Deals: Week of 10/18/10

Frankfurt 2010: Rights Deals: 10/7/10

Quercus has acquired WEL rights in the latest novel by Frank Schaetzing, author of The Swarm, a book-of-the-fair a few years back. The new novel is LIMIT, published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch in Germany and now sold in 17 countries. The deal was concluded via Tanja Howarth, representing K&W.

Perseus Expands Constellation Overseas

Starting December 1, the Perseus Books Group will expand its Constellation service internationally and in the process allow customers in foreign countries to buy copies of U.S. titles in e-book or print-on-demand formats in territories where a publisher has English-language rights.

Pre-Frankfurt Buzz: Burstein Gets Six Figures in Two Deals for Newest 'Secrets' Book

Danny Baror closed a major pre-Frankfurt deal, in the U.S. and the U.K., selling Dan Burstein, Arne de Keijzer and John-Henri Holmberg's Secrets of the Tattooed Girl. Baror sold the book, in two high six-figure deals, to St. Martin's Press in the States and to Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the U.K. Subtitled The Unauthorized Guide to the Stieg Larsson Trilogy, the book looks to tap into the success Burstein found with his other Secrets titles, such as his bestselling Secrets of the Code (Vanguard Press), which was a companion reader to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

Sentinel to Publish Rumsfeld Memoir

Penguin's Sentinel imprint has acquired a memoir by Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, which it plans to publish on January 25. The book,said Adrian Zackheim, president and publisher of Sentinel, is a work that "pulls no punches." The publisher is promising that the title is "filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Japanese Giants Team for E-books

Japan's biggest cellular services provider NTT Docomo and the Dai Nippon Printing Co. have launched a partnership to bring e-book content to Docomo's handsets to compete with Sony and others. Due to debut this fall, the service will combine Docomo's existing content-distribution and payment systems with DNP's planned hybrid digital/physical bookstores.

Evanovich Leaves SMP After All and Signs With Random House

Is Janet Evanovich worth $50 million? That was the question we asked ourselves in this week's magazine. We may be somewhat closer to a defnitive answer now, with the news that Evanovich has signed a four book deal with Random House's Ballantine Bantam Dell division. (Despite our theory, the answer to that initial question is likely closer to yes.)

Little, Brown Lands Afghanistan Book by Michael Hastings

Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown has acquired a new book by Michael Hastings, the author of the explosive recent article in Rolling Stone, "The Runaway General." The currently untitled book, which Shandler bought from Scott Moyers at the Wylie Agency, will offer a longer look at the war in Afghanistan, pulling from the journalist's behind-the-scenes reporting in the Middle East, Europe, and Washington, D.C.

Random House UK Wins Rights to Harding Novels

Heated auctions for works by the recent winner of the Pulitzer for fiction, Paul Harding, have just closed.

Penguin Takes Portfolio International

Penguin is taking its business imprint Portfolio international. The publisher is launching Portfolio divisions in September in all of its other major English language markets: England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa.

Harlequin Buys-out German Partner

HarlequinHarlequin has acquired the 50% interest in its German publishing operation, Cora Verlag, held by its partner Axel Springer.

Wiley Launches Chinese-Language Web Site

Wiley has launched a new Chinese-language Web site, wileychina.com

Penguin Sets December Pub Date for New Clancy

Penguin to publish a new Tom Clancy novel December 7.

Dystel & Goderich Closes Two Foreign Sales

Though we don't usually cover the sale of foreign rights in the Daily, Dystel & Goderich rights director Lauren Abramo closed two notable YA sales on the heels of Bologna, and just before the London Book Fair.

Demand for Exports, Imports Down in 2009

The global nature of the 2009 recession is reflected in the book export and import figures recently released by the U.S. Commerce Department, which show that the pace of international trade slowed considerably last year. With the U.S. in a deep recession, the number of books imported into the U.S. declined steeply, falling 21.