Novel Preempts
Putnam's Peternelle van Arsdale has preempted Martha O'Connor's Tink from agent Mary Evans, who sold North American rights. Tink, the story of Neverland, Captain Hook and Peter Pan told through the eyes of Tinkerbell, reimagines this classic character as a fierce Gaelic faerie born a changeling to a band of 19th-century gypsies. O'Connor is the author of one previous novel, The Bitch Posse (SMP, 2005). Putnam plans to publish Tink in late 2008 or early 2009, with a Berkley paperback to follow a year later.
In his first acquisition for the Dutton list, Ben Sevier has preempted world rights to Selden Edwards's Fin de Siècle via Trident's Scott Miller. This debut novel follows the life of a 1970s rock and roll icon, the only son in a prominent New England family. Through a dislocation in time, he awakens in 1987 Vienna, where he encounters members of his own family, including the young father he never knew, as well as luminaries of modern history. Edwards is a former headmaster at several private schools; projected pub date is spring 2008.
Random's Julia Cheiffetz preempted another debut, this one by Ed Park, cofounder and editor of the Believer, titled Personal Days. PJ Mark at McCormick & Williams sold world rights. This is a comic novel about a group of office workers whose lives are upended when they suspect there's a mole among them. Projected pub date is May 2008.
Slaughter's Millions
Bestselling thriller writer Karin Slaughter has inked a new three-book, multimillion-dollar deal with Bantam's Kate Miciak; agent Victoria Sanders sold North American rights to the next two books in Slaughter's Grant County series as well as a new stand-alone. Sanders previously made a multimillion-dollar deal for two Slaughter books with Random's CHA division in the U.K. Bantam is planning to pub in summer 2008, 2009 and 2010.
From Jackie Robinson
Paul Golob at Times Books has preempted world rights to a collection of Jackie Robinson's previously unpublished letters from the 1950s through the 1970s, including correspondence with Eisenhower, Nixon, JFK, Johnson and Goldwater, and with many leaders of the civil rights movement, via Linda Loewenthal at the David Black Agency. Collected and edited by Elizabethtown College professor Michael G. Long, First Class Citizenship: The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson will reveal how the baseball player sought to use his fame to further the civil rights cause. Henry Louis Gates Jr. has agreed to write a foreword, and Times Books plans an October 2007 publication to mark the 60th anniversary of Robinson's first season in the major leagues.
Sassaman's Story
Marc Resnick at St. Martin's Press has acquired North American rights to an untitled book by Nathan Sassaman, who commanded 800 soldiers in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 and whose standout military career came to an end over his decision to cover up the alleged drowning of an Iraqi by a group of his soldiers. Frank Weimann at the Literary Group made the six-figure deal. Sassaman, whose story became the subject of a New York Times magazine article, "The Fall of the Warrior King," will offer an account of his rise and fall in Iraq as well as a look at the state of our country's military. Joe Layden will co-write; a spring 2008 pub date is anticipated.
Elsewhere at SMP, Elizabeth Beier has acquired North American rights to The Lost Lennon Archives, a new photo book by May Pang from Mal Peachy at Essential Works. Pang, the woman for whom Lennon left Yoko Ono from 1973 to 1975, will publish 150 photos from their life together, most taken by Pang herself, which will refute the "official" Beatles' line that Lennon's relationship with Pang was just a dalliance. Expected pub date is spring 2008.
