New Series to S&S
Amanda Murray at S&S has acquired U.S. rights to the first two books in a mystery series set in New Delhi and described as the Indian answer to Alexander McCall Smith's bestselling series set in Botswana. The books feature a fastidious sleuth named Vish Puri, and the first book is titled Vish Puri: The Case of the Missing Servant. Emma Parry made the deal, and rights have already been sold to McClelland & Stewart in Canada and to Hutchinson in the U.K. (via auction); to Record in Brazil and to Mondadori in Italy (via preempt). Author Tarquin Hall, who divides his time between England and India, is the author of three works of nonfiction, Salaam Brick Lane, To the Elephant Graveyard and Mercenaries, Missionaries and Misfits. S&S will publish the first book in spring 2009.
New Deal for Allen
Sarah Addison Allen, whose first novel, Garden Spells, just debuted at #7 on last week's New York Times bestseller list, has made a deal for two new novels with publisher Bantam; Nita Taublib and Shauna Summers bought North American rights from Andrea Cirillo and Kelly Harms at the Jane Rotrosen Agency, and thus far 11 foreign publishers are also on board. Bantam will publish Allen's next novel, The Sugar Queen, next July; no pub date for the two new books yet.
Debut Auctions
Lee Boudreaux at Ecco won an auction for Kevin Wilson's first collection of stories, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, and an untitled novel, via agent Julie Barer. Tennessee native Wilson's writing is described as Southern gothic, combining the real and the imagined, the mundane and the fantastic; he currently teaches fiction at the University of the South and helps run the Sewanee Writers' Conference. Ecco has North American rights and plans to publish the stories in spring 2009.
Sally Kim at Shaye Areheart Books won North American rights to Husain Naqvi's debut novel, Home Boy, in an auction conducted by Gary Morris at the David Black Agency. The book describes the scenester life in Manhattan, as well as the immigrant experience, through the story of three young Pakistani men living in Manhattan whose experience of their beloved city drastically changes after September 2001, especially after a friend's disappearance causes them to be wrongly suspected, accused and incarcerated. Naqvi, born in London and raised mostly in Pakistan, has an M.F.A. from Boston University; no pub date yet.
Harlequin to Publish Delilah
Harlequin publisher Donna Hayes has bought three books by radio personality Delilah in the company's first acquisition for its recently announced nonfiction program in a deal with Kraig Kitchin, president of Premiere Radio Networks, which owns the show. Delilah's nightly five-hour syndicated radio show focuses on interpersonal relationships and inspirational messages, drawing nearly 8.5 million listeners and receiving more than 100,000 phone calls a day. She will base each book directly on inspiring personal stories shared by her show's listeners. The first book in the series is scheduled for October 2008, with the two remaining volumes following in April and October 2009.
Crazy Train
Charlie Conrad at Broadway has preempted Carl Hoffman's The Lunatic Express with a significant six-figure offer to agent Joe Regal. Hoffman, an adventure writer who's been published in Outside, Wired and National Geographic Traveler, has traveled to some of the most dangerous places in the world; he'll write about circling the globe via the most hazardous and inconvenient forms of travel, from Kuban Airlines to the ferries of Indonesia to the actual “Lunatic Express,” a train in Africa. Broadway holds world rights and plans to publish in early 2009.
Severson to Riverhead
New York Times food writer Kim Severson has sold a memoir, Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Kitchen, which Sarah McGrath at Riverhead bought from HeatherSchroder at ICM. Using the life lessons she has learned from a generation of female cooks, including Marion Cunningham, Alice Waters, Ruth Reichl and Marcella Hazan, Severson suggests that the wisdom of the kitchen is often applicable to the rest of life. Riverhead holds world rights; no pub date yet.
Frucht Takes Two
Basic's Bill Frucht has just negotiated two deals for authors he's published previously; the first is William F. Buckley Jr.'s untitled memoir of Ronald Reagan, describing the close 30-year friendship between the man who brought the modern conservative movement to the White House and one of the intellectual leaders of that movement. The book, to be published in fall 2008, will follow Buckley's Flying High, a memoir of Barry Goldwater that Basic will publish next spring. Lois Wallace sold world rights.
Frucht also bought a new book from Richard Florida, titled Who's Your City? The book will show why different regions of the U.S. and the world are growing increasingly divergent, and will help readers choose the right place for their ambitions and life stage. Susan Schulman sold North American rights. Florida is the author of The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class.
