DEAL OF THE WEEK

Springora’s #MeToo Memoir Lands at Via

HarperVia’s Juan Mila bought world English rights to Vanessa Springora’s Consent: A Memoir from Heidi Warneke at Éditions Grasset (the book’s French publisher). Springora is an executive with the French publisher Éditions Julliard, and the book, Harper said, “has been described as #MeToo for France’s literary set.” In the book, Springora recounts an affair she had as a teenager with a 50-something writer she refers to as G.M. (who has been identified as the acclaimed French writer Gabriel Matzneff). The book was published in France in January 2019 and has been optioned by a French production company. Harper said that Consent, set for February 2021, “describes an implacable process of psychological manipulation, as well as the frightening ambiguity” Springora finds herself in. It also “questions the excesses of an era and the indulgence of an artistic milieu that is blinded by talent and fame.”

FROM THE U.S.

Stone Lives ‘Twice’ for Knopf

Sharon Stone sold a memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice, to Tim O’Connell at Knopf. Luke Janklow at Janklow & Nesbit represented the actress and activist, selling world rights to the book, which is slated for March 2021. Knopf said that in the book Stone “talks about the many roles she played, her life-changing friendships, and her accomplishments and disappointments.” The publisher added that the outspoken celebrity also refuses “to pull any punches when discussing aspects of the trauma and violence she endured as a child and how her chosen career as an actress echoed many of those same assaults.”

Ballantine Catches Weir’s ‘Hail Mary’

Project Hail Mary, a new novel by The Martian author Andy Weir, was acquired by Ballantine’s Julian Pavia. The book, which Ballantine described as a “science-based thriller,” is set for May 2021; it follows an astronaut who awakens to find himself alone on a ship in space, with all of his crewmates dead. “All he knows,” Ballantine continued, “is that he alone must now complete a desperate, last-chance mission to save the Earth from disaster.” David Fugate at LaunchBooks Literary Agency represented Weir, selling world rights to the book.

Baxley Talks ‘Social Justice’ for Parents

In a six-figure deal at auction, Harper Wave’s Julie Will bought North American rights to Traci Baxley’s Social Justice Parenting. Lynn Johnston, who has an eponymous shingle, represented Baxley, who is the mother of five biracial children and the founder of a company with the same name as the book. Through the company, Baxley, who Johnston called “an educator specializing in race identity,” conducts coaching sessions and speaking engagements for a variety of groups. The book, which is set for fall 2021, details how “unpacking privilege and power with children is not only necessary, but foundational,” Johnston continued.


Penguin Nabs Herold’s Debut

Education Week reporter Benjamin Herold sold his currently untitled debut to Scott Moyers and Mia Council at Penguin Press. The pair preempted North American rights to the book, which Penguin described as a “deeply reported exploration of the collision between entrenched racist legacies and rapid diversification in America’s suburbs and suburban public schools,” from Tanya McKinnon at McKinnon Literary. Herold follows five families sprinkled throughout the country—in California, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas—as, Penguin continued, “they navigate demographic shifts and societal change while trying to protect their children’s futures.” The book does not yet have a publication date.