David Ebershoff at Hogarth acquired North American rights at auction to Waiting on a Friend by Center for Fiction Susan Kamil fellow Natalie Adler (pictured l.) from Julie Barer at the Book Group. The publisher called the novel “a dazzling, bighearted debut, set in 1984 New York, about a young queer woman who sees ghosts—something she’s doing more and more lately as too many of her friends are dying of AIDS—and her search for the one ghost who refuses to return.” Publication is set for spring 2026.

Andy Ward at Random House bought North American rights to Three Tenses by Ed Park from PJ Mark at Janklow & Nesbit. The publisher called it “a memoir of elegant fragments, sly observations, and anecdotes both real and imagined, forming a singular picture of creativity in action.” Release is set for next year.

Lyssa Keusch at Grand Central purchased North American rights at auction to Eli Raphael’s debut novel, Bright Work, from Danya Kukafka at Trellis. The book, the publisher said, is “about an aspiring teenage astronomer mourning the loss of her mother who is pulled into a secret society at an elite boarding school in the Pacific Northwest, where the academic year ends in a murder investigation.” Publication is set for May 2026.

Sara Goodman at Wednesday secured North American rights, in a two-book deal, to Allison Saft’s Immortal Game from Jessica Mileo and Claire Friedman at InkWell, for a summer 2026 release. In the sapphic retelling of Irish mythology, per the publisher, a 19-year-old chess grandmaster enters the faerie world to “bring her sister back by winning a once-in-a-century tournament—not expecting
to fall for the Fae princess competing alongside her.”

Vicki Lame at Saturday signed North American rights, in an exclusive, to Kirsten Ciccarelli’s romantasy duology starter A Cursed Arrangement from Danielle Burby at Mad Woman Literary. The publisher said the novel is about “a sunseeker who must marry the enemy of her people—a nightbreaker prince—to recover her magic and carry on her powerful legacy.” HarperVoyage acquired U.K. rights from Anna Carmichael at Abner Stein and Ravensburger bought German rights. Release is set for winter 2028.

Callie Garnett at Bloomsbury took North American rights to Hallie Elizabeth Newton’s debut novel, Asking for It, from Susan Golomb at Writers House, for a 2026 release. The book, the publisher said, follows “an unhinged, fame-adjacent, shopaholic socialite as she traverses New York City one day in 2014 looking for someone to kill her.”

In Brief

  • Ann Godoff at Penguin obtained U.S. rights to Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir, A Hymn to Life, from Susanna Lea, who has an eponymous shingle, for publication next January.
  • Nick Amphlett at Dutton landed North American rights to a currently untitled book by The Oregon Trail author Rinker Buck, which the publisher said “offers a new reckoning with the American Civil War,” from David Vigliano at Vigliano Associates. Pub date TBD.
  • Katy Nishimoto at the Dial Press preempted North American rights to Jules Ohman’s Fire Years, “about a person living with the repercussions of starting a cataclysmic wildfire in Montana,” from Dan Conaway at Writers House. Pub date TBD.
  • Jacob Weisman at Tachyon netted world English rights to Meg Elison’s satirical Foundling Fathers, about “young clones of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin created by a right-wing cabal,” from Arley Sorg at KT Literary, for publication next summer.
  • Melissa Rechter at Alcove procured world rights to Sarah Glenn Marsh’s We Could Be (Anti)Heroes, a romantasy billed as “a gay Lord of the Rings,” from Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management, for release next spring.