DEAL OF THE WEEK
Gilbert’s ‘Girl’ Joins Penguin
Atlantic staff writer and 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist Sophie Gilbert sold North American rights to Girl on Girl to Penguin Press. Kiara Barrow bought the book, in her first acquisition at the imprint, from Elyse Cheney at the Cheney Agency. The currently unscheduled work, subtitled How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, is, Penguin said, “a reconsideration of how mass media and culture—from ‘Thong Song’ to The Bachelor—have shaped women’s self-perception over the past two decades.” The publisher added that the book shows how the girl power movement of the 1990s led to “an era of cultural objectification, cruelty, and outright regression in the early 21st century.”
S&S Buys Pomerantz’s ‘Inside Account’
People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account by Mark Pomerantz was acquired by Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp. Pomerantz is a lawyer who worked on the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into the former president and his company, the Trump Organization, and the book is crashing on February 7. In it, S&S explained, Pomerantz “tells the behind-the-scenes story of the Trump investigation, why he believes Donald Trump should be prosecuted, and what we can learn about the nature of justice in America from this extraordinary case.” Mel Berger at William Morris Endeavor represented Pomerantz.
Jaramillo’s ‘Witches’ Haunt Atria
For Atria, Michelle Herrera Mulligan won Luis Jaramillo’s The Witches of El Paso at auction. The debut novel, sold by Kent Wolf at Neon Literary, is about the search for a long-lost daughter. Atria described the book as a “multigenerational tale of magic, sisterhood, and borders spanning centuries, told from the alternating perspectives of Marta and her free-spirited and fiercely independent 93-year-old great-aunt Nena.” Witches is slated for fall 2024.
Putnam Cozies Up to Lytle’s ‘Friend’
Alana Biden Lytle, a screenwriter on Netflix’s Brand New Cherry Flavor and Peacock’s A Friend of the Family, sold Man’s Best Friend to Putnam. Danielle Dieterich bought U.S., Canadian, and open market rights, at auction, to the debut novel from Stacy Testa at Writers House. The spring 2024–slated title is, Putnam said, “a suspenseful and darkly funny story of identity and obsession, featuring a failed actress whose relationship with a trust fund heir allows her access to the world of privilege that she had always dreamed of.”
Griffin Does Sourcebooks a ‘Favor’
Sourcebooks Landmark’s Shana Drehs nabbed world rights to two books by Adele Griffin (The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone). The Favor, set for June 2023, marks the two-time National Book Award finalist’s adult fiction debut. The novel explores, the publisher said, “the sudden friendship between two women with very different financial means who jump into a hasty surrogacy agreement.” The second book in the deal is a currently untitled novel. Griffin was represented by Erin Harris and Emily van Beek at Folio Literary Management.
Bloomsbury Brawls with Owuor
For Bloomsbury, Amber Oliver bought North American rights to Elizabeth Owuor’s A Brawling Woman in a Wide House. The publisher said the nonfiction book, sold by Mariah Stovall at Trellis Literary Management, melds “archival histories of the 1960s transatlantic blues revolution, which welcomed American musicians to Europe and transformed sound on both sides of the Atlantic, with the author’s own experience as a Black expatriate audiophile in Berlin and beyond.” Brawling Woman is scheduled for March 2025.
Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to A Brawling Woman in a Wide House as a novel. The book is a work of nonfiction.
