Dlouhy Lands Reynolds’s ‘Dreamer’
In a North American rights deal, Caitlyn Dlouhy, for her eponymous children’s imprint at Simon & Schuster, bought Letter to a Dreamer, an inspirational poem by Jason Reynolds. Reynolds, who has won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award and two Coretta Scott King Honors, first performed the poem at the Kennedy Center in 2011 during an event celebrating the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The book version of the poem, explained Pippin Properties’ Elena Giovinazzo, who represented Reynolds, will not be illustrated but, rather, “designed.”
Krentz Strikes Two Seven-Figure Deals at Berkley
Bestselling romance author Jayne Ann Krentz, who writes under several pseudonyms, closed two separate seven-figure deals with Berkley. (Krentz writes her contemporary romance series under her own name, her historical romantic suspense novels under the name Amanda Quick, and her futuristic/paranormal romantic-suspense novels under the name Jayne Castle.) In her first new deal at Berkley, she sold North American rights to two contemporary romantic thrillers, set for 2017 and 2018, to Cindy Hwang. In the second deal, Hwang took North American rights to two historical romantic thrillers, which Krentz will write as Amanda Quick. The historicals, scheduled for 2018 and 2019, will be set in 20th-century America. Krentz has written over 150 novels and, per Berkley, sold more than 40 million books to date; she was represented by agent Steven Axelrod, who has an eponymous shingle.
Perri Re-ups at Putnam
Camille Perri, whose novel The Assistants was published this month by Putnam, closed a new deal with her current publisher. She sold world rights to When Katie Met Cassidy to Putnam executive editor Kerri Kolen. Perri, who previously worked as the books editor at Cosmopolitan and Esquire, was represented by Kerry Sparks at Levine Greenberg Rostan. The novel, Putnam said, is a “smart and sexy” romantic comedy about a New York City lawyer, in her late 20s, whose life is thrown off course when she’s dumped by her fiancé. She then strikes up an unexpected friendship with a colleague, a promiscuous lesbian, which “propels [her] to question everything she thought she knew about love and sexuality—and herself.”
Harper Voyager Takes Drayden’s Debut
Nicky Drayden, editor-at-large of the audio fiction podcast The Drabblecast, sold her debut novel to David Pomerico at Harper Voyager. Pomerico took world English rights, in a two-book deal, to The Prey of Gods; the second book in the deal is currently untitled. Prey, which Jennifer Jackson at Donald Maass Literary sold, is slated for summer 2017. Jackson said the book is a near-future thriller set in South Africa that follows “a diverse set of characters imbued with supernatural abilities by a street drug” who must join forces to stop a goddess intent on “remaking their world.”
Caine, Aguirre Land Six Figures for SF YA Series
For their new young adult science fiction series, the Honors, Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre scored a mid-six-figure deal at HarperCollins Children’s Books’ Katherine Tegen Books imprint. Claudia Gabel took North American rights to three books from agents Lucienne Diver at the Knight Agency (who represented Caine) and Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary (who represented Aguirre). The series, Diver said, follows a misfit named Zara who feels lost in a highly ordered future world. Diver went on: “She is chosen to partner off-world with a living alien ship... but soon, Zara, the ship Nadim, and a rogue’s gallery of characters discover that the universe is bigger and much more cruel than they’ve been led to believe.” Caine has written more than 50 novels, including the Morganville Vampire series; Aguirre is a RITA Award winner whose works include the Sirantha Jax series.
Briefs
Sarah Skilton’s debut adult novel, Club Deception, was acquired by Maddie Caldwell at Grand Central. Caldwell took world English rights to the book from Victoria Marini at Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners. The book, Marini said, chronicles the magicians at a private Los Angeles magic club “and the women who love, inspire, or control them.”
HarperTeen’s Karen Chaplin took North American rights to Lauren Gibaldi’s young adult novel This Tiny Perfect World. Gibaldi (The Night We Said Yes) was represented by Claire Anderson-Wheeler at Regal Hoffmann & Associates. Anderson-Wheeler said the 2017-slated novel follows a scholarship girl at a theater camp struggling to “figure out if her small-town life, and small-town boyfriend, can ultimately be enough for her.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article said the book Club Deception follows musicians at a Los Angeles club; it follows magicians. Also, Nicky Drayden's title at The Drabblecast is editor-at-large, not editor-in-chief.
