DEAL OF THE WEEK
Harper Tucks in to Kohda’s ‘Woman’
With a six-figure preempt, Tara Parsons bought Claire Kohda’s Woman, Eating for HarperVia. The debut novel, set for spring 2022, was sold in a North American rights agreement by Sam Copeland at London’s RCW Literary Agency. Parsons described the work as a “literary vampire novel” that is “Ottessa Moshfegh meets My Sister, the Serial Killer meets Twilight.” It follows an intern named Lydia who, Parsons explained, is living on her own, in London, for the first time. Away from her vampire mother, lonely, and hungry (subsisting on a diet of hard-to-secure pig blood), Lydia must “reconcile the conflicts within her—between her demon and human sides, her mixed ethnic heritage, and her relationship with food and, in turn, humans—if she is to find a way to exist in the world.” Kohda is a book reviewer who has written for the Guardian and the Financial Times. She has also played violin on film soundtracks and with a number of professional orchestras.
FROM THE U.S.
Woods’s ‘Housewife’ Joins Doubleday
Carolyn Williams at Doubleday preempted world rights to Caroline Woods’s The Lunar Housewife in a deal brokered by Shannon Hassan at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. The book, Hassan said, is set in New York City’s 1953 literary scene and follows “a journalist who faces a shadowy mix of censorship, surveillance, and gaslighting when she pens a subversively feminist novel and forms an unlikely friendship with Ernest Hemingway.” The Lunar Housewife will publish in 2022.
HQN Re-ups Morgan
HQN has tied bestselling romance author Sarah Morgan (One More Christmas) to a four-book deal. Two of the four will be Christmas titles, including the first, The Christmas Escape, set for October 2021. Flo Nicoll at HQN negotiated the world rights agreement with Susan Ginsburg at Writers House. The publisher said Morgan has written more than 90 novels and sold more than 18 million copies worldwide.
‘Off with Her Head!’ Is On at Morrow
Lucia Macro at William Morrow bought North American rights to Eleanor Herman’s Off with Her Head! Three Thousand Years of Demonizing Women in Power. Stephen Barbara at InkWell Management represented Herman (Sex with Presidents) and described the book as a work of “pop history” that “explores the misogynistic tactics used to silence female rulers and politicians, from ancient Egypt up through Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris.” Off with Her Head! is slated for fall 2022.
Rosenberg’s Memoir Goes to One World
Jordy Rosenberg (Confessions of the Fox) sold world rights to a memoir, The Day Unravels What the Night Has Woven, to Nicole Counts at One World. The Random House imprint called the book “genre bending” and said it “offers a timely exploration of transgender sexuality, Jewish assimilation, and the author’s difficult relationship with his mother.” Challenging the standard memoir format, Rosenberg weaves fictionalized accounts of his mother’s life throughout his own story. Rob McQuilkin at Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents represented the author.
Philomel Buys Prabhu’s Internet Guide for Young Readers
Jill Santopolo at Philomel bought Rethink the Internet by Trisha Prabhu, in a North American rights agreement brokered by Kristin van Ogtrop at InkWell Management. The author is the CEO of ReThink (a company whose technology is used to combat cyberbullying) and an activist. The book, subtitled How to Make the Digital World a Lot Less Sucky, is, Ogtrop said, a guide aimed at helping young readers “through their first experiences with the internet.” Rethink the Internet is set for summer 2022.
