Short Takes

by John F. Baker -- Publishers Weekly, 1/10/2005

St. Martin's Press, which has a goldmine in the Stephanie Plum comedy thrillers of Janet Evanovich, has signed for three more, even as the first Plum tale is headed for the screen. Her regular SMP editor, Jennifer Enderlin, signed for North American rights in a major seven-figure deal, along with the publisher's Matthew Shear and John Sargent, with Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.... Prolific author of both adult and children's books Susan Shreve is moving to Viking with a new novel in a deal just signed with editor-at-large Carole Desanti. The book is A Student of Living Things and involves the murder of a young law student in a near-future Washington, D.C., terrorized by growing violence. The world English rights buy was made from agent Gail Hochman at Brandt & Hochman, and the book will be published early next year.... Sarah Crichton made two new fiction buys for her fledgling imprint at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. One was a new novel by Love Letter author Cathleen Schine, called The New Yorkers. It's described as a smart and sophisticated tale of romantic entanglements among city denizens who meet while walking their dogs, and was bought for six figures from Molly Friedrich at Aaron Priest. The second is a collection of linked stories set in a derelict Pennsylvania steel town by newcomer Bathsheba Monk, bought at auction from David Kuhn at Kuhn Projects.... Conservative author and commentator Richard Brookhiser is moving from the Free Press to Basic Books with a new book just signed by Basic publisher Elizabeth Maguire. The opus is called What Would the Founding Fathers Do? and purports to show the fathers of the nation facing up to the current issues that ail us, from questions of marriage to the war in Iraq. Agent Michael Carlisle at Inkwell made the North American sale, and the title will lead the Basic catalogue next spring.