ODB Takes Devotional for Black Girls
Minister and author Khristi Lauren Adams (Parable of the Brown Girl) has signed a world rights deal with Katara Patton, senior editor for the Voices imprint at Our Daily Bread, for Wisdom Speaks: Devotions for the Spiritual Journeys of African American Girls, which is slated for release in winter 2027. The 52-week devotional offers biblical wisdom, affirms cultural heritage, and promotes self-worth, resilience, and spiritual growth for Black girls, per the publisher. The author, who was represented in the deal by Jevon Bolden at Embolden Media Group, is a speaker, youth advocate, and ordained Baptist minister.
Ishola Chooses Picture Books for WaterBrook
Bunmi Ishola, senior editor at WaterBrook, has acquired two picture books for ages 4-8 by Tasha Jun, with illustrations by paper cut collage artist Shelley Hanmo. The first, You Are a Poem, is slated for publication in spring 2027 and based on a verse in Paul’s letter to Ephesians, offering, per the publisher, an ode to every child’s ancestry, culture, ethnicity, and all the things that make them “God’s unique poems.” The second, Soup is a Love Letter, is scheduled for spring 2029, and centers on a Korean American girl who thinks about the ways we give and receive love after seeing a love note in a classmate’s lunch box. The deal for world rights was brokered by Bolden at Embolden, on behalf of the author, and Marietta B. Zacker at Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency, on behalf of the illustrator.
Church Year Picture Book to Beaming
Naomi Krueger, senior acquisitions editor at Beaming Books, acquired world rights to Around the Circle: Celebrating the Church Year, a picture book for ages 4-7 by Laura Alary and illustrated by Claire Westwood. The book introduces young children to the colors and symbols of the church year and how they connect to different parts of the story of Jesus and to their own lives. Publication is set for summer 2026. The author represented herself in the deal, while the illustrator was represented by Lucie Luddington at Luddington Creative.
IVP Signs Devotional Art Guidebook
Elissa Schauer, editor at InterVarsity Press, picked up world rights for Katy Rose’s spring 2027 release tentatively titled Art for Joy, a devotional art guidebook designed to build personal creative practices that have a lasting impact on the heart, mind, and world. The author is a contributor to several books and devotionals as well as a foster and adoptive parent, and teaches art at a treatment center for victims of human trafficking. Rose was represented by Don Pape of Pape Commons.
Devotional for Special Needs Caretakers to WaterBrook
WaterBrook’s editor Estee Zandee has taken world rights to Camille Joy’s Moments of Joy, a devotional encouraging parents and caretakers of children with special needs. Bolden of Embolden negotiated the deal for the March 2026 release. Joy is the host of a podcast of the same name, and the creator of the REAL Moms Club online community.
Middle Grade Guide to Judaism to Workman Kids
Workman Kids editorial director Cheryl Klein and senior editor Alisha Zucker have acquired Carla Naumburg’s From Matzah to Mitzvah: Everything You Need to Know About Jews and Judaism, an illustrated guide for middle grade readers and beyond on Judaism—its history, values, people, and practice—set for publication in summer 2027. Naumburg’s agent, Gillian MacKenzie of the eponymous agency, sold North American rights for the book. An illustrator has not yet been assigned.
Tyndale Acquires Collide Founder’s Book
Rebekah Von Lintel at Embolden negotiated world rights with Kara Leonino, acquisitions manager for nonfiction at Tyndale, for Willow Weston’s Collide: Running into the Healing Your Pain Longs For, which is set for release next year. Weston is the founder and director of Collide, a nonprofit ministry that assures women that, in facing pain in their life, they can “collide” with Jesus and find healing.
Paraclete’s Raven Imprint Signs Taylor Novel
Lillian Miao, director at Paraclete Press’s Raven fiction imprint, acquired world rights to The Docent of Leningrad by prolific author Daniel Taylor, who represented himself in the deal. The tale recounts the siege of Leningrad through the eyes of a docent at the famous Hermitage Museum. The book, the publisher said, is set in a city starving during wartime, and follows a priest exercising his calling in the Gulag and the priest’s docent grandson, a lover of Rembrandt’s Prodigal who struggles with a secret sin. Publication is set for January 2026.
IVP Signs Teaching Tool Modeled on Jesus
IVP’s associate editorial director Al Hsu took world rights, unagented, to the tentatively titled Teaching Like Jesus by David and Shannon Lamb. The book, the publisher said, focuses on Jesus’s way of developing people—telling stories, asking questions, etc.— and applying those lessons to such structures of ministry as Sunday services, small groups, classrooms, retreats, and more. David Lamb is on staff at Missio Seminary in Philadelphia, while Shannon Lamb is director of learning and talent for the Mid-Atlantic region of InterVarsity. A spring 2027 release is planned.
