DEAL OF THE WEEK
Macdonald and Blaché Team with Grove
Grove Press’s Elizabeth Schmits bought North American rights to Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché’s Prophet. Macdonald, the English author of H Is for Hawk, and Blaché, a Black Irish musician, collaborated on Prophet during a Covid lockdown, largely via email. Calling the title a “love letter to the joys of genre fiction,” Grove said it follows a former MI6 agent and an American intelligence officer “brought together to investigate how and why people’s most cherished memories are being manifested and weaponized against them through a spooky, exotic substance called Prophet.” The novel, set for August 2023, was sold by Bill Clegg at the Clegg Agency.
Dolan Takes ‘Power’ to Putnam
Putnam’s Michelle Howry bought The Power of Parting by Eamon Dolan at auction. The book, subtitled The Tyranny of Family Abuse—and How to Overcome It, details how the Simon & Schuster editor moved past his abusive childhood and outlines how others can do the same. Putnam said it features advice from various experts and was pitched as “Set Boundaries, Find Peace meets I’m Glad My Mom Died.” Todd Shuster and Jack Haug at Aevitas Creative Management handled the North American rights deal. The Power of Parting is slated for 2025.
Bloom Shares the ‘Wealth’ at Ballantine
The Wealth Lie by Sahil Bloom was acquired by Ballantine’s Mary Reynics in a North American rights agreement. Ballantine said the book is a guide for “assessing your priorities and building a comprehensive life across five types of wealth.” Bloom, who was represented by Pilar Queen at United Talent Agency, manages his own investment fund and also writes The Curiosity Chronicle newsletter. The publisher added that The Wealth Lie “reconceives what it means to be truly wealthy, drawing on cutting-edge research, personal narrative, and the interwoven disciplines of career development, health, fulfillment, and happiness.”
Grand Central Gets ‘Hopeful’ with Zaki
Jamil Zaki sold North American rights to The Hopeful Skeptic to Colin Dickerman at Grand Central. Seth Fishman at the Gernert Company represented the Stanford psychology professor and author of 2020’s The War for Kindness. Grand Central said The Hopeful Skeptic “employs powerful stories and the author’s own research to demonstrate how cynical thinking depletes our energy for social change, trapping us in cycles of mistrust and isolation, while simultaneously sharing science-backed strategies to combat cynicism.” The book is slated for winter 2025.
Shannon Does Double at Bloomsbury
In a two-book, world English rights agreement, Grace McNamee at Bloomsbury bought the third installment of Samantha Shannon’s Roots of Chaos series. The deal also covers a novel about the Greek goddess Iris. The Roots of Chaos title is scheduled for February 2023, and the other novel, which Bloomsbury said is about “sisterhood, grief, and the bonds between women in the face of adversity,” is set for 2026. Shannon was represented by David Godwin at David Godwin Associates.
Parker’s ‘Reef’ Washes Up at Forge
Kristin Sevick and Linda Quinton at Forge Books bought North American rights to two novels by T. Jefferson Parker. Trident Media Group’s Robert Gottlieb and Mark Gottlieb represented Parker in the six-figure agreement. In the first book under contract, Desperation Reef, the agency said, “a big-wave surf star and her two sons confront murderous pirates off the coast while they train to compete in the same dangerous surfing contest that took her husband’s life.” The second novel under contract is currently untitled.
