Karen Kosztolnyik at Grand Central preempted world rights to Blair, by Gossip Girl author Cecily von Ziegesar (pictured l.), from Sara Shandler at the Book Group, who represented the author and Josh Bank, Joelle Hobeika, and Jess Harriton at book packager and film production company Alloy Entertainment. The standalone novel, set 20 years after the original series, follows Blair Waldorf’s return to New York City and “climb back to the top of Upper East Side society,” per the publisher. Release is scheduled for summer 2027.

Amy Einhorn and Lori Kusatzky at Crown preempted world rights, in a three-book deal, to Nancy by E. Lockhart and Sarah Mlynowski. Lockhart was represented by Elizabeth Kaplan, who has an eponymous agency, and Mlynowski was repped by Laura Dail, who also has an eponymous agency. The novel, to be written under a pseudonym, kicks off a series in which Nancy Drew is a divorced 40-something Brooklyn mom whose sleuthing days are behind her but who must team with her ex–childhood best friend to solve a case.” No pub date has been announced.

Seth Fishman at the Gernert Company sold North American rights to National Book Award finalist Téa Obreht’s Sunrise to Random House, with Sara Birmingham attached to edit. The novel “tells the story of three interconnected lives over 100 years in one ghost town,” per the publisher, and follows Nina, a young woman who falls from a crashing plane and lands in a seemingly abandoned Old West settlement, where she stumbles on a mystery a century in the making. Publication is scheduled for August 2026.

May Chen and Shannon Plackis at Avon landed U.S. Commonwealth rights to an as-yet-untitled romance novel by Lauren Asher from Kimberly Brower at Park, Fine & Brower Literary Management. The book follows two exes who, after ending their engagement, “both decide to take their nonrefundable honeymoon and find themselves forced to confront everything that went wrong between them—and if there’s anything left to save,” per the publisher. Release is planned for spring 2027.

Megha Parekh of Thomas & Mercer acquired world rights to The Face Last Seen by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado from Liza Fleissig at Liza Royce Agency, who represented Maldonado, and Deborah Schneider of Gelfman Schneider, who represented Deaver. The thriller, which is the third installment in the duo’s Sanchez & Heron series, follows agent Carmen Sanchez and civilian partner Dr. Jacoby “Jake” Heron as they investigate “a mysterious break-in that explodes into a deadly conspiracy,” per the publisher. Release is planned for late 2026.

In Brief

  • Elizabeth May at Kensington won North American rights to the fifth and six novels in Amber V. Nicole’s dark romantasy series Gods and Monsters, about the unexpected love between a god king and his shape-shifting mortal enemy, from Monica Meehan at DropCap Agency, for release in late 2026 and 2027.

  • Ibrahim Ahmad at Viking landed U.S. rights to Reza Satchu’s debut The Power of Commitment, which argues that the titular trait is “the defining skill of our era,” from Rafe Sagalyn at CAA. Pub date TBA.

  • Laurie Johnson at Severn House took world English rights to Elia Winters’s Sex, Texts, and Sweater Vests, a Scarlet Pimpernel retelling about a freelance investigative journalist who is hired by a mogul to out a mysterious online kinkster, from Saritza Hernández at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, for a fall 2026 release.

  • Samia Garcia-Fakih at 23rd Street bought world English rights to comics creator duo Cinnamon Sugar’s Heartstrings, a three-volume romantic graphic novel series about a lonely pop star who reignites an old flame with a former bandmate, from Satenik Anastasian and Yana Kazieva at the Purr Literary Agency. The first volume is set for 2027.

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