Auction for Parents
Dena Fischer, who recently joined Manus & Associates from the Amy Rennert Agency, just closed a nine-bidder deal for Hal Edward Runkel's Screamfree Parenting: Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool; Broadway's Bill Thomas paid mid-six figures for world rights and StacyCreamer will edit. The book was self-published in spring 2005 by Atlanta-based family therapist Runkel and has sold nearly 18,000 copies through his seminars, Web site (www.screamfree.com) and his many media appearances, including his weekly spot on the WB morning show The Daily Buzz. Runkel's approach focuses not on child-centered techniques, but exclusively on controlling parental behavior. No pub date has yet been set; Runkel is currently at work on his next book, Screamfree Marriage.
Debut Stories
In a significant deal for short stories, Maria Massie at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin sold UwemAkpan's untitled debut collection to Pat Strachan at Little, Brown, who won North American rights at auction. Akpan's stories deal with children in Africa; his first two published stories both appeared in the New Yorker, one in the 2005 Fiction Issue and the other in the more recent War Issue. Akpan is a Nigeria-born Jesuit priest who just earned his M.F.A. from the University of Michigan. Little, Brown tentatively plans a fall 2007 publication.
Gingrich to Hopkins
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has sold world rights to his next book, titled A Contract with the Earth, to VincentBurke at Johns Hopkins University Press. Written with zoologist Terry L. Maple, the book will advocate that America should reclaim its leadership role on environmental issues. Gingrich reportedly chose Johns Hopkins because of its reputation in science publishing. Gingrich was represented by his daughter Kathy Lubbers for this deal; a January 2008 publication is planned.
Memoir of Iraq
Doubleday's Charles Conrad has acquired U.S. rights to Iraqi poet Nabeel Yasin's Nabeel'sSong from Sloan Harris at ICM on behalf of London counterpart Kate Jones. Yasin, famous in Iraq for his poem "Brother Yasin," will recount the life of his family in Iraq before, during and after the Hussein regime, from watching their first b&w TV under the almond trees to his mother's stoicism when her politically active sons are arrested and beaten. When the political "Brother Yasin" became a rallying cry for a generation, Yasin became an enemy of the state and escaped to a life of exile in Europe, where he watched the Iraq war on CNN, wondering if his family was dead or alive. Doubleday will publish in summer 2007.
Identical Twins
Former 60 Minutes producer Abigail Pogrebin will explore the cultural, emotional, biological and psychological experiences of identical twinship in One and the Same, which Doubleday's DebFutter acquired from DavidKuhn at Kuhn Projects. Pogrebin, the twin sister of New York Times culture reporter Robin Pogrebrin and the daughter of author Letty Cottin Pogrebin, will weave together her own story as a twin, encounters with experts and the stories of other twins. Pogrebin is also the author of Stars of David. Doubleday holds world rights and plans to publish early in 2009.
Love Match
Anthropologist and author of Why We Love and Anatomy of Love, Dr. Helen Fisherhas identified the chemical and biological profiles of four basic personality types, and in a new book, Why Him? Why Her? Who We Lovewill offer a new theory for why we fall in love with one person rather than another; Jennifer Barth at Holt bought North American rights from AmandaUrban at ICM. Fisher will focus particularly on which matches make the best long-term relationships, and will provide insight and tips on how to find and enhance a successful romantic partnership, including a questionnaire that will help readers identify their own "type" and particular romantic possibilities. Publication is scheduled for May 2009.
The Law of Momentum
Last December, Gernert's Sarah Burnes sold North American rights to Canadian PeterBehrens's debut novel, The Law of Dreams, to ChipFleischer at Steerforth, which will publish this September; in the meantime, the book seems to have picked up a healthy head of steam. Last month, Jane von Mehren paid six figures for paperback rights for Random, at auction, and now Canongate's Jessica Craig, former rights director and colleague of Burnes at now-defunct Burnes & Clegg, has preempted U.K. and translation rights in another six-figure deal. The novel follows an Irish farm boy's journey, in 1846, from fever and starvation to a new life in Quebec.
The Briefing
Journalist Joshua Clark has sold his memoir of autumn 2005 in New Orleans, titled Made the Hard Time Sing, to Amber Qureshi at Free Press via agent Anna Stein, who sold world rights. Clark never evacuated when Katrina hit, and will describe losing the love of his life as the city fell; an August 2007 publication is planned.
