Schreier to HC
At HarperCollins Eric Meyers took North American rights at auction to a currently untitled book about video game development by Jason Schreier. The author is a news editor at Kotaku, a Gawker-owned website about gaming. The book was sold by Inkwell Management’s Charlie Olsen and is about, he said, “the often bumpy development cycles of high-profile games and the colorful personalities that shepherd them along the path from concept to release.” The book is set for fall 2017.
Scribner Watches Maclear’s ‘Birds’
In a joint acquisition, Kyo Maclear’s Birds Art Love Death was bought by Kathy Belden at Scribner (U.S. rights) and Martha Kanya-Forstner at Doubleday Canada (Canadian rights). Jackie Kaiser at WestWood Creative Artists handled the sale for Maclear, calling the book “a work of creative nonfiction.” Maclear is a picture book author (Spork and Virginia Wolf) and this book, Kaiser said, is an adult title that documents how the author became an amateur birder. “While juggling the demands of children and aging parents,” Kaiser said, Maclear “learns to look for birds in the urban landscape, exploring along the way ideas such as freedom, patience, creativity, inspiration, and the value of small things.” The book, which is slated for January 2017, will feature photographs from Jack Breakfast and artwork from the author.
Other Press Takes Hoffman’s ‘Daughter’
Judith Gurewich at Other Press nabbed German journalist Andrea C. Hoffmann’s Not Without Her Daughter, a nonfiction work chronicling a young woman’s captivity under Boko Haram. The book follows the ordeal of a Nigerian woman who was pregnant when she was abducted by the terrorist group at 19. Other Press called the title a first-person account of survival. Agent Barabara J. Zitwer, who has an eponymous shingle, and Christine Proske at Ariadne Buch brokered the deal.
Bliss Gets In with Katherine Tegen
For her eponymous imprint at HarperCollins, Katherine Tegen took North American rights to a currently untitled picture book by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss. Holly McGhee at Pippin Properties sold the book, which is set for winter 2018. She said it is about “a little girl who singlehandedly transforms the life of a lonely classroom hamster.”
Mira Inks Neggers to Six
Nicole Brebner at Mira signed Carla Neggers to a six-book world-rights deal. The agreement, which Jodi Reamer at Writers House brokered, will cover three books in the author’s Swift Valley River series, and three books in her Sharpe and Donovan line. The former consists of contemporary romances set in the titular New England town; the latter is a suspense series following FBI agents Colin Donovan and Emma Sharpe.
Briefs
Christine Dore at Adams Media took world rights to blogger Jamie Harrington’s The Unofficial Guide to Crafting the World of Harry Potter. Kate Schafer Testerman at KT Literary represented Dore and said the book features 30 craft projects for children ages 8–14, as well as for adult fans of the series. The book is set for an April 2016 release.
Rowman & Littlefield’s Suzanne Staszak-Silva took world rights to Aroop Mangalik’s Dealing with Doctors, Denial, and Death. Mangalik is a medical doctor and the book, Staszak-Silva said, explores “the ways in which we are accustomed to treating illness at all costs” and “the medical profession’s role in overtreating patients.” Publication is set for January 2017.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the full title of Kyo Maclear's forthcoming book; it is Birds Art Love Death, not Art Love Death.
