Little, Brown Nabs Lindo Memoir
Actor Delroy Lindo, whose lengthy list of on-screen credits includes the film Crooklyn and the series The Good Fight, sold a currently untitled memoir to Little, Brown’s Tracy Sherrod. Kayla Lightner at Ayesha Pande Literary handled the world English rights agreement, and the book is set for fall 2025. The publisher said that in it, Lindo, who has won Peabody, New York Film Critics Circle, and Hollywood Critics Association awards, charts his boyhood in Britain, reflecting on “his complicated relationship with his Jamaican mother” and the “pivotal roles within his prestigious career.”
Pekkanen Re-ups at St. Martin’s
For St. Martin’s Press, Jennifer Enderlin acquired North American rights to two more novels by Sarah Pekkanen, the bestselling coauthor of The Wife Between Us. The two currently untitled books under contract will launch what St. Martin’s intends to be a one-book per-year schedule for the author. Pekkanen already has two other forthcoming titles in the works at St. Martin’s: Gone Tonight (Aug.) and House of Glass (summer 2024). Margaret Riley King at William Morris Endeavor brokered the deal.
Jacobsen Sells Nuke Book to Dutton
Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen sold Nuclear War: A Scenario to John Parsley at Dutton in a U.S. and U.K. rights agreement. The investigative journalist and author of The Pentagon’s Brain examines, Dutton said, “the threat and likelihood of the only scenario that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war.” The 2024-slated book offers “in-depth, up-to-the-minute reporting that lays bare the technologies, safeguards, plans, and risks we face at this current moment in history.” Parsley acquired the book from Creative Artists Agency.
‘American Prometheus’ Goes YA
In a world rights agreement, Ruta Rimas at Putnam Children’s Books bought a young readers edition of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The 2005 biography by Martin Sherwin and Kai Bird won a Pulitzer and was adapted by Christopher Nolan for his summer blockbuster Oppenheimer. Eric S. Singer, an educator and historian, is adapting the YA title, which Rimas said will offer “sharp critical analysis and moral awakenings especially relevant to young readers today, as they grapple with war, climate change, and the onslaught of new technologies like generative AI that pose a great and immediate threat to our existence.” Singer, the Sherwin Estate, and Bird were represented by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management.
Gelman Gets ‘Terrifying’ for Dey Street
Brett Gelman, who has appeared in shows including Stranger Things and Fleabag, sold the short story collection The Terrifying Realm of the Possible to Dey Street Books. Stuart Roberts bought world rights from Dan Kirschen at Creative Artists Agency. The 2024-slated collection, Dey Street said, traces “the lives of five neurotic characters as they traverse the prickly terrains of morality, family, sex, fame, religion, and death on a futile search for answers to life’s unanswerable questions.”
Thomas & Mercer Takes on Gleeson
Thomas & Mercer’s Jessica Tribble-Wells took world rights to Paula Gleeson’s Original Twin. The debut novel was sold, in a six-figure, two-book agreement, by Gwen Beal at United Talent Agency. Beal said the book follows a woman named May whose twin has been missing for a year. After May discovers a link between her sister’s disappearance and her mother’s past, she must “track down the man who abducted their mother and shares the blood in their veins.”
Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified the Lindo's childhood home country. In addition, it has been updated for clarity.
