Agent Sells Debut to Hachette
In a two-book deal at auction, literary agent Rena Rossner sold world English rights to her debut novel, The Sisters of the Winter Wood, to Lindsey Hall at the Hachette imprint Redhook. Rossner, who works at the Deborah Harris Literary Agency, was represented by Brent Taylor at Triada US. Taylor described the novel, a retelling of the 19th-century narrative poem Goblin Market, as “Fiddler on the Roof meets Hans Christian Andersen.” He said that Winter Wood, planned for fall 2018, is “set against the backdrop of the 1903 pogroms against the Jewish people in the shtetl of Dubossary” and “follows two sisters, one who can transform into a bear, the other into a swan, and what happens when a troupe of men selling strange fruit come to their town and people start to disappear.” The second book in the deal is a currently untitled standalone work.
Young Mayor Puts Down Roots at Flatiron
Michael Tubbs, the mayor of Stockton, Calif., sold North American rights to a memoir called The Deeper the Roots to Whitney Frick at An Oprah Book (which is the name of Flatiron’s recently created imprint from Oprah Winfrey). At 27, Tubbs is, according to the publisher, “the youngest elected mayor of a major American city.” The book, subtitled A Story of Home, Hope, and Purpose, recounts how he beat the odds to get to his current position. The publisher said Deeper discusses “the three women who pushed him to strive for a better life” and the decision “to return home and devote himself to the possibilities of politics to transform and change communities for the better.” Betsy Lerner of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner represented Tubbs.
Richman Goes to Berkley
In a six-figure deal for North American rights, Berkley bought bestselling author Alyson Richman’s seventh novel, The Family Cloud. Kate Seaver acquired the title from Sally Wofford-Girand at Union Literary. Berkley said the book, scheduled for February 2019, follows a teacher sent to tutor an immigrant boy with a heart condition “and the powerful and transformative bond that grows between them.”
‘Slow Home’ Podcaster to Sourcebooks
Writer and producer of the Slow Home podcast, Brooke McAlary, sold a book called Slow to Sourcebooks. Maggie Thompson at Allen & Unwin handled the North American rights agreement with Sourcebooks’ Grace Menary-Winefield. McAlary describes the podcast as one dedicated to “slow living,” in which she talks with people who “are saying no to life lived at 110%” and are interested in “slowing down, opting out, saying no.” The book, set for spring 2018, blends, the publisher said, “memoir and practical advice to explore ways readers can simplify their lifestyle, reconnect with family and community, and appreciate the natural world around them.”
Riverhead Picks Up Tomar’s ‘Travelers’
In a world English rights preempt, Cal Morgan at Riverhead bought Ruchika Tomar’s debut, A Prayer for Travelers. In the Nevada-set novel, which Riverhead called “daring” and “psychologically intense,” the central character, Cale, must deal with what’s happening “with the protective, ailing grandfather who raised her, and with her Mexican-American best friend Penny, who disappears after a terrifying moment of violence shatters their world.” Agent Joy Harris represented Tomar in the deal.
Nowak Takes Debut Collection to Top Shelf
Ignatz Award–winner Carolyn Nowak sold her debut comics collection, Girl Town, to Leigh Walton at Top Shelf Productions. Nowak won the Ignatz for her online comic Radishes, which follows two teenagers who skip school one day to go to what the publisher calls the “local fantasy market.” Girl Town will collect Radishes along with, Top Shelf said, “several other stories about young women seeking connection.” Jen Linnan, who has an eponymous shingle, represented Nowak. Girl Town is slated for fall 2018.
Hachette Re-ups Overton
For Hachette’s Redhook imprint, Anne Clarke took North American rights, in a two-book deal, to Hollie Overton’s The Runaway. The title will be Overton’s third book with Redhook, following her debut, Babydoll (July, 2016), and The Walls (August). The publisher said the book, which it bought North American rights to, focuses on the search for a teenage runaway, a search that “sends her foster mother, a psychologist working for the LAPD, on a dangerous journey through LA’s gritty criminal underworld.” Eve Atterman at William Morris Endeavor represented the author, who has written for such TV shows as Cold Case and Shadowhunters. The Runaway is set for August 2018.
