Japanese Crime Novel Sells in New Territories
Paul Sebes of Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency has closed three new deals for Six Four by Japanese author Hideo Yokoyama. Rights to the book were sold to Kagge in Norway, Ersatz in Sweden and Bazar in Finland. Sebes controls Scandinavian and Dutch rights on behalf of the English Agency of Japan. Sixteen foreign rights deals have now been made for the book, which is about a kidnapping case that goes unsolved and is later re-opened. The novel was originally published in Japan by Bungeishunjū; Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the book in the U.S. in February.
Wieringa's 'Rita' Sells in Several Sales
The Blessed Rita by Tommy Wieringa has sold to publishers in several territories, including Scribe (UK & ANZ), Editions Stock (France), Brombergs (Sweden), and Iperborea (Italy). De Bezige Bij published the novel in the Netherlands in October, and controls all rights. (Inkwell Management is handling North American rights on behalf of De Bezige Bij, and will submit the novel to U.S. publishers when an an English translation is available.) The book follows a Russian fighter pilot who, during the Cold War, crashed into the cornfield of a Dutch man and his father.
U.S. Indie Nabs Australian Debut
Small Beer Press has acquired rights to Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman, from Hachette Australia. The novel was originally published in Australia in August 2017, and reimagines the initial contact between Europeans and indigenous Australians through a speculative fiction angle. The author is a Noongar woman (a person of indigenous Australian descent).
British Debut Moves to Serbia
The debut novel In the Palace of Flowers by Victoria Princewill sold to Vulkan for Serbian rights. World English rights sold to Cassava Republic at auction in November, and it will be released in the U.K. at the beginning of 2019. The Pontas Agency controls all rights for the book, which is set in 19th century Iran and follows and an African slave searching for meaning in her life.
