DEAL OF THE WEEK
Grand Central Buys Liverbirds Memoir
Mary Dostal and Sylvia Wiggins, who were members of the Liverbirds, the U.K.’s first all-female rock band, sold a memoir to Grand Central Publishing. Karen Kosztolnyik nabbed North American rights, in a deal brokered by Susan Golomb at Writers House on behalf of Jenny Hewson at London’s Luytens & Rubinstein. The band was featured in a short documentary by the New York Times that Grand Central said has been viewed more than 800,000 times to date. Formed in the 1960s, the Liverbirds toured with the Rolling Stones and the Kinks, but, the publisher explained, their ambitions were derailed by “dramatic life events—as well as events that would only clip the wings of ambitious young women.” The book, tentatively titled The Liverbirds, is set for 2024.
Fusselman’s First Novel Goes to Mariner
For mid-six figures, Mariner Books’ Katherine Nintzel preempted Amy Fusselman’s debut novel. Mariner said The Means is “a tragicomic family saga that portrays contemporary issues of class, motherhood, and self.” Fusselman, whose 2018 memoir Idiophone was nominated for the Believer Book Award, was represented by Monika Woods at Triangle House Literary in the world rights agreement. The Means is set for fall 2022.
Quill Tree Bows to Shen’s ‘Queens’
For HarperCollins’s Quill Tree imprint, Jennifer Unger preempted two books by E.L. Shen, the pen name of Elizabeth Lee. Lee, an editor at Penguin Young Readers Group and a former intern at Quill Tree, was represented in the North American rights agreement by Marietta Zacker at Gallt & Zacker. The first book, a YA novel titled The Queens of New York, is, Zacker said, about “three inseparable best friends as they navigate first love, grief, racism, and heartbreak during one life-changing summer apart.” Queens of New York is slated for summer 2023.
Hunter Biden’s Ex-wife Sells Memoir
Kathleen Buhle, the ex-wife of Hunter Biden, sold a memoir to Crown in a U.S. rights deal. If We Break: A Memoir of Marriage, Addiction, and Healing was acquired by Libby Burton from Rob McQuilkin at Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents. In it, Crown said, Buhle shares “her own story, from her working-class roots on the South Side of Chicago to losing her maiden name and a part of herself in becoming Kathleen Biden, to finding a renewed sense of identity, purpose, and joy after the devastating collapse of her marriage.” Buhle is currently CEO of a civic group she founded in Washington, D.C., called The House at 1229. If We Break is slated for June 2022.
TikTok Star Keeps ‘House’ at Element
Therapist and TikTok star KC Davis sold How to Keep House While Drowning to Leah Trouwborst at Simon Element for mid-six figures. The book is an expanded edition of Davis’s self-published book of the same name. In it, S&S said, she offers “a radically gentle cleaning and organizing system that breaks the stress-mess cycle.” The book is aimed at those “coping with anxiety, depression, ADHD, overwork, or other functional barriers.” Jessica Mileo and Kim Witherspoon at InkWell Management represented Davis in the North American rights deal. How to Keep House While Drowning is set for April 2022.
CRP Gets Bundy Survivor Book
Kara Rota at Chicago Review Press bought A Light in the Dark, by motivational speaker Kathy Kleiner Rubin, in a world English rights deal. Rubin survived an attack by Ted Bundy, and CRP said that in the book she challenges the narrative of the serial killer as “a charming, seductive figure” and shares her story, along with those of “the many women whose lives and stories have been diminished by the Bundy legend.” Delia Berrigan at Martin Literary Management represented Rubin.
