Jessica Williams at William Morrow acquired North American rights to Miss Archer, the genre-bending debut novel by Pulitzer Prize finalist, playwright, and screenwriter Jordan Harrison (pictured l.), in a 13-way auction, from Julie Barer at the Book Group. Morrow billed the novel as “Never Let Me Go meets Rebecca, following a young governess and the strange boy she is entrusted to raise in an isolated gothic mansion where all are forced to maintain the illusion that the year is 1884.” Helen Garnons-Williams at Fig Tree preempted U.K. rights. No pub date has been announced.

Serena Jones at Holt took North American English rights, at auction, to The Joy of X: How My Generation Is Doing Middle Age by Mireille Silcoff from Rebecca Gradinger at United Talent Agency. The agency called the book “a fearless, exhilarating, and deeply validating exploration of how Generation X is redefining middle age particularly through a radically renewed approach to sexuality, identity, and joy.” Michelle Kane at Fourth Estate preempted U.K. rights via Cathryn Summerhayes at Curtis Brown, with Marion Garner at Penguin Canada taking Canadian English rights. No pub date has been announced.

Nicole Counts at One World bought Mountains South by Kali Fajardo-Anstine from Julia Masnik at Watkins/Loomis, in a two-book world rights deal. The novel, per the publisher, is “set in 2045 and follows two sisters—one entangled in a biogenetics experiment, the other a smuggler in the new American West—as they navigate a war-torn America where invasive technologies control everything from reproductive rights to natural resources.” No pub date has been announced.

Christa Desir at Poisoned Pen secured U.S. rights to Love, Mom, the previously self-published psychological thriller by Iliana Xander, from Caitlin Mahony at William Morris Endeavor. The Sourcebooks imprint said the book “follows a brilliant student who has grown up in the shadows of her mother, the world’s most famous thriller writer—but when she dies in a tragic accident, her daughter is left asking whether it was really an accident.” Grace Long at Michael Joseph preempted U.K. rights, and translation rights sold widely at last week’s London Book Fair. No pub date has been announced.

After an auction, Jenny Xu at Atria signed The Love Book by activist Adrienne Maree Brown, in a two-book, North American rights deal, from Rachel Neumann at Wave Literary. The publisher called it “an exploration of the primacy and necessity of love in an era of growing isolation and division, told through personal and historical stories, and a passionate interrogation of love as the medicine and language for our time.” The deal also includes an untitled debut poetry collection. No pub date has been announced.

In Brief

  • Kaitlin Ketchum at Ten Speed Graphic acquired world rights to a graphic novel adaptation of Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean series from Entangled and the author via Nicole Resciniti at Alliance Rights and Louise Fury at the Fury Agency. Pub date TBD.
  • Caroline Sutton at Avid Reader took North American rights, at auction, to How to Think by the Dalai Lama, with translator Thupten Jinpa and coauthor Doug Abrams, from Abrams, of Idea Architects, for a 2027 publication.
  • Whitney Frick at Dial secured North American rights to We Can Do Hard Things by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle from Margaret Riley King at WME. Publication is set for May.
  • Vicki Lame at St. Martin’s netted North American rights, at auction, to Rioghnach Robinson’s debut, Bad Words, in a two-book deal, from Clare Mao at Sanford J. Greenburger. A fall 2026 pub date is planned.
  • Morgan Entrekin at Grove Atlantic picked up North American rights to Tim Sullivan’s Detective George Cross series from Peter Straus at RCW and Claire Kennedy at Head of Zeus. The first two books are set for October and January, respectively, with the remaining six books coming later in 2026.

This article has been updated with further information.