Deals

In a major deal for a first-time novelist, Sanford Greenburger's Heide Lange sold North American rights to two books by Douglas Carlton Abrams to Atria's Emily Bestler; Lange has already made foreign rights deals in a dozen countries. The first of the two novels, The Lost Diary of Don Juan, recounts the life of the world's most famous lover, from his secret childhood in a convent to his life as a libertine; no details on the second book yet. Abrams is a former editor at the University of California Press and Harper San Francisco; Don Juan will be published in spring 2007.

Andre Schiffrin at the New Press has acquired North American rights to Jean Echenoz's Ravel, a bestseller in France, from Georges Borchardt at the Borchardt Agency. Borchardt also sold North American rights to Adam Hochschild's (King Leopold's Ghost) latest nonfiction work, presently untitled and dealing with World War I, to Eamon Dolan at Houghton Mifflin. Finally, the agency made a deal for Louis Begley's new novel, Matters of Honor, with George Andreou at Knopf in a North American deal.

Ex-CIA commander Gary Berntsen and coauthor Ralph Pezzullo, authors of the recent bestseller Jawbreaker, have just inked a deal for their next book, Takedown, with Crown's Rick Horgan. The book will recount the history of the Japanese Red Army, one of whose leaders was captured by Berntsen, and will discuss the lessons learned in that CIA operation that are relevant to modern-day terrorist hunting. Agent Harvey Klinger sold world rights; a fall 2007 publication is planned.

Klinger also sold Barbara Wood's next two books to Jennifer Enderlin at St. Martin's; the first of the two, titled The Last Shaman, is the story of a Native American woman centuries ago in the area now known as Joshua Tree, Calif., who becomes a prophet. This was a North American rights deal; publication is planned for July 2007.

After entertaining dueling preempts, Daniel Lazar at Writers House accepted a bid from Maris Kreizman at the Free Press for Matt Mason's Pimps, Punks & Pirates. The book will discuss what Mason dubs the "remix generation," exploring how individual ideas evolve into larger cultural and economic forces, in particular how technology is enabling individuals to compete with media conglomerates. Mason is a writer for Vice magazine; the Free Press holds North American rights.

Morrow's Harriet Bell preempted world rights to egullet contributor Chad Ward's An Edge in the Kitchen, which tells you everything you need to know about every chef's most valuable tool, the kitchen knife, from Helena Schwarz at Susan Rabiner Literary, for a fall 2007 publication.... Former supermodel Paulina Porizkova has sold her first novel, titled A Model Summer, to Hyperion's Zareen Jaffery via agent Marly Rusoff. Porizkova is also the author of the children's book Ralphie the Roach. Rusoff sold North American rights in this six-figure deal; a mid-2007 pub is anticipated.... Agent Noah Lukeman sold U.S. rights to Eric Kraft's novel On the Wing, the second in Kraft's flying trilogy (the first was Taking Off) and a journey through 1950s America, to George Witte at St. Martin's; Lukeman also sold U.S. rights to John Smolens's historical novel 01, in which early 20th-century America reels under the assassination of McKinley, to Shaye Areheart for her imprint at Crown.

Correction: In last week's item on the sale of Samantha Hunt's The Invention of Everything Else, the agency involved is McCormick & Williams, not Collins McCormick, which closed in October.