DEAL OF THE WEEK
Greenidge’s Third to Flatiron
Flatiron Books’ Nadxieli Nieto preempted North American rights to Whiting Award winner Kaitlyn Greenidge’s currently untitled third novel. In it, Flatiron said, Greenidge (Libertie) writes about two college friends turned academics whose lives collide two decades after graduating when one is “pretending to be someone she is not.” The publisher added that the novel, which does not yet have a publication date, is a “psychological portrait of female friendship, mental illness, and loneliness.” Greenidge was represented in the agreement by Carrie Howland at Howland Literary.
Legacy Lit Goes ‘Here’ with Conyers
North American rights to Jonathan Conyers’s I Wasn’t Here to Be Here were acquired by Krishan Trotman at Hachette’s Legacy Lit imprint at auction. The author was represented by Johanna Castillo at Writers House, who said the memoir is about the author’s friendship with his high school debate coach and how it changed his life. She called it an “inspirational” story about “a troubled Black teen from the Bronx who develops a friendship with his transgender high school debate coach, a guidance counselor who is a little person, and numerous teachers and mentors that change the course of his life.” Conyers is a respiratory therapist and host of the Professional Winner podcast.
Kid Shrinks Get ‘Calm’ at Open Field
Child psychotherapists Ashley Garber and Maria Evans sold world rights to Finding Calm to Nina Rodríguez-Marty at the Open Field, Maria Shriver’s imprint at Penguin Random House. The publisher said the book is “an accessible guide for parents to understand and support their child’s biggest fears, anxieties, and feelings of overwhelm,” adding that it offers “strategies for cultivating psychological safety and managing behaviors that stem from everyday worry.” Shannon Marven at Dupree Miller & Associates represented the authors in the agreement.
Grand Central Buys Zentner’s ‘Summer’
For Grand Central Publishing, Jacqueline Young won North American rights at auction to Jeff Zentner’s adult debut, Honeysuckle Summer. Charlie Olsen at InkWell Management brokered the deal on behalf of Zentner. Olsen said the novel is about “a rising country star who returns home to rural Kentucky to rebuild and rekindle old relationships after he drunkenly speaks his mind onstage about gun violence, effectively ending his career and marriage.” Honeysuckle Summer is slated for April 2024.
Abdoh Goes to Viking
Viking bought world rights to When a Woman Burns Herself by Salar Abdoh (Poet Game). The novel, set for fall 2023, was acquired by Ibrahim Ahmad from Jessica Papin at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret and is, per the publisher, “about the families we are born into and the families we make for ourselves.” Specifically, it follows “a man who is haunted by a woman’s desperate and defiant act of self-immolation on the streets of Tehran” and “is forced to confront the contradictions and conflicts between his traditional father and queer artist brother.” Abdoh is the director of creative writing at City College of New York.
Dial Follows Sullivan’s ‘Instructions’
Whitney Frick at Dial preempted North American rights to Joy Sullivan’s debut poetry collection, Instructions for Traveling West. Dial said that the book reckons with “women’s exodus out of corporate America, the instinct to travel, the nostalgia we feel for our unlived lives, and the ferocity of reinvention.” Joanna MacKenzie at Nelson Literary Agency represented Sullivan, who lives in Portland, Ore.
