Cho Lands at Cook
Founder of One Day’s Wages, Eugene Cho, has sold a book to nonprofit Colorado Springs, Colo., Christian publisher David C. Cook. One Day’s Wages is a program that calls on people to donate a single day’s salary to the effort to wipe out global poverty. Cho, who is also the founder of Seattle’s Quest Church, is a regular speaker on social justice issues. In the acquisition, Don Pape took world rights to three books, at auction, from agent Chris Park at Foundry Literary + Media. The first book in the deal, The Most Overrated Generation, will, Park said, lay out Cho’s belief that “real change in the world comes only when we ourselves are changed, and that sort of change comes only from the power of the gospel.” At David C. Cook, Alex Field will be editing.
Rowell Goes Adult for SMP
Young adult author Rainbow Rowell sold her adult novel, Landline, to Sara Goodman at St. Martin’s Press. Goodman took North American rights to the work, about a woman who stumbles on a potential way to save her troubled marriage when she discovers she can communicate with her husband in the past. Christopher Schelling at Selectric Artists negotiated the two-book deal (with the second title set as a YA work) for Rowell, whose latest YA novel, Eleanor & Park, was released by SMP in February.
Philomel Nabs Trilogy Decades in the Making
Michael Green, president and publisher of Penguin Younger Readers Group’s Philomel imprint, bought world rights to a new fantasy series by debut author Matthew Jobin. The first book in the trilogy, The Nethergrim, which is scheduled for April 2014, is set in a village called Moorvale where, Philomel explained, the titular evil character was long ago defeated by a famous knight-wizard duo. Now, as local children continue to disappear, fears mount that the Nethergrim has returned. Agent Eleanor Jackson at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner represented Jobin, a lecturer at Santa Clara University with a Ph.D. in anthropology from Stanford. Philomel said Jobin’s been working on the world of the Nethergrim for 25 years.
Viking Gets ‘Robotic’ With Mindell
Melanie Tortoroli at Viking took world rights, at auction, to MIT professor David Mindell’s Our Robots, Ourselves: How the New Robotics Is Changing Human Identity and Experience. Mindell teaches technology and aerospace engineering and formerly worked in the field of deep sea exploration. In the book, he examines extreme environments where robotics are being used—from the ocean to outer space—and forecasts, Viking said, “the dangers, ethical quandaries, unintended consequences, and hopes of a future in which robotics and automation suffuse our everyday lives.” Agent Katherine Flynn at Kneerim, Williams & Bloom handled the sale, and the book is scheduled for 2014.
Briefs
Thomas Dunne Books’ Peter Joseph acquired world rights, in a three-book deal, to a trilogy by Cracked.com columnist Wayne Gladstone. The first novel in the series, Notes from the Internet Apocalypse, follows a man trying to rebuild his life in a world where the Internet has suddenly become inaccessible; it’s scheduled for early 2014. Gladstone was represented by Lauren Abramo at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.
