HMH Picks Up Greitens
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publisher Bruce Nichols acquired world rights to former Navy SEAL and Rhodes Scholar Eric Greitens’s untitled book on resilience, in a deal brokered by E.J. McCarthy. In the book, Greitens, named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in 2013, draws on lessons he’s learned from great poets and philosophers, combined with his own experiences as a SEAL, a worker in refugee camps, and an advocate for wounded veterans. The book is based on actual letters Greitens wrote to a SEAL in distress to explore “how anyone can adapt to hardship to become wiser, stronger, and happier.”

Swallow Re-ups at Bloomsbury
Cindy Loh, publisher of Bloomsbury Children’s U.S.A., acquired world English rights to “beloved in-house favorite” Gerry Swallow’s Krool and an untitled middle-grade adventure, with the imprint’s new editorial director, Catherine Onder, editing. Swallow is the author of Bloomsbury titles A Whole Nother Story, Another Whole Nother Story, and No Other Story, all written under the name Dr. Cuthbert Soup. Scheduled for a fall 2015 publication, Krool follows a misbehaving 11-year-old’s trip to a strange world populated by nursery rhyme characters. Cheryl Pientka at Jill Grinberg Literary Management brokered the six-figure, two-book deal.

Atria Nabs Winfield
Self-published author Ryan Winfield sold world rights to his novel Jane’s Melody to Sarah Cantin at Atria as part of a three-book deal, with Allison Hunter at InkWell Management representing the author. The book is described as a “sexy but touching” love story in which a grieving mother takes in a young street musician she believes can shed light on her daughter’s death, only to find herself falling for him. Atria released the e-book on October 7, and print publication is slated for spring 2014.

Verso Lands Goldsmith
Andrew Hsiao at Verso Books took world English rights to Capital by artist and MoMA Poet Laureate Kenneth Goldsmith, who represented himself in the deal. The book is described as a rewriting of Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project, based on New York City instead of Paris, but maintaining the same size as Benjamin’s original: 1,000 pages and half a million words. Publication is scheduled for fall 2015.

Ecco Takes a Shine to Raden
Celebrity jewelry designer Aja Sophia Raden sold North American rights to Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World to Ecco’s Hillary Redmon at auction. Scheduled for publication in fall 2015, the book is a narrative history of nine precious jewels that transformed the world, informed by the economics of perception and desire. Stephen Barbara at Foundry Literary + Media represented Redmon.

Pinhead and Harry Head to SMP
Together with Wayne Brookes at Pan Macmillan, Michael Homler of St. Martin’s Press acquired world English rights to Clive Barker’s The Scarlet Gospels. Barker’s novels featuring the demon Pinhead and occult investigator Harry D’Amour became the basis for the Hellraiser films, and the new book marks the characters’ return in the author’s first adult novel since 2007. Anne Sibbald at Janklow & Nesbit brokered the deal. The publisher is anticipating a winter 2015 publication.

S&S Buys Blood Brothers
Bob Bender at Simon & Schuster has acquired world English rights to Deanne Stillman’s nonfiction book Blood Brothers. Agent B.J. Robbins, who has an eponymous agency, represented Stillman. Set against the backdrop of the 19th-century Indian wars, the book describes the unusual friendship between Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull during their months together in the Wild West Show. Seeds of the book were sown in Stillman’s 2009 history of wild horses, Mustang.

Davis Sticks with Rodale
Rodale v-p and publisher Mary Ann Naples and editorial director Jennifer Levesque acquired U.S. rights to The Wheat Belly Guide to Perfect Health by William Davis, M.D. The book follows Davis’s Wheat Belly, also published by Rodale, and will help readers with the “next steps for how to take command over their health once they give up the wheat.” Rick Broadhead of Rick Broadhead & Associates handled the deal, and publication is planned for September 2014.