativity than is generally thought. Agent Laura Dail, who has an eponymous shingle, represented Benedict and said Maric’s work on her husband’s best-known concept “is hotly debated.” Dail added that “[Maric] played an important role in Einstein’s groundbreaking work.” Dail is holding on to her translation and audio rights.
Correction: An earlier version of this article said that the acquiring editor, Shana Drehs, was holding on to translation and audio rights to Marie Benedict's novel, Mrs. Einstein's Secret. The agent in the deal, Laura Dail, has these rights.
