Good Advice
Springboard's Karen Murgolo has preempted Throw Out Fifty Things, a new book by life coach and Real Simple columnist Gail Blanke; Richard Pine at Inkwell sold world English rights. Blanke, author of the bestselling In My Wildest Dreams: Living the Life You Long For (S&S, 1998), will show readers how clearing debris from the past will free them to live a more fulfilling and authentic life. Pub date is spring 2009.
Sulay Hernandez at Touchstone Fireside bought world rights to Deborah Owens's A Purse of Your Own via agent Regina Brooks. This financial guide for women will teach the seven habits necessary for them to leverage their intuition, creativity and empathy to make money in the stock market. Owens is a financial columnist at TDJakes.com and a money coach on NPR's Rough Cuts. Pub date is early 2009.
Biller to S&S
Acclaimed German writer Maxim Biller has sold a collection of stories, Love Today, as well as a second book, to Sarah Hochman at S&S; Markus Hoffman at Regal Literary made the North American rights deal on behalf of Biller and his German publisher, Kiepenheuer & Witsch. "The Mahogany Elephant," a story from Love Today, appeared in the July 2 issue of the New Yorker, and a second story from the collection will appear in the magazine later this year. Likely pub date for Love is summer or fall 2008, and both books will be translated by Anthea Bell.
Jazz History
Rick Kot at Viking has preempted music journalist Ashley Kahn's Jazz Modern: The Complete History of Blue Note Records via David Dunton at Harvey Klinger, who sold world rights. Blue Note will turn 70 in 2009, and Viking will publish Jazz to coincide with the anniversary. Kahn is the author of several previous books, including A Love Supreme, on the Coltrane album, which Kot published at Viking in 2002.
More Pinter
Linda McFall at Mira Books has acquired world rights to four additional books in Jason Pinter's new series featuring reporter Henry Parker in a major six-figure deal negotiated by agent Joe Veltre. The first book in the series, The Mark, was just published, with the second book, The Guilty, to pub in March 2008. This new deal brings Pinter, who is also an editor at St. Martin's, to seven books under contract.
YA Debuts
Elizabeth Bicknell at Candlewick has bought a debut novel by 22-year-old Abby McDonald titled Sophomore Switch via agent Rosemary Stimola. The book is about two girls, one British and one American, who switch places—Oxford to UCLA—for a semester; expected pub date is spring 2009, with Walker UK to pub simultaneously.
Yeardley Smith, best known as the voice of Lisa Simpson, has written I, Lorelei: The Mud Letters, which Lindsey Alexander at HarperCollins's Laura Geringer imprint has acquired from Jim McCarthy at Dystel & Goderich. The novel chronicles a year in the life of a young girl in Washington, D.C., whose troubled home fails to dim her dreams of becoming a famous writer/chef/actress.
From Slush to Auction
At Ecco, Millicent Bennett bought U.S. rights to a debut novel by Daniel Clay titled Broken via Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown. The novel follows the sudden unraveling of a suburban community after a single act of thoughtless cruelty, as told through the eyes of an 11-year-old girl in a coma. Discovered in the slush pile at Curtis Brown, Broken has since sold at auction in the U.K. and Canada, and auctions are underway in Holland and Italy. Ecco's pub date is fall 2008.
