Bill Thomas at Doubleday acquired North American rights to The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (pictured l.) from Heide Lange at Sanford J. Greenburger, with Jason Kaufman set to edit. The sixth novel by Brown to feature The Da Vinci Code protagonist Robert Langdon follows the Harvard symbologist on a trip to Prague for a lecture about “an explosive book that contains startling discoveries about the nature of human consciousness,” when “a brutal murder catapults the trip into chaos.” Publication, with a 1.5 million–copy announced first printing, is set for September.

Jenny Jackson at Knopf, in a two-book deal, picked up world English rights to “literary psychological thriller” The Will, the debut novel by poet Maggie Smith, from Joy Tutela at David Black Literary Agency. “When a woman’s sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident, she becomes the guardian of their two young children,” according to the publisher—but, after years of miscarriages, “she begins to unravel, convinced she willed the accident in some Faustian bargain to become a mother.” No pub date was announced.

David Drake at Crown preempted an untitled memoir by Antony Blinken, former United States secretary of state under President Joe Biden, from Esther Newberg at CAA. Kevin Doughten is set to edit. Describing Blinken as “the man in the room, at the center of the vast apparatus of American power around the globe,” the publisher said the memoir will offer “the first inside story” on such major world events as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s military response; and more. Publication date is TBA.

Tom Mayer at Norton bought North American rights to Forbes reporter Emily Baker-White’s Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok from Adam Eaglin at the Cheney Agency. The book, the publisher said, will tell “the thrilling story of the app’s ascent, from the ambitions of its Chinese founders to the geopolitical fight over its future, including this month’s Supreme Court ruling upholding a ban in the U.S. and Trump’s executive order delaying it.” Publication is set for September.

Carolina Orloff at Charco Press secured world English rights to Brazilian author, journalist, and screenwriter Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s memoir I’m Still Here, translated by Daniel Hahn and Alison Entrekin, from Julia Wähmann and Lucia Riff at Agência Riff via Indent Literary Agency. The book, per the publisher, is a “memoir of the abduction and murder of Paiva’s father by Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1971, and his mother’s tireless, public demand for answers.” A 2024 Portuguese-language film adaptation is up for three Academy Awards. Publication is set for winter 2025.

In Brief

  • Melanie Tortoroli at Norton took world, audio, and first serial rights to an as-yet-untitled cookbook by The Food Lab author
  • J. Kenji López-Alt from Vicky Bijur at the eponymous shingle. Pub date TBA.
  • Karen Rinaldi at Harper landed exclusive U.S., Canada, and Philippines rights to the novel Twice by Mitch Albom, from David Black at the agency of the same name, for an October release.
  • Otto Penzler at the Mysterious Press secured world rights to a nonfiction collection by Lee Child, Reacher: The Stories Behind the Stories, from Darley Anderson of the eponymous agency, for a September release.
  • Kenli Manning at Bloomsbury US preempted North American rights to Lynn D. Jung’s debut novel, Mothsblood, about “an ambitious alchemist who must uncover the dark secrets of her university,” from Laura Crockett at TriadaUS Literary Agency.
  • Deborah Ghim at Ecco took USCOM rights to Premio Herralde prize–winning Xita Rubert’s English-language debut, The Key Biscayne Affair, translated from the Spanish by Julia Sanches, from Maria Juncosa at Casanovas & Lynch Agency, for a fall 2026 release.