DEAL OF THE WEEK
Wells Re-ups at Tordotcom for Six
Tordotcom’s Lee Harris took world English rights to six books by Martha Wells. The six-figure acquisition, which the imprint said is its largest to date, was brokered by Jennifer Jackson at the Donald Maass Literary Agency. Wells is the author of the bestselling Murderbot Diaries series, which is published by Tordotcom; the new deal covers three more books in that series, as well as three unrelated novels. The first book under the agreement, Witch King, is set for fall 2022.
FROM THE U.S.
Delacorte Wins Trilogy by Carter
After an auction, Kelsey Horton at Delacorte won North American rights to a YA trilogy by Aimee Carter for six figures. Carter was represented in the deal by Rosemary Stimola and Allison Remcheck at the Stimola Literary Studio. The Royal Blood series, Stimola said, is “a contemporary reimagining of the royal family pitched as The Princess Diaries with murder.” In it, a 17-year-old American girl is outed as the British king’s illegitimate daughter and then “finds herself in an even bigger royal scandal as the primary suspect in a murder investigation.” The first book in the trilogy is slated for fall 2022.
Berkley Opens Cañas’s ‘Hacienda’
After a five-house auction, Berkley’s Jen Monroe won world rights to two titles by Isabel Cañas, including her debut novel The Hacienda. The publisher said the book is “a tale of witchcraft and suspense set in the 1800s,” adding that it “reads like Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca.” Cañas, who is Mexican American, is currently finishing her PhD in medieval Islamic literature. She was represented in the deal by Kari Sutherland at Bradford Literary Agency. The Hacienda is slated for spring 2022.
St. Martin’s Bows to Goodwin’s ‘Maid’
Daisy Goodwin (The American Heiress) sold a new novel, The Maid of Honor, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin’s Press. In the book, the publisher said, “an Anglo-American ingenue returns to London, where her aristocratic grandmother has secured her a place at the court of an austere, rather temperamental, and very unpredictable Queen Victoria.” Caroline Michel, CEO of U.K. literary agency Peters Fraser + Dunlop, brokered the North American rights agreement with Spicer.
Harper Biz Buys Wang’s ‘Bad Bitch’
For Harper Business, Wendy Wong preempted world English rights to Lisa Carmen Wang’s The Bad Bitch Business Bible. The author, an entrepreneur and former USA Gymnastics national champion, was represented by Stephanie Kim at New Leaf Literary & Media in the six-figure deal. Kim said the book is a “bold, irreverent manifesto on how ‘good girl brainwashing’ has kept working women from thriving in and out of the business world, and what they can do to overcome it.” The Bad Bitch Business Bible is set for fall 2022.
Love’s ‘Reform’ Sways St. Martin’s
Elisabeth Dyssegaard at St. Martin’s preempted North American rights to Bettina Love’s Reform Destroyed My Generation. The book, the publisher said, is “a powerful indictment of the miseducation and incarceration of Black children... told through Love’s own story and those of her peers.” It focuses on the impact of a 1983 government report on the U.S. education system and the reforms that followed in its wake. Love, an associate professor of educational theory and practice at the University of Georgia, said, “This book is filled with the voices of Black adults, who were once Black youth impacted by educational reform that punished Black children, turning our schools into prisons, and stole our Black childhoods.” She was represented in the deal by Tanya McKinnon at McKinnon Literary.
