Hamilton Re-ups At Berkley

Bestseller Laurell K. Hamilton inked a new three-book deal with her editor at Berkley, Cindy Hwang. The North American rights agreement, which Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House handled, will bring fans her first new series since 1999. The new books feature Detective Samuel Havelock, who works in the Metaphysical Coordination Unit. Berkley said Havelock exists “in a universe where heaven, hell, and our own world converge,” and “he is all we have keeping the Apocalypse at bay.” Also included in the agreement is a novel in Hamilton’s Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series and a third book, which Berkley said is “yet to be determined.” Hamilton, according to Berkley, has sold more than 20 million books.

Dutton Invests Further In Sager

Riley Sager, whose debut novel, Final Girls, was published by Dutton last year, inked a new two-book deal with the publisher for a novel titled Lock Every Door and a second, currently untitled work. Maya Ziv took North American rights from Michelle Brower at Aevitas Creative Management. Final Girls nabbed the award for Best Hardcover Novel at this year’s International Thriller Awards, Dutton noted. Sager’s sophomore release (covered under his previous deal with Dutton), The Last Time I Lied, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list when it bowed in July. Lock Every Door follows a woman hired to apartment-sit at an expensive Manhattan address where, Dutton said, she “encounters mysterious disappearances and dark secrets among the very private residents.”

Womack Takes ‘Collector’ to Picador

In a North American rights agreement, Gwendolyn Womack (The Memory Painter) sold The Time Collector to Elizabeth Bruce at Picador. Brianne Johnson at Writers House, who represented Womack, said the novel follows two psychometrists—“people who can sense the history of any object they touch.” The pair become involved in solving the mystery behind a number of artifacts “whose existence challenges the very idea of chronological history,” Johnson added. Collector is slated for spring 2019.

LB Spark Nabs Karen’s ‘Power Dress’

Marisa Vigilante at Little, Brown Spark bought world rights to Dawnn Karen’s Life as You Wear It: How to Power Dress. The author is a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology who has been dubbed “the dress doctor” by the New York Times. In the book, which Spark said will be targeted to millennials, Karen “breaks down the psychology behind fashion for readers ready to harness its potential.” The author was represented by Sterling Lord Literistic’s Elizabeth Bewley, and the book is set for a spring 2020 release.

For more children’s and YA book deals, see our latest Rights Report.