William Morrow/Eos has reinvested in bestseller Kim Harrison in a big way, with the HarperCollins imprint closing a six-book deal with Harrison, brokered by her longtime agent, Richard Curtis. Executive director Diana Gill bought world rights to the sextet; three of the books will be additions to Harrison's Hollows series, and a fourth will be what a HarperCollins rep dubbed a “world guide/insider's look” at the fictitious titular town where the novels are set. A novel and a short story collection round out the deal. The HC rep confirmed that the deal is the most significant one between the publisher and author to date, which hints that it's in the million-dollar range, since Gill closed a three-book deal with Harrison in 2005 for more than $500,000.
Jessica Regel at Jean V. Naggar has closed on two books. The first, Jillian Cantor's debut novel, The Transformation of Things, about a woman who sees the half-truths in her life after examining the lives of her loved ones, was acquired by Lucia Macro at Avon. The second, Cecilia Galante's YA novel, The Sweetness of Salt, in which the revelation of a family secret sends two sisters on disparate paths to discover how they've led such different lives, went to Melanie Cecka at Bloomsbury. (Galante wrote The Patron Saint of Butterflies, NEIBA's 2008 Young Adult Book of the Year.) Both editors acquired North American rights.
Katie McHugh, executive editor at Da Capo Lifelong, bought a personal finance guide and a diet book. Marilyn Allen of Allen O'Shea Literary sold world rights to One Year to an Organized Financial Life by Regina Leeds and Russell Wild. The book, slated for fall 2009, is a follow-up to the pair's bestseller, One Year to an Organized Life, and offers organizational tips that aid in saving money. McHugh also nabbed, at auction, world rights to Ann Louise Gittleman'sFat Flush for Life, which follows The Fat Flush Plan. Coleen O'Shea made the sale, and the book's planned for fall 2009.
Alessandra Bastagli, executive editor at Palgrave Macmillan, acquired world English rights, in a six-figure deal, to a currently untitled book by Clayborne Carson about Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington. Sandra Dijsktra brokered the deal, and the book is slated for a 2013 pub date. Carson is a professor at Stanford and director of the school's Martin Luther King Center.
Minnesota Public Radio duo Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift—Kasper hosts the popular radio show The Splendid Table and Swift is her producer—have closed on their second cookbook, The Splendid Table'sHow to Eat Weekends. Following 2008's Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper, it also went to Clarkson Potter; senior editor Emily Takoudes acquired world rights from Jane Dystel.
Also at CP, Doris Cooper bought world rights to Kate Betts's look at Michelle Obama's effect on American fashion. David Kuhn brokered the deal for Betts, formerly of Harper's Bazaar and now Time and Time.com editor-at-large, who will detail how Obama has redefined “American Style” as embodied by other first ladies and fashion icons.
John Glusman at Harmony acquired American rights to Stephen Moss's U.K.-published The Bumper Book of Nature. Moss, a documentary producer for the BBC, will Americanize his illustrated guide to the wonders of nature for the U.S. market. Broo Dougherty at Wade & Dougherty brokered the deal.
