DEAL OF THE WEEK
Shatner to ‘Boldly Go’ with Atria
William Shatner sold an essay collection, titled Boldly Go, to Atria. The book, which is set for fall 2022, was preempted by Peter Borland, in a world rights agreement, from Victoria Sanders, who has an eponymous shingle. Atria said the collection, written with TV writer/producer Joshua Brandon (who’s worked on, among other shows, CBS’s Friend Me), sees the author examining “key events from his 90 years of life, using them as a springboard to reflect on the interconnectivity of all things, our fragile bond with nature, and the joy that comes from always being open to learning something new.”
Sourcebooks Nabs Legrand’s Trilogy
In a three-book, world rights agreement, Annie Berger at Sourcebooks Casablanca bought world rights to Claire Legrand’s The Middlemist trilogy. The series, which marks the author’s adult debut, was pitched, the publisher said, as “Bridgerton meets A Court of Thorns and Roses,” and follows “three sisters of a noble magic family who must fight hidden dark forces trying to destroy the Mist—an ancient barrier that protects their world from the dangerous realm of the old gods.” Legrand (the Empirium Trilogy) was represented by Victoria Marini at the Irene Goodman Agency.
Chang-Eppig’s ‘Sky’ Flies to B’bury
Bloomsbury’s Grace McNamee bought North American rights to the debut novel Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig. The author, who contributed to the Best American Short Stories series and is a recent graduate of New York University’s MFA program, was represented by Michelle Brower at Trellis Literary Management. The book, the publisher said, is a “sweeping adventure novel that blends historical fiction, modern questions around gender, and beautiful writing to bring to life legendary 19th-century pirate queen Shek Yeung as she fights to control the seas she knows she was born to lead.” Deep as the Sky is set for spring 2023.
Blay Gives ‘Tip’ to One World
Yaba Blay’s Beauty Tip: Dismantle White Supremacy sold, in a North American rights deal, to Kierna Mayo and Elizabeth Méndez at One World. Mayo bought the book, in an exclusive submission, from Margaret Riley King at William Morris Endeavor. One World said the title “traces how white supremacy contorts cultural perceptions and practices of beauty, with a focus on how this impacts Black communities worldwide.” Blay, an activist and scholar and the former Dan Blue Endowed Chair in Political Science at North Carolina Central University, has been widely quoted on the subject of Black identity and has appeared on, among other networks, the BBC, BET, CNN, and MSNBC.
Gilmore’s ‘Witch’ Scares Berkley
The debut novel by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, The Witch and the Tsar, sold in a two-book deal at auction to Berkley’s Jessica Wade. Jennifer Weltz at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency handled the North American rights agreement for the author. Wade said the novel “cleverly and compassionately reinvents a maligned mythological woman,” comparing it to works like Madeline Miller’s Circe and Genevieve Gornichec’s The Witch’s Heart.
Kraus’s ‘Ghost’ Haunts Raw Dog
Jennifer Barnes at the indie Raw Dog Screaming Press bought North American rights to Daniel Kraus’s The Ghost That Ate Us: The Tragic True Story of the Burger City Poltergeist. The book, set for July 2022, was sold by Richard Abate at 3 Arts Entertainment. Raw Dog said The Ghost is a “fictionalized true crime story” that follows the author as he “unravels the hauntings and subsequent murders” at an Iowa Burger City franchise “using footnotes, news reports, security camera footage, crime scene photos, and interviews with survivors.”
