Morrow Picks Up ‘Royal’ Rom-Com
Liz Stein at William Morrow has acquired North American rights to Omid Scobie and Robin Benway’s Royal Spin. The deal was brokered by Albert Lee and Lisa Grubka at UTA, who described the book as “a fish-out-of-water romantic workplace comedy about a young American woman who leaves a press role at the White House for one at Buckingham Palace.” Benway is the author of nine novels for young adults, including the NBA-winning Far from the Tree, while Scobie’s Finding Freedom is one of the fastest-selling royal books of all time. Royal Spin marks Scobie’s fiction debut and Benway’s first book of adult fiction. No pub date was announced.
Dutton Wins Wallace’s Election Tome
After an auction, Dutton’s John Parsley has acquired North American rights to CNN anchor Chris Wallace’s Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 311 Days That Changed America’s Politics Forever. The deal was handled by Claudia Cross at Folio Literary Management. Dutton said the book will offer a “riveting perspective on the dramatic 11 months leading up to the presidential election between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.” The book will be published in October 2024.
Crown Buys Kelton’s Inflation Mythbuster
Crown Currency’s Leah Trouwborst has acquired North American rights to economist Stephanie Kelton’s The Inflation Myth. The deal was negotiated by Melissa Flashman at Janklow & Nesbit following an auction. A follow-up to Kelton’s bestselling The Deficit Myth, the book, Crown Currency said, is “a dismantling of the largest economic misconceptions holding us back as a nation, including a fundamental misunderstanding of what causes inflation and how to combat it.” Kelton is the former chief economist for the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. The book is tentatively scheduled for fall 2025.
Bicks Signs ‘Monster’ Deal with Hogarth
In a preempt, David Ebershoff at Hogarth has acquired world rights to Caroline Bicks’s Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King. Elizabeth Kaplan of the Elizabeth Kaplan Literary Agency handled the deal. Hogarth said the book is an “incisive study of how King drafted some of his most iconic works, while telling Bicks’s own story about facing her childhood fears—and getting to know the legendary writer responsible for them.” Bicks is the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine, and the first scholar granted full access to his archives. No pub date has yet been set.
Harper Books a Trip to St. Barths
Veteran author Michael Gross, whose bestselling titles have covered fashion, social history, and luxury real estate, has sold world rights to a book about the exclusive Caribbean island of St. Barths to Harper’s Sara Nelson. Dan Strone, CEO of Trident Media Group, negotiated the deal. Trident said the book will cover “the rocky island’s rise from abject poverty to immense wealth and worldwide fame as the resort of choice for the rich,” calling it “a tale of luxury, absurdity, class conflict and revelry” and “a window onto the world of high-end travel and leisure.” A fall 2025 pub date is planned.
Plum Sends ‘State Champ’ to Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury’s Callie Garnett has acquired North American and open market rights to the novel State Champ by Hilary Plum. Plum is represented by Nora Gonzalez at the Gernert Company. Bloomsbury said the book is about “a stubborn young woman’s bodily strike against the heartbeat law that shutters a Midwest abortion clinic and imprisons its lead physician, told in a voice both funny and furious.” The book is set for a spring 2025 publication.
