LB Wins Zafón YA Titles

Jennifer Hunt at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers bought North American rights to four YA titles by Carlos Ruiz Zafón in an auction conducted by Thomas Colchie on behalf of Antonia Kerrigan. The four books—The Prince of the Mist, The Midnight Palace, September Lights and Marina— launched Zafón's career before his bestselling adult debut, The Shadow of the Wind; combined they have nearly three million copies in print in Spain. The first on the LB roster is The Prince of the Mist, about a mysterious old house that hides a secret; it's scheduled for summer 2010 pub; the other titles will follow on a yearly basis. Orion, a sister company at Hachette UK, recently bought U.K. rights (minus ANZ) to all four books. This spring, Doubleday acquired rights to Zafón's second adult novel, The Angel's Game, already a bestseller in Spain.

To Err Is Human

Riverhead senior editor Megan Lynch preempted world rights to the first book by New York Times “Shortcuts” columnist Alina Tugend, The Right to Be Wrong: Why We Hate Mistakes So Much and Why That Hurts Us via Miriam Altshuler. Tugend will explain how we can move from a mindset that dreads mistakes and avoids them to one that accepts and learns from errors.

Holt Preempts Debut

Holt editor Helen Atsma preempted a debut novel by Hyatt Bass titled The Embers; Dorian Karchmar at William Morris sold North American rights. The book tells the story of a once-ascendant Upper East Side family that crumbles in the aftermath of a tragedy for which the father has been held responsible, and how the clan reassembles the pieces of their lives. No pub date yet; Bass is also a filmmaker who directed, wrote and produced the 2006 feature Seventy Five Degrees in July.

Clare Stays at S&S

Bestselling YA fantasy author Cassandra Clare has signed a new deal with S&S for her second trilogy, called the Infernal Devices; Margaret K. McElderry editorial director Karen Wojtyla bought U.S. rights from Barry Goldblatt. Set in Victorian London, the trilogy follows a 16-year-old girl whose life is thrown into turmoil when her older brother vanishes; her search for him leads into a supernatural underworld. The first book, The Clockwork Princess, will be published in fall 2010, followed by The Clockwork Prince in fall 2011 and The Clockwork Kingdom in summer 2012. Clare's third book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy, City of Glass, will be published by McElderry next spring.

Vilar Memoir to Other Press

Corinna Barsan and Judith Gurewich at Other Press bought world rights to Irene Vilar's Impossible Motherhood via Lisa Bankoff at ICM. Vilar was a 16-year-old college undergrad when she embarked on a relationship with a 50-year-old professor that led to marriage—a union of impossible odds that was haunted by the multiple abortions she underwent as a result of his opposition to having children and her own childhood trauma. She is now remarried with two children. Other Press has also acquired world rights to reissue Vilar's earlier book, The Ladies' Gallery, about three generations of women in her family. Pub date for Motherhood is fall 2009, and Harper's magazine has contracted for an article about her experience.

On Diamond

Da Capo executive editor Ben Schafer bought world rights to David Wild's He Is... I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Neil Diamond in a deal with Sarah Lazin. The book is described as fan Wild's witty, loving and deeply personal biographical portrait of the singer-songwriter, written with Diamond's cooperation. Pub date is October 2008.