Hogarth Inks Groundbreaking Debut Novelist
David Ebershoff at Hogarth has taken North American rights to two novels by Woody Brown, a Columbia MFA graduate and the first nonspeaking graduate of UCLA. Hogarth said the first book in the deal, Upward Bound, which will be Brown’s debut, is about “an adult day care center in Southern California and the interlocking narratives of its many clients and caregivers” and “provides an indelible, authentic, and deeply humane group portrait of autism and other disabilities, all illuminated by Brown’s empathy, insight, and sly sense of humor.” The second novel, Alfie, is “a coming-of-age story about a young autistic man and his relationships with his family and close friends.” Sarah Chalfant at the Wylie Agency brokered the deal. No pub dates have been announced for the books.
Comedian Sells Memoir to Ballantine
Comedian Zarna Garg has sold North American rights to her memoir This American Woman to Mary Reynics at Ballantine. Erin Malone and Sabrina Taitz at WME negotiated the deal. Ballantine said Garg turns “her astonishing life story into an unforgettable and hilarious book—from narrowly escaping an arranged marriage and homelessness in India to carving her own path in America and launching a dazzling second act in midlife—and an exuberant story of fighting for your right to determine your own destiny and triumphing beyond what you ever dreamed was possible.”
The book is set for an April 2025 publication.
Lake Union Picks Up ‘Midnight Work’
Chantelle Aimee Osman at Lake Union has acquired world rights to Midnight Work by Abigail Rose-Marie (The Moonflowers). Mark Gottlieb at Trident Media Group handled the deal. Gottlieb said the book follows “female scientists who defy societal norms and risk everything to create the first life-saving whooping cough vaccine.” A September 2026 publication is planned.
Spiegel & Grau Accepts ‘Culpability’
Cindy Spiegel at Spiegel & Grau has signed North American rights to Culpability by Guggenheim fellow Bruce Holsinger (The Gifted School). The publisher called it “a suspenseful contemporary novel about a family reckoning with the aftermath of a life-changing accident involving an autonomous vehicle,” adding that it explores “marriage, parenting, class, and moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence.” The deal was negotiated by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group. Culpability is set for a fall 2025 publication.
Atria Scores with Oakwood Bay Series
In a preempt, Melanie Iglesias Perez at Atria Books has purchased world English rights to two previously self-published titles and a third, yet-to-be-published entry in romance writer Ellie K. Wilde’s Oakwood Bay series, which the publisher describes as “a steamy sports romance trilogy” set in the fictional small town of Oakwood Bay that highlights “healthy relationships with knee-shaking spice.” The first entry, Only in Your Dreams, will be published in January 2025, followed by Only Between Us in July 2025. The third, as-yet-untitled novel is tentatively set for a spring 2026 publication. Lauren Spieller at Folio Literary Management negotiated the deal.
Random House Signs Pulitzer Winner
Pulitzer-winning historian Nicole Eustace has sold world rights to Great Falls, about the great Oneida chief and diplomat Shenandoah, to Marie Pantojan at Random House. Tanya McKinnon at McKinnon Literary represented Eustace, a professor of history at New York University who won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Covered with Night. Random House said Great Falls will explore how Shenandoah, “working with his people to protect Indigenous sovereignty in post-revolutionary America, resisted a group of French romantics trying to claim wide swaths of New York in pursuit of a New World paradise that never existed.” A publication date has not yet been announced.
