Ballantine Takes Holly Jackson’s Adult Debut
Ballantine Bantam Dell publisher Jennifer Hershey has taken North American rights to Not Quite Dead Yet, the adult suspense debut from Holly Jackson, author of the bestselling YA novel A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Sam Copeland of RCW negotiated the deal. Doubleday Canada and Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House in the U.K., will also publish the book. According to Ballantine, Not Quite Dead Yet “opens after Jet Mason is attacked by an unknown assailant and doctors tell her she has only days to live. She decides to use her precious last few days to solve her own murder—if it’s the last thing she does—in a race against the ultimate ticking clock.” The novel is set for a July 2025 publication.
Viking Can’t Refuse Patel’s ‘Offer’
In a preempt, Nidhi Pugalia at Viking has taken world rights to Neel Patel’s The Offer. Patel is the author of Lilly’s Library Book Club pick Tell Me How to Be. The publisher said The Offer is “a provocative, taut, and suspenseful novel that follows a young South Asian woman in deep debt who gets caught in the power play of a wealthy couple, both of whom seem to be singularly obsessed with her.” Jenni Ferrari-Adler at Verve negotiated the deal. No publication date has been announced.
Bloomsbury Nabs Reimagined Welsh Myth
After an auction, Grace McNamee at Bloomsbury has signed U.S. rights to Honeysuckle by translator, librarian-in-training, and former indie bookseller Bar Fridman-Tell. Hillary Jacobson at CAA negotiated the deal. Bloomsbury said the book is a “retelling of the Welsh myth of the Blodeuwedd about the relationship between a young man and the living flower doll his sister creates as his childhood playmate, exploring questions of power, abuse, and consent.” Honeysuckle is set to be published in winter 2026.
Hanover Picks Up Homeschooling Memoir
In a preempt, John Glynn at Hanover Square Press has secured world English rights to Homeschooled, a memoir by Stefan Merrill Block (The Story of Forgetting). Katherine Fausset at Curtis Brown brokered the deal. Hanover Square said Merrill Block “uses his own troubled journey as a homeschool student under the tutelage of his eccentric mother in 1990s Texas to offer an illuminating portrait of an overlooked corner of our education system and an exploration of the extreme forms a parent’s concern for their child can take.” Hanover Square plans to publish in winter 2026.
Former SNL Writer Sells Memoir to Morrow
Peter Kispert at William Morrow has acquired world English rights to Woman of Steele, a memoir of the trans experience by Harper Steele, the longtime former Saturday Night Live head writer and costar of the Netflix documentary Will & Harper with Will Ferrell. Morrow said the “humorous, heartfelt, and provocative” memoir charts Steele’s “upbringing in Iowa City, her career in the male-dominated world of late-night comedy, the creation of the persona that kept it all together, and the woman she is today.” The book will feature an introduction by Ferrell. David Kuhn and Nate Muscato at Aevitas Creative Management handled the deal. Woman of Steele is scheduled for fall 2026.
Feiwel Praises Grace’s ‘Wretched Divine’
YA paranormal romance author Adalyn Grace (the Belladonna series) has sold North American rights to her adult romantasy debut, The Wretched Divine, to Bess Braswell and Kat Brzozowski at Feiwel and Friends. Feiwel said the book is the first installment in a trilogy set in “a French renaissance–inspired kingdom” and is about “a young knight who is caught in a warring attraction between a vengeful demon and a battle-hardened angel as she’s thrust into the middle of an ancient supernatural conflict.” Peter Knapp at Park & Fine Literary and Media negotiated the three-book deal. The Wretched Divine is set for publication in spring 2026.
