Graphic Sex
Scott Mendel, of Mendel Media Group, looks to have sold a first-of-its-kind how-to graphic nonfiction, a guide to sex by Kidder Kaper called Sex Is Fun. Brianne Mulligan at Gotham Avery nabbed world rights. Kaper, who lives in the Twin Cities, has established himself as an unlikely 21st-century sex guru with the podcast he launched in 2005, “Sex Is Fun.” The downloadable audio snippets have reached millions of listeners and led to the establishment of a small media empire that now includes adult games (available at www.greatsexgames.com), DVDs and additional podcasts; one, Sex Is Fun Theater, features video and animation. Mendel said some chapter ideas were tested through Sex Is Fun Theater, but the book will feature new and original work. Josh Lynch did the art with additional inks by Rich Flood.
DaCapo's Warren Nabs Two
Lissa Warren at Da Capo Press has just closed on two books—one about a Shakespeare imposter and another about the economy. In The Boy Who Would Be Shakespeare: A Tale of Forgery and Folly, which Warren bought world rights to from Lisa Adams at the Garamond Agency, author Doug Stewart offers up the life story of 18th-century hoaxster William Henry Ireland, a 19-year-old who managed to persuade a London theater to mount a production of a supposedly “unpublished” Shakespeare play called Vortigern and Rowena. Warren also took world rights to David Wolman's tentatively titled The End of Money. Giles Anderson of Anderson Literary brokered the deal, and the book is slated for fall 2010. In it, the Wired contributing editor charts the downfall of legal tender and discusses how the era of paper money is coming to its close.
The Former Mr. Gilbert
Brenda Copeland at Hyperion bought U.S., Canadian and open market (excluding India) rights to Michael Cooper's memoir, Displaced, at auction. Cooper is Elizabeth Gilbert's ex-husband, and the one she left before embarking on the soul-searching trip that inspired her bestselling memoir, Eat, Pray, Love. In Displaced Cooper offers the flip side of her tale—his account of overcoming the divorce and embarking on his own world journey. According to Hyperion, he goes on a “search for purpose” that leads him through the Middle East and other developing countries. Rebecca Oliver at William Morris Endeavor did the deal, and Hyperion plans to pub in fall 2010.
Dijkstra Closes Two-fer
Sandra Dijkstra has just closed a two-book deal for Adrienne Mayor with Rob Tempio at Princeton University Press. Tempio acquired world rights to Mayor's Amazonia: The Legendary Empire of Women as well as a currently untitled second work that will be a reinterpretation of classical mythology. Mayor teaches classics and history at Stanford, and PUP is also publishing, this fall, her book The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy.
Face Forward
Richard Pine of Inkwell closed a six-figure deal for his client, Dr. Jessica Wu, for her book, Feed Your Face: What Your Dermatologist Never Told You About the Link Between Food and Skin. Wu, a well-known Hollywood dermatologist and frequent guest on the daytime TV show The Doctors, offers the current science on how the right diet can improve your complexion; celebrity anecdotes are also included. Kathy Huck at St. Martin's took North American rights.
