Sedaris Rates a 'Naked' Mil
by Judy Quinn -- Publishers Weekly, 7/28/1997
Little, Brown editor Geoff Kloske calls this "the way book deals ought to happen": discover a new writer; sign him up for a "low five-figure," two-book deal; and only negotiate a new "low seven-figure deal" for two more books once the first books take off. That's turned out to be the case for David Sedaris: Kloske first heard about him on NPR and published Barrel Fever and Naked, two collections of stories, to growing success. Sedaris was originally supposed to turn in a novel instead of Naked; instead, the collection was grafted onto the first deal. That novel -- "last time we talked it was about a quadriplegic locksmith," said Kloske -- is now expected to be published in spring 1998. The new deal, negotiated by Don Congdon, is for another story collection and for Holiday on Ice, a collection of Christmas stories that will include the fan favorite, "The Santaland Diaries," which originally appeared in Barrel Fever and was adapted into a Broadway play last year. "This is our anti-Christmas Box," said Kloske. The house will release a 100,000 first printing of the book this holiday season.
