DEAL OF THE WEEK
Anchor Wins Yoon’s Adult Debut
In a U.S. rights agreement, Caitlin Landuyt at Anchor Books bought Nicola Yoon’s first adult novel at auction. Jodi Reamer at Writers House sold the book, One of Our Kind, which is slated for 2024. The psychological thriller from the bestselling YA author explores, Yoon said, “what it means to truly be free when you’re Black in America, and the ways in which that freedom is complicated by the presumptions we make about ourselves and each other,” and “is part The Stepford Wives, part Get Out.”
Chu Gets ‘Bottled’ at Sourcebooks
Sourcebooks’ Mary Altman took world English rights to Lily Chu’s Bottled Up for six figures at auction. The novel follows a woman named Lucy Hua, who hails from a line of ancient Chinese perfumers and has the power to create fragrances that bring about true love. The book features, the publisher said, “poignant family dynamics and the search for love and identity.” Carrie Pestritto at the Laura Dail Literary Agency represented the author, and the book is scheduled for fall/winter 2024.
Urban Sells Three to PRH
Bestselling author and cofounder of the The Whole30 Melissa Urban struck a three-book, U.S. rights deal with Penguin Random House. Under it, Whitney Frick at Dial Press bought a currently untitled memoir and The Book of Boundaries, which will, Dial said, be a guide to help readers “end resentment, burnout, and anxiety,” as well as “reclaim their time, energy, health, and relationships.” The Essential Whole30 was acquired by Diana Baroni of PRH’s Rodale imprint and is “a definitive new guide and cookbook to the bestselling Whole30 program and philosophy,” slated for 2024. Christy Fletcher at Fletcher & Co. represented Urban.
Convergent Goes to Marrs
HGTV on-air personalities Jenny and Dave Marrs sold House + Love = Home to Karen Baltzer at Penguin Random House’s Convergent imprint. Susanna Lea and Stephen Morrison at Susanna Lea Associates handled the North American rights sale, selling the book after a six-way auction. The book, which will be written by Jenny Marrs, will share, Lea said, “stories of their family’s lives on their farm in Bentonville, Ark., woven through with design ideas for how to create warm and well-thought-out spaces in any home.”
Sutherland Nabs Manning’s ‘Successor’
Kenneth Whyte at Canadian publisher Sutherland House Books acquired Paddy Manning’s biography The Successor: The High-Stakes Life of Lachlan Murdoch. The book, the publisher said, is “the first biography to focus on the enigmatic heir apparent to the first global media dynasty,” and features “deep reportage and unrivaled insight” into the life of the eldest son of Rupert Murdoch. Manning is an Australian journalist who was represented in the deal by Erin Sandiford at the title’s Australian publisher, Black Inc. Books. The Successor will be available in the U.S. through Baker & Taylor Distribution Services.
Seven Stories Buys Ukrainian Collection
Ukrainian author and soldier Artem Chapeye sold his debut story collection, The Ukraine, to Silvia Stramenga at Seven Stories Press. Emma Shercliff at Laxfield Literary Associates handled the world English rights agreement for the book, which was a finalist for the BBC News Ukraine Book of the Year Award in 2018. The title story from the collection, set for spring 2023, appeared in the April 4 issue of the New Yorker. Seven Stories said the 26 stories in the collection “deliberately blur the line between fiction and nonfiction.” The Seven Stories edition will feature a new foreword from the author, and it will be translated by Zenia Tompkins.
