Holt Falls for Wolff
Michael Wolff, who previously scored three big hits with books critical of former president Trump, has sold The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty to Sarah Crichton at Henry Holt. In addition to Trump, Fox owner Rupert Murdoch has been one of Wolff’s favorite subjects; he is the author of the Murdoch biography The Man Who Owns the News. In The Fall, Holt said, Wolff cites the litany of issues facing Fox—ranging from the ouster of Tucker Carlson and the $787 million settlement in the Dominion lawsuit to finding a successor for the 92-year-old chairman—and predicts that the end of the network as we know it is coming soon. “I have been telling the story of the great power of Rupert Murdoch and Fox News for many years,” Wolff said. “This power is now reaching a natural end, and The Fall brings the story to its closing act.” Crichton acquired North American and audio rights from Andrew Wylie of the Wylie Agency, and The Fall’s publication is set for September 26.
Hur Heads Toward HarperVia
HarperVia’s Tara Parsons acquired world English rights to the debut novel by acclaimed translator Anton Hur. Set in a near-future when a nanotech cancer therapy is developed to replace every cell of the body with artificial cells, Toward Eternity “sets out to answer the question, what makes us human in a world where technology is fast catching up to biology?” the publisher said. Hur translated two works that were longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize, and his co-translation of BTS’s Beyond the Story is one of this summer’s big bestsellers. Safae El-Ouahabi and Jon Wood at RCW Literary Agency negotiated the deal on Hur’s behalf, and publication for Toward Eternity is set for summer 2024.
Graywolf Takes Two from Boully
Carmen Giménez at Graywolf Press acquired world rights to two titles by 2020 Guggenheim fellow Jenny Boully. Close Cover, Strike Gently is a collection of autobiographical essays, according to the publisher, and Parallax is “a lyric memoir on reverence, loss, calamity, and hybrid identity, beginning with her own near-death experience, ending with the scattering of her sister’s cremains, and encountering ghosts, sea monkeys, abandoned kittens, and a flying trapeze along the way.” Chris Fischbach at Fischbach Creative repped Boully, with Close Cover, Strike Gently tentatively set for spring 2025 and Parallax to follow two years later.
Del Rey Wins Bruce’s Garden
In an exclusive submission, Brianne Johnson at HG Literary sold North American rights to Camilla Bruce’s At the Bottom of the Garden and a second book by Bruce to Anne Groell at Del Rey. Bruce is a Norwegian writer of speculative and historical fiction, and her new novel, Del Rey said, “is a speculative ode to wicked stepmothers, murderous housewives, vengeful housekeepers, and strange little girls.” At the Bottom of the Garden is set to be released in 2024.
Bloomsbury Turns to ‘Dead Ends’
Megan Abbate at Bloomsbury bought world English rights to a middle grade nonfiction book by the Plague-Busters! team of author Lindsey Fitzharris and author-illustrator Adrian Teal. The deal was negotiated by Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic. Guinsler said Dead Ends “will look at how the history of medicine is littered with failure, and show that—sometimes—a major foul-up can lead unexpectedly to an incredible breakthrough.” Fitzharris holds a doctorate in the history of science and medicine from the University of Oxford, and her earlier books include the adult title The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine. A fall 2025 publication for Dead Ends is planned.
