Dyson Uncovers the Truth at SMP

In a two-book world rights deal, Michael Eric Dyson sold What Truth Sounds Like: Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation About Race in America to Elisabeth Dyssegaard at St. Martin’s Press. The book, a follow-up to the author’s January 2017 title with SMP, Tears We Cannot Stop, will be, SMP said, “another timely exploration of America’s tortured racial politics” that “highlights a fascinating moment in America’s recent past when a leading politician extended an invitation to tackle difficult subjects with a cultural icon.” It is set for April 2018. The second book in the deal, set for 2019, is yet to be announced. Tanya McKinnon at McKinnon McIntyre represented Dyson.

John Takes ‘Mascot’ to HC

Antony John sold two middle grade novels, one called Mascot and one currently untitled, to Tara Weikum at HarperCollins. Mascot, which will be John’s first at HC (after publishing the Elemental series and a number of standalones with Dial) is part of a two-book world English rights deal; the second book is another, currently untitled, middle grade novel. Ted Malawer at Upstart Crow Literary, who represented John, said Mascot is “a hopeful and poignant novel about middle schooler Noah Savino, who—after a car accident that took his father’s life and paralyzed him from the waist down—must grapple with his newfound disability as he rediscovers himself, his family, and his place in the world.” Mascot is set for a fall 2018 publication.

Mira Spends Hours with Walters

Mira Books’ Kathy Sagan took U.S. rights to Minette Walters’s historical novel The Last Hours from Jane Gregory at Gregory & Company Authors’ Agents. The book is set in England in 1348, the year that the Black Death first hit the country. Margaret Marbury, v-p of general fiction at Mira, said the novel offers “a riveting narrative driven by a grand mystery—how and why a deadly illness that no one understands is spreading so rapidly.” Walters, Mira noted, is known in the U.K. as the “queen of the psychological thriller,” and her books sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. Hours, which is slated for August 2018, will mark her first foray into historical fiction.

Putnam Re-ups Parker

Edgar-winner and bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker struck a six-figure North American rights agreement with Putnam for the next two books in his Roland Ford series. Mark Tavani bought books three and four in the series, which follows the title PI, a former marine. Putnam released the first book in the series, The Room of White Fire, in August 2017. Parker was represented by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group.

Bellow Gets Novel at SMP

For his All Points imprint at St. Martin’s Press, Adam Bellow took North American rights to Goldie Taylor’s political thriller, Paper Gods. The book marks Bellow’s first fiction acquisition in his career as an editor. Taylor, who was represented by agent Laura Dail, is editor at large for the Daily Beast. The novel follows an Atlanta mayor who stumbles onto a strange crime spree, After discovering an origami figure—the “paper god” of the book’s title—in the wake of a local politician’s murder in a church, Victoria Dobbs realizes, Dail said, the paper gods keep turning up after someone is killed. The book is set for a fall 2018 release.

Briefs

Maggie Stiefvater’s The Scorpio Sea Tarot was acquired by Barbara Moore at Llewellyn Worldwide. Moore took world rights to the tarot deck and accompanying book from Laura Rennert at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Rennert said the titles “tap into the mythology” in the author’s 2011 book The Scorpio Races (Scholastic) and draw on “ancient pagan and Celtic traditions.” The book and deck are set for fall 2019.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the title of Michael Eric Dyson's book. It's What Truth Sounds Like, not What the Truth Sounds Like.