Double for McGuigan, Triple for Foundry
Foundry Literary + Media cofounder Peter McGuigan closed two celebrity deals, selling a rock memoir and a comedic picture book. McGuigan completed a six-figure North American rights deal, at auction, with Ben Schafer of Da Capo for Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi's Iron Man. McGuigan, who described Iommi as one of the forebears of heavy metal, called the book a genre-bending rockology/life story that is “Angela's Ashes meets The Ground Beneath Her Feet meets Spinal Tap.” McGuigan also closed on a third children's book for Jeff Foxworthy—Blue Collar Comedy tour staple and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? host—selling North American rights to his Hide!, about a neighborhoodwide game of hide-and-seek, to Beaufort Books. Beaufort's Margot Atwell will edit; the deal also marks a shift for Foxworthy's children's work, as HarperCollins published his last two picture books, Dirt on My Shirt and Silly Street.
Foundry's Hannah Brown Gordon sold the tongue-in-cheek relationship book Dealbreaker by the founders of the same-titled Web site, Marisa Pinson and Dave Horwitz, to Jennifer Kasius at Running Press. Kasius took North American rights to the book, which Gordon calls “a hilarious rundown of all the horrifying things that we do to stop a relationship dead in its tracks.”
Pigeon Gets 'Pacific'; Radziewicz Goes with 'God'... Again
Da Capo executive editor Robert Pigeon nabbed world English rights to a book about fighter pilots during WWII called Pacific Air. Jim McCarthy, at Dystel and Goderich, brokered the deal for author David Sears; the Perseus imprint is planning a spring 2011 publication. According to the publisher, this “sweeping epic” about the air campaign over the Pacific is a “heart-pounding story” following both the pilots who took to the sky and the sailors who steered them to take-off. Also at Da Capo, publisher John Radziewicz has taken world rights to Frank Schaeffer's third nonfiction book in his bestselling trilogy about God and religion (following Crazy for God and Patience with God). God, Sex & Mom, which Jennifer Lyons at Jennifer Lyons Literary sold, includes tales about Schaeffer's evangelical mother and his, as the publisher put it, “far-from-prudish” childhood.
S&S Gets the Jersey Boy
Zach Schisgal, at Simon & Schuster's Touchstone/Fireside imprint, nabbed North American rights to a Bruce Springsteen bio by rock biographer Peter Ames Carlin, who's written about such heavies as Paul McCartney (Paul McCartney: A Life) and Brian Wilson (Catch a Wave). Simon Lipskar at Writers House brokered the deal and the book, per S&S, will trace Springsteen's life from his working-class roots in Freehold, N.J., through his life as a superstar and cultural icon.
'Mad' Looks
Agent Monika Verma, of Levine Greenberg, sold world rights to a style book by Emmy-winning costume designer Janie Bryant. Karen Murgolo at Grand Central acquired; the book culls from Bryant's experiences creating varied vintage ensembles for shows like Mad Men and Deadwood, and aims to show women how to tap into their inner “leading lady.” Fashion journalist Monica Corcoran is co-writing, and Grand Central is planning a fall 2010 pub.