The Ego Has Landed

By Matthew Thornton -- Publishers Weekly, 4/18/2007 6:56:00 AM

Deborah Schneider of Gelfman Schneider has just gone out with the U. S. submission for two anonymously authored linked novels, Ego and Greed, which have become the talk of the London Book Fair. UK agent Ali Gunn, who is entertaining several offers from British and foreign publishers based on a 30,000-word sample and synopsis, has been pitching Ego as a Primary Colors for the media world.

Speculation has been rife on both sides of the Atlantic as to the identities of the two authors, who according to Gunn are an internationally published, established American male writer, and a London-based agent. However, much of the buzz in London has centered on the possibility that Gunn herself is the second author. In any case, Schneider says that the book is less about "inside publishing" than about "working girl underdog prevails." The plan is ultimately for a series based around the seven deadly sins; Ego will be completed by late summer.