Booker Nominee Goes to Grove
Grove Atlantic editorial director Elisabeth Schmitz acquired Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song, which was recently longlisted for the Booker Prize. Grove described the novel as “an ambitious, highly original, and surprisingly intimate dive into how democratic societies might slide into autocracy and civil war.” Schmitz bought North American rights from Simon Trewin at Simon Trewin Creative in the U.K., where One World will publish the book this September. Grove will release the book in the U.S. in December.
Mariner Gets Enlightened
As part of a two-book deal, Mariner Books v-p and editorial director Kate Nintzel acquired North American rights to Enlightenment by English author Sarah Perry, whose earlier novels include the bestseller The Essex Serpent. The publisher called Enlightenment “a dazzling new work of gothic literary fiction—a story of love, faith, and astronomy told over the course of 20 years through the lives of two improbable best friends.” Susan Golomb at Writers House represented Perry, and publication is planned for summer 2024. No information on the second book has been disclosed.
Todd Wins Mia Debut
Anna Todd acquired world rights to the debut novel by singer, songwriter, and actor Pia Mia. The currently untitled book is a semi-autobiographical “frothy contemporary romance about Princess, a young pop star on the rise and looking for love in L.A.,” the publisher said. Mia was represented by Damien Granderson and Diego Rodriguez-Palma of Granderson Des Rochers, and lawyer Peter C. Perez. The book will be released by Frayed Pages x Wattpad Books, the co-branded imprint of Todd and the Wattpad Webtoon Book Group, in summer 2024.
Bantam Isn’t Fooling with Wilder
Bantam’s Shauna Summers took world English rights to Won’t Get Fooled Again by Ava Wilder (How to Fake It in Hollywood). Bantam said that in the novel, “a down-on-her-luck con woman who teams up with a former mark—and the son of one of the richest families in the country—to help overthrow his family’s business empire by posing as his fiancé, but finds herself falling for him and for the secrets he’s hiding.” Jessica Mileo and Claire Friedman at InkWell Management brokered the sale, and publication is planned for 2025.
‘Black Flame’ Jumps to Nightfire
Connor Goldsmith at Fuse Literary sold world rights to three new books by Gretchen Felker-Martin to Kelly Lonesome at Tor Publishing’s Nightfire imprint. The first book in the agreement is Black Flame, which is set to be published in 2025. “Black Flame is an examination of the long relationship between film and queerness, of my personal history with the medium, and of the straight world’s obsession with—and outrage toward—on-screen queerness,” Felker-Martin said. “It’s inspired in part by my childhood relationship with a Holocaust survivor, and by my experiences with film as an isolated and closeted rural queer.” Felker-Martin is the author of the acclaimed 2022 horror novel Manhunt.
Morrow Slow Dances with Rowell
Jennifer Brehl, senior v-p and director of editorial development at William Morrow and HarperVoyager, acquired North American rights at auction to Slow Dance and three other adult novels by bestselling author Rainbow Rowell. The deal was negotiated by Christopher Schelling at Selectric Artists, and the publisher said the novel “follows best friends Cary and Shiloh from their inseparable teen years to their far-flung adulthoods—through her marriage and motherhood and through his time in the Navy—as they try to work out what they’re supposed to be to each other.” Publication is planned for next summer.
