Former Top Editor's First Novel

Leslie Schnur was a familiar face around publishing for years, as an advertising and promotion exec at Dell and Warner, and later as editor-in-chief at Dell Delacorte—and now she's popped up on the other side of the table, as a first novelist. Richard Pine sold her romantic comedy The Dog Walker to Atria publisher Judith Curr, who won it at the end of a four-day auction. The deal was for world English rights, and Greer Hendricks will edit for publication in fall next year. It's about a Manhattan woman who walks dogs for a living and falls for the owner of one of them simply from seeing his apartment. According to Pine, it's "a very modern tale of romance, mistaken identity and enlightenment."