DEAL OF THE WEEK
Min Lands at Spiegel & Grau
For six figures, Spiegel & Grau’s Joey McGarvey bought North American rights to Juli Min’s Shanghailanders at auction. The publisher says the debut novel, set for spring 2024, is a “kaleidoscopic” work that follows a wealthy family in Shanghai, moving back and forth in time between 2014 and 2040. It shifts perspectives to show “how secrets both separate and unite a family, irrevocably affecting the lives they touch.” Min lives in China and got her MFA from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, and is the editor-in-chief of the biannual English-language magazine the Shanghai Literary Review. She was represented by Stephanie Delman at Trellis Literary Management.
Crosby-Eckstine Goes to Ballantine
For Ballantine, Wendy Wong bought North American rights at auction to two books by Erin Crosby-Eckstine, including her debut novel, Junie. The deal was brokered by Danya Kukafka at Trellis Literary Management. Ballantine said the novel, which takes place just before the start of the Civil War, follows “an enslaved teenage girl caught in the whirlwind of burgeoning first love while grappling with the appearance of her sister’s ghost.” Crosby-Eckstine is a high school teacher who lives in Brooklyn.
DAW ‘Knows’ Okorafor
DAW Books’ Betsy Wollheim acquired North American rights to three adult fantasy novellas by Africanfuturist Nnedi Okorafor. The first book under contract, She Who Knows, is set for spring 2024 and is a prequel to the author’s 2011 adult debut, Who Fears Death, which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. DAW said She Who Knows follows Najeeba, the mother of the heroine of Who Fears Death, as she embarks on a “harrowing journey to hone her power.” The two other titles in the deal are sequels. Okorafor was represented by Donald Maass at the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
S&S Corrals Campbell’s ‘Elephants’
Cebo Campbell sold North American rights to Sky Full of Elephants to Olivia Taylor at Simon & Schuster in a preempt. S&S said the debut novel follows a college professor who, having recently gotten out of prison, embarks “on a road trip across an America where there are no longer any white people,” after he’s contacted by a daughter he didn’t know he had. The book “combines dark comedy, high-concept science fiction, and magical realism to create a uniquely moving exploration of Black culture and identity.” Campbell was represented by Byrd Leavell at United Talent Agency, and Sky Full of Elephants is set for summer 2024.
Pooley Gets Disgraceful for Dorman
Clare Pooley (The Authenticity Project) sold North American rights to two books to Pamela Dorman for her eponymous imprint at Viking. Hayley Steed at the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency represented Pooley. The publisher said the first novel under contract, How to Age Disgracefully, set for summer 2024, is about “a group of not-so-typical senior citizens fighting to save the community center that hosts their social club from demolition.”
Atria Enters de Robertis’s ‘Palace’
At Atria, Michelle Herrera Mulligan nabbed U.S., Canadian, and open market rights to The Palace of Eros by Carolina de Robertis (Cantoras). The publisher said the novel is a retelling of the Greek myth of Psyche and Eros “through a queer, nonbinary lens, grappling with the complex and thorny questions of how to harness the power of female and queer joy and cultivate freedom in a world that seeks to cage us.” The summer 2024–slated work was sold by Michelle Brower at Trellis Literary Management.
