DEAL OF THE WEEK

Putnam Welcomes Holt’s ‘Wise Gals’

After an eight-house auction, Putnam’s Michelle Howry won world rights to Nathalia Holt’s Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage. Holt, author of the 2016 bestseller Rise of the Rocket Girls (Little, Brown), was represented by Laurie Abkemeier at DeFiore and Company. Howry said Wise Gals “recounts the untold story of four trailblazing women in the Cold War–era intelligence service who were central to the agency’s formation, instrumental in its work for decades, and who rose to positions of great power and influence—but who are largely forgotten today.”

FROM THE U.S.

Mira Re-ups Joshi

For Mira, Kathy Sagan took world rights to Alka Joshi’s The Royal Jewel Cinema. The novel is a sequel to The Henna Artist (published in March by Mira), which was a Reese’s Book Club pick. The Royal Jewel Cinema, Mira said, opens 12 years after The Henna Artist ends and “follows the story of Lakshmi’s young helper Malik, whom she sends to apprentice at the Jaipur Palace, where he again encounters the wealthy Singhs and unwittingly gets involved in schemes that threaten his life, his livelihood, and his first love.” Joshi was represented by Margaret Sutherland Brown at Folio Literary Management.

Holzman, Rodbard Test Their ‘Food IQ’

Daniel Holzman and Matt Rodbard sold Food IQ to Harper Wave. The book, subtitled 100 Questions, Answers and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts, was bought by Julie Will, who took U.S., Canadian, and open market rights. Holzman and Rodbard were represented by Eve Atterman at William Morris Endeavor and Angela Miller at Miller Bowers Griffin, respectively. The book’s aim, Harper said, is to “help readers cook better, and smarter, while increasing their food knowledge along the way.” Holzman is a chef and cookbook author, and Rodbard is a food writer and editor; together they’ve written columns for Saveur and Taste.

Lorenz Goes ‘Online’ at Simon & Schuster

Stephanie Frerich at S&S bought Taylor Lorenz’s Extremely Online: Gen Z, the Rise of Influencers, and the Creation of a New American Dream. The book, S&S said, “charts the influences of technology shifts on the next generation, including how the social media influencer became the blueprint for the modern entrepreneur.” Lorenz, a technology reporter for the New York Times, was represented in the world rights deal by Pilar Queen at United Talent Agency.

Epstein’s ‘Hangman’ Tips to Doubleday

A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein was acquired by Carolyn Williams at Doubleday. The author, who has an MFA from Northwestern University, was represented in the North American rights agreement by Bridget Smith at JABberwocky Literary Agency. The agent said the debut novel follows Elizabethan author Christopher Marlowe after he’s “approached by the Queen’s spymaster” and “takes a job that will grant him the life he’s always dreamed of—and puts him in danger he never imagined.” Doubleday added that the book was “pitched as Shakespeare in Love meets Sarah Waters.”

Crown Claims ‘Unclaimed’

Sociologists Pamela J. Prickett and Stefan Timmermans sold The Unclaimed to Amanda Cook at Crown after an auction. Cook took world rights to the book from Alison MacKeen at Park & Fine. Crown said the work is an investigation into “the lives of the unclaimed dead in Los Angeles” and “the workers charged with tending their bodies, and the strangers who show up to mourn them.”