DEAL OF THE WEEK
Vintage Crashes Harding’s ‘Invasion’
Suzanne Herz at Vintage bought North American rights to Luke Harding’s Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival from Susanna Lea at Susanna Lea Associates. Vintage said the book is “a breathtaking work of reportage” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, chronicling “the initial days of shock and panic... and the unheard human stories behind the headlines.” Harding is a foreign correspondent for the Guardian who has written seven nonfiction books; two of them, Snowden and WikiLeaks, have been adapted into films. Invasion is set for November 29.
Dial Re-ups Napolitano
Ann Napolitano, author of the 2020 bestseller Dear Edward (which has been adapted into a forthcoming Apple TV+ series), sold Hello Beautiful to Whitney Frick at Dial Press. The 2023-slated novel, Dial said, follows a college basketball player seeking a better life “after a childhood marred by tragedy” and after marrying into “a tight-knit family of four sisters.” The family drama is “an homage to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and tribute to the power of love over darkness.” Julie Barer at the Book Group represented Napolitano in the North American rights agreement.
Yates Goes Multiple at HQN
Bestselling romance novelist Maisey Yates inked an 11-title world rights deal with HQN Books. Included in the agreement is a new western romance series, set to launch in the second half of 2023, as well as the women’s
fiction standalone Same Time Next Year, set for 2024. The standalone is about a woman who, HQN said, “is stunned when her husband tells her he wants an open relationship.” Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary Agency brokered the agreement with Susan Swinwood at HQN, with Flo Nicoll set to edit.
Blackstone Takes Manning’s ‘Words’
Blackstone Publishing’s Naomi Hynes took world rights to Molly Guptill Manning’s Words into War. Manning explores, Blackstone said, “the American military troop newspaper program launched during World War II by Army general George C. Marshall.” Manning added that GIs fought propaganda from Germany and Japan with words, by “typing copy, cranking it off mimeograph machines, and distributing papers by foot, mule, and bomber plane.” The book, set for September 2023, was sold by agent E.J. McCarthy, who has an eponymous shingle.
Jennings Gets ‘Crooked’ at Hogarth
Booker-longlisted South African author Karen Jennings sold Crooked Seeds to Hogarth’s Marie Pantojan in a North American rights agreement. Jennings (An Island) was represented by Anna Stein at International Creative Management. The novel, Hogarth said, is about a woman in a near-future Cape Town who, “after decades of denial, must finally confront her family’s dark past.” The publisher called the work “a meditation on cycles of trauma, collective guilt, and the legacies of colonialism.”
Baloue Is ‘Undeniable’ by Crown
Crown’s Libby Burton bought North American rights to Undeniable, by writer and performer Sydney Baloue, at auction. Alice Whitwham at the Cheney Agency represented Baloue. Crown said the book, subtitled How Ballroom Changed My Life (and the World), details the history of ballroom dancing—“a transformative social space of competition, experiment and creativity in gender, sexuality, and culture”—through “the intimate, groundbreaking story of how voguing helped Sydney to realize and embrace his identity as a transgender man.” Baloue is coexecutive producer of the HBO Max ballroom dancing reality competition show Legendary.
