FSG Signs Inaugural Fellowship Recipient
Farrar, Straus and Giroux editor-in-chief Jenna Johnson has acquired world rights to Dominion, the debut novel by Addie Citchens. The deal was brokered by PJ Mark at Janklow & Nesbit. Citchens’s work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, and the Oxford American’s “Best of the South” issue. In 2022, Citchens, who lives in New Orleans, was named the inaugural recipient of the FSG Writer’s Fellowship, a program that supports emerging writers. FSG called Dominion “a novel of secrets, complicity, misogyny, and unshakable love” that examines “how communities are shaped by the mundane yet violent beast of the patriarchy.” The book is scheduled for an August 2025 release.
Berkley Picks Storey’s ‘Dandelion’
Jen Monroe at Berkley has preempted North American rights to Rosie Storey’s debut novel, Dandelion Is Dead. Jemima Forrester at David Higham Associates negotiated the deal. Berkley said the book follows Poppy, “who’s reeling from the death of her beloved, wild sister, Dandelion, when she reads a message from Jake, an attractive stranger in her sister’s dating app, and decides to go on a date with him. But there’s a problem: Poppy lets Jake believe she is Dandelion, and as their connection grows, the truth becomes harder and harder to share.” The book is scheduled for early 2026.
Red Tower Embarks on ‘Quest’ with Williams
Liz Pelletier at Red Tower has signed world rights to Living My Quest Life by Shanora Williams (Lethal Souls). The deal was negotiated by Georgana Grinstead at the Seymour Agency. Red Tower described the book as “Dungeons and Dragons meets The Wizard of Oz,” in which “a young woman who will do anything to rescue her sister from an evil sorcerer’s curse hires a ruthless assassin and goes on a quest with a band of misfits—one of whom harbors a devastating secret that could ruin her fairy tale ending.” Quest Life is set to publish in fall 2025.
HarperVia Signs French Follow-up
HarperVia executive editor Rakesh Satyal has taken world English rights to Make Me Famous, the second novel by French author Maud Ventura (My Husband). Gretchen Schmid will translate. Marleen Seegers at 2 Seas Agency handled the deal on behalf of Sophie Langlais at Books and More Agency in France. HarperVia described the book as “Daisy Jones and the Six meets Patricia Highsmith” and said it follows a global superstar singer who, on her first “real vacation” in years, “can’t help but ruminate on her past—including how, just six months earlier, things started to go very, very wrong.” The book is scheduled for May 2025.
Weissenbach, Grand Central Explore Alaska
In a preempt, Grand Central executive editor Karyn Marcus has acquired world English rights to Gates Cambridge scholar Ben Weissenbach’s North to the Future: An Offline Adventure Through the Changing Wilds of Alaska. Bonnie Nadell at Hill Nadell Literary Agency negotiated the deal. Grand Central said the book recounts “a young digital native on his intrepid journeys with several distinguished scientists into the Alaskan wilderness to study what’s occurring in the fastest-warming region on Earth—only to unexpectedly confront his own life.” Grand Central will publish in summer 2025.
Hoag Re-ups with Dutton
Bestselling author Tami Hoag (Bad Liar) has inked a new North American rights deal with her longtime publisher, Dutton Books, with Lindsey Rose editing. The deal was brokered by Andrea Cirillo and Rebecca Scherer at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. The as yet untitled and unscheduled book will be the author’s fourth set in the fictional Louisiana parish of Bayou Breaux. Hoag has more than 40 million copies of her books in print across 30-plus languages, according to Dutton.
