Short Takes

SMP's Diane Higgins paid six figures for two more biblical historicals by India Edghill, author of Queenmaker and the forthcoming Solomon and Sheba. The first will be a Queenmaker prequel, and the North American rights deal was made by Anna Ghosh at Scovil Chichak & Galen.... A comic first novel about a socially conscious and pregnant foreign correspondent in Africa who returns to L.A. to have her baby and the conflict between the two worlds that evolves, was bought by Shaye Areheart for her Harmony imprint. The agent for the world rights deal (excluding Germany) for Latch by Maria Lennon was Marly Rusoff.... Two debut novels were sold by the Susan Golomb agency: The Loss of Leon Meed, a Rashomon-like book of multiple viewpoints by John Emons, to Sarah McGrath at Scribner, the world rights sale made by Golomb herself; and The Ha-Ha by Dave King, about the redemption of a mute Vietnam veteran, sold for world English right by the agency's Kim Goldstein to Michael Mezzo at Little, Brown.... Riverhead here and Penguin Press in London, in the persons of Sean McDonald here, and Stefan McGrath and Helen Conford there, bought a quirky study by edgy new media columnist and author Steven Johnson. It's called Everything Bad Is Good for You and turns many widely held notions about the evils of popular culture on their head. The contract, for publication next year, was signed with Lydia Wills at Writers & Artists International.... Doug Whiteman at Penguin Young Readers Group has signed a multiyear deal with Callaway Arts & Entertainment for a new publishing program based on David Kirk's bestselling Miss Spider character.

Hot Deals will not appear next week; author in London.