DEAL OF THE WEEK
Elliott’s ‘Child’ Joins Random House
Invisible Child, by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Andrea Elliott, was originally acquired in a North American rights deal by Kate Medina at Random House. The debut nonfiction book, which is subtitled Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City and is now set for October, chronicles eight years in the life of Dasani Coates, a girl experiencing homelessness in Brooklyn. The publisher said Elliott spent nearly 10 years reporting the project. The “sweeping narrative” weaves stories of Dasani’s life and childhood with her family history, “tracing the passage of her ancestors from slavery to the Great Migration.” Random House added that the book is “by turns heartbreaking and inspiring” as it “illuminates some of the most critical issues in America through the life of one remarkable girl.” Elliott, who was previously a staff writer at the Miami Herald, is now an investigative reporter at the New York Times; in addition to a Pulitzer, she has won a number of reporting awards, including a George Polk Award and a Scripps Howard Award. She was represented in the 2014 deal by Tina Bennett.
FROM THE U.S.
Atria Re-ups Correa in Triple
In a rumored seven-figure agreement, Armando Lucas Correa sold The Silence in Her Eyes and two other novels to Daniella Wexler at Atria. Correa, author of the international bestseller The German Girl (which was recently optioned for TV adaptation), was represented by Johanna Castillo at Writers House in the world rights deal. Atria described Silence as “a Hitchcockian thriller about a motion-blind young woman who, after just losing her mother, becomes entangled in an act of violence connected to a new tenant in her New York apartment building.” The other two books are currently untitled—both are works of historical fiction. The first is a family saga that follows a Cuban clan over the course of generations. The second is, Atria said, “a love story that interweaves the last-minute separation of two young soulmates on the Kindertransport in 1939 Berlin with the Operation Pedro Pan child-rescue mission that took place in Cuba 23 years later.”
Noblin Does Double at Morrow
For six figures, Lucia Macro at William Morrow re-signed Annie England Noblin (Sit! Stay! Speak!) in a two-book deal. Priya Doraswamy at Lotus Lane Literary negotiated the world rights agreement. The first book under contract, Christmas at Corgi Cove, follows a woman who, while trying to save her family’s lakefront inn from going under, stumbles into an unexpected romance. The heroine, the publisher explained, must contend with “an attractive and infuriating hotelier who makes an offer that is difficult for her to refuse.” Corgi Cove is set for summer 2023, and the second book will be released in summer 2024.
Celadon Ties Down Michaelides
Bestselling author Alex Michaelides (The Silent Patient) signed a new two-book deal with his current publisher, Celadon Books. Ryan Doherty took North American rights to the currently untitled novels from Sam Copeland at Rogers, Coleridge & White. Michaelides’s next book, The Maidens, is being released by Celadon in June.
Stanford Gets ‘Happy’ at Viking
Happy for You by Claire Stanford was bought at auction by Lindsey Schwoeri at Viking. The Wylie Agency’s Jackie Ko brokered the North American rights deal. The novel, Viking said, is “the story of a young woman who leaves academia for a job at a tech company where she is tasked with helping to quantify happiness.” It explores “Asian American identity, gender roles, and the impact of increasingly invasive, norm-reinforcing apps and algorithms on our relationships with others and with ourselves, through one woman’s journey to find an authentic happiness all her own.” Stanford is a PhD candidate in English at UCLA. Happy for You is set for spring 2022.
This article has been updated with new information.
