Newman Lands at Roc with ‘Planetfall’
For Ace/Roc, Penguin’s science fiction imprint, Rebecca Brewer took world English rights to Emma Newman’s novel Planetfall. Jennifer Udden at the Donald Maass agency brokered the two-book deal for Newman, who was nominated for a 2014 British Fantasy Award for her series Split Worlds (Angry Robot). Planetfall follows a woman named Ren living in a colony on a distant planet who, Udden explained, must “unravel the colony’s secrets when a mysterious visitor arrives out of the blue.”

Bialosky Gets Novel for Counterpoint
Norton editor and award-winning poet Jill Bialosky sold a novel called The Prize to Dan Smetanka at Counterpoint. The Wylie Agency’s Sarah Chalfant negotiated the North American rights deal with Smetanka, and the book is set to be the publisher’s lead title for fall 2015. The Prize follows a Manhattan art gallery owner who, Smetanka explained, begins to question “his place in the world.” Smetanka added, “The Prize is both an intimate foray into the art world and a stunning, evocative portrait of a man at a crossroads.” In addition to a number of poetry collections and the memoir History of a Suicide: My Sister's Unfinished Life (Atria, 2011), Bialosky has written two novels, both published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: The Life Room (2007) and House Under Snow (2002).

Putnam Gets ‘Bad’ with Scott
Former lawyer and DEA agent J. Todd Scott sold his novel Bad Land, in a two-book preempt, to Nita Taublib at Putnam. Carlisle Webber at CK Webber Associates brokered the world rights deal for Scott. The novel, which is slated for 2016, is set in a hardscrabble Texas border town. When a body is discovered, the son of a corrupt local lawman believes it’s that of his missing mother. Putnam said Bad Land is “reminiscent of No Country for Old Men.”

At Europa, Baker Develops ‘Fever’
Europa Editions’ publisher Kent Carroll took U.S. and Canadian rights to Tim Baker’s Fever City. Europa described the debut novel as “True Detective meets L.A. Confidential.” The noir features, per Europa, two narratives that are “distinct but interwoven”: in one, a private investigator in 1960 L.A. is looking into a kidnapping; in the other, a hit man in Dallas accepts an assignment in 1963, just before the assassination of J.F.K. Tom Witcomb at Blake Friedmann brokered the deal on behalf of Baker, and the novel—which is being published in the U.K. by Faber & Faber—is currently slated to be Europa’s lead title for spring 2016.

McElderry Books Nabs Bio Of Sendler
Ruta Rimas at Margaret K. McElderry Books bought U.S., Canadian, and open-market rights to a young readers edition of Tilar Mazzeo’s forthcoming book, Irena’s Children. The adult title is a biography of Irena Sendler (sometimes called the “female Oskar Schindler”), who saved over 2,000 children from the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. The release of the young readers edition will be timed to the publication of the adult edition, which is Gallery’s lead title for fall 2016. Stacey Glick at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management handled the sale.

Correction: An earlier version of this article listed the incorrect title for Jill Bialosky's book, History of a Suicide. Additionally, J. Todd Scott is a former lawyer, and a current DEA agent; not vice versa.