Scream director Wes Craven has something new to scream about. Simon &Schuster president and publisher Carolyn Reidy and editor Laurie Bernstein have made a preemptive seven-figure (rumored to be $1 million) bid for world English rights to his first novel, tentatively titled The Fountain Society. Craven was originally just expecting to have preliminary talks with publishers, then submit chapters, but Reidy told PW that his oral pitch was good because it "wasn't Hollywood style; it was more thought out than some novelists are halfway through their novel!" The thriller, which agent Ellen Geiger of Curtis Brown had described in PW (Jan. 27) as combining "our fascination with the search for the fountain of youth with some Craven-esque elements," also has a some Faustian notes and a good romance in the bargain, Reidy said. Reidy is hoping for a summer 1998 publication and possible movie tie-in.