Hannah to William Morrow
Bestselling thriller writer Sophie Hannah sold North American rights to four new books to Daniel Mallory at William Morrow. Mallory struck the deal with Jason Bartholomew, rights director at Hodder & Stoughton. The first book in the deal, Woman with a Secret, is set for August 2015 and is the latest addition to the author’s U.K.-set crime series featuring detectives Simon Waterhouse and Charlie Zailer. (The book was released in the U.K. in 2014 as The Telling Error and became a bestseller there.) Hannah, who lives in England, is the author of The Monogram Murders, the only book featuring Agatha Christie’s fictional detective Hercule Poirot to be authorized by the Christie estate.
McKenzie Goes to Polis Books
For his indie house Polis Books, Jason Pinter took world rights to two new thrillers, along with print rights to three backlist titles, by Grant McKenzie. Polis initially released the three backlist titles—Switch (McKenzie’s debut), K.A.R.M.A., and The Fear in Her Eyes—as e-books. The first new book in the deal, Speak the Dead, will be released by Polis in hardcover next fall. The other new book, The Butcher’s Apron, is set for fall 2016. McKenzie was born in Scotland and lives in Canada, and Pinter said the author is a “tentpole thriller writer for us,” noting that Polis now has five of McKenzie’s titles in its catalogue. In the deal, McKenzie was represented by Amy Moore-Benson at AMB Literary Management.
Norton Nabs House Historian
Matthew Wasniewski, the historian for the House of Representatives, sold Truth’s Pilgrim: Walter Lippmann and the Making of U.S. Foreign Policy, 1917–1967 to John Glusman at Norton. Glusman took world rights to the title from Lauren Sharp at Kuhn Projects. Lippmann, Glusman said, was “America’s most-read political columnist” and was called, by Tom Wolfe, “the dean of American political pundits.”
Running Press Gets ‘Hungry’ With Elwood
Tessa Elwood sold Hunger, Heart, Fuel, Nation to Lisa Cheng at Running Press. Cheng took world rights, in a two-book deal, to the YA novel from Victoria Marini at Gelfman Schneider. Marini said the novel is a “space Regency,” calling it “Game of Thrones in space.” In the novel, a girl takes her sister’s place “in an arranged political marriage between two intergalactic royal houses.” Marini added that the stakes are raised when the heroine finds “she may be the illegitimate daughter of her family’s sworn enemy.” Elwood is a Web designer and has worked for a number of YA authors, including Amy Zhang and Mindee Arnett.
London Goes ‘Wild’ at Philomel
Jill Santopolo at Philomel took world rights, in a three-book deal, to C. Alexander London’s middle-grade series Wild Ones. Book one in the action-adventure fantasy is scheduled for September 2015 and will be one of the imprint’s biggest fall releases. Wild Ones, according to Philomel, is set in “an expansive animal world” inspired by Redwall, Brian Jacques’s children’s fantasy series from the 1980s. (The Redwall series is set in various time periods and chronicles the history of the titular world.) In London’s series, two warring animal factions—the Wild Ones and the Flealess (which are domesticated)—are engaged in a turf war. When a young raccoon emerges with power to end the war, he must, as Philomel put it, “unite the wild animals for one final battle.” London is the author of the middle-grade series Accidental Adventure; he was represented by Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic.
NOTE: This story has been updated from its original posting to include the name of the agent who represented Grant McKenzie in his deal with Polis Books.
