Two for Twelve
Warner Twelve publisher Jonathan Karp has added two new titles to his imprint's list, both via preempt. The first is NPR foreign correspondent Eric Weiner's The Geography of Bliss, which will combine foreign affairs reporting, humor and some twisted self-help advice in a search for the happiest places in the world. Among the locales Weiner will explore are Iceland, Qatar and Bhutan. Weiner is a former New York Times reporter; this is his first book. Sloan Harris at ICM handled the world rights deal, and an early 2008 publication date is expected.
Karp also preempted world rights to Zoom: The Race to Fuel the Car of the Future by Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, from Dan Mandel at Sanford Greenburger. Carson and Vaitheeswaran, both Economistcorrespondents, will focus on forthcoming innovations in automobiles and energy, explaining how Toyota's rise to the top of the global car industry will transform Detroit, affect Big Oil and lead to the creation of clean cars. Vaitheeswaran is the author of the recent book on energy, Power to the People (FSG). Zoom is expected to be published in early 2008.
Fatherhood at Auction
The conclusion of a two-day, seven-publisher auction for New York Times city editor Wendell Jamieson's Father Knows Less saw Putnam's Dan Conaway and Perigee's John Duff emerge with North American rights, in a joint venture, via Jay Mandel at William Morris. Derived from a recent piece that appeared in the Times, Jamieson will share the story of his obsessive mission to provide answers to his young son Dean's persistent questions about the world around him. Putnam will publish for Father's Day 2007, with the Perigee paperback coming a year later.
Billion Dollar Preempt
Fred Hill of Frederick Hill Bonnie Nadell has accepted a preemptive offer for David Monagan's The Billion Dollar Balloon: Triumph and Tragedy in the Quest to Fix Human Hearts, with Gotham's William Shinker acquiring North American rights. The book will tell the story of the race to revolutionize cardiovascular medicine, as well as that of the pioneers who changed its course over the past 50 years and the resulting economic burst in the medical device sector. Science writer Monagan, an American who lives in Cork, Ireland, has reported on these issues for both the popular and specialist presses for 26 years.
Debut Buy
In her first buy as Viking's editorial director for fiction, Molly Stern has acquired world rights to Ron Currie Jr.'s God Is Dead from Simon Lipskar at Writers House. A collection of linked stories, God Is Dead employs "near-future satire" to describe the chain of events that unfolds after God, taking the mortal form of a Dinka woman in the Sudan, is killed in the first story. Currie is a native of Waterville, Maine, where he still lives and works as a short-order cook. Viking plans a May 2007 publication.
Glusman's First
New Harmony executive editor John Glusman has made his first buy for the imprint, John Buntin's L.A. Noir: the Epic Struggle for Control of Los Angeles, from agent Jill Kneerim. The book will be a history of Los Angeles, from Prohibition to the Dragnet era, featuring a cast of characters that includes Bugsy Siegel, J. Edgar Hoover, Bobby Kennedy and legendary LAPD Chief William H. Parker. Buntin is a staff correspondent for Governing magazine. This was a North American rights deal; a publication date of spring 2009 is anticipated.
On the Road
John Cerullo at music publisher Hal Leonard has acquired world rights to photographer Tom Wright's Roadwork, a photo-rich memoir of his 30 years touring with the Who, the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, and Joe Walsh and the Eagles. Agent Jodie Rhodes brokered the deal. The book, derived from Wright's 30 years' worth of journals and tapes, will include many never-before-seen photos and a foreword by Pete Townsend, and will be co-written by Susan VanHecke. Tentative pub date is fall 2007.
The Briefing
Touchstone's Cherise Grant preempted North American rights to Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant's sequel, 10 years later, to Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made, from agent Victoria Sanders; the novel will be published in early 2008.... Crown's Heather Jackson has acquired North American rights to nutritionist Keri Glassman's first book, The Snack Factor Diet, from Julie Merberg at packager Downtown Bookworks; the book argues that the key to successful weight loss is successful snacking; it includes a flexible snacking plan and hundreds of snack recipes.... Agent Peter Miller has sold North American rights to Cinch Management byBlue Bell Creameries heads Ed and Howard Kruse, presenting the business philosophy of this small firm—turned—industry powerhouse, to Richard Narramore at Wiley. The book, which will be published in February 2007 to mark the centennial of Blue Bell, will be written with Clyde W. Burleson and include a brief foreword by former President Bush.
