Less Is More
Rick Horgan at Crown preempted world rights to Un-Conform: Cancel All Your Meetings, One-Down the Competition and Discover Greatness by 37 Signals founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hanson; Lisa DiMona at Lark Productions made the six-figure sale. This manual will urge readers to under-do their competitors, focusing on just the important stuff in order to fight the epidemic of more. Over two million people have subscribed to software design house 37 Signals' products. Crown plans to publish in 2009.
Mazzeo Again to Collins
Matt Inman at Collins just acquired world rights to two new books by Tilar Mazzeo; Stacey Glick at Dystel & Goderich made the six-figure sale on option. The first book in the new deal, tentatively titled The Secret of Chanel No. 5, will explore the impact of the iconic fragrance. Mazzeo's first book, The Widow Clicquot, will be published later this month by Collins and carries endorsements from Benjamin Wallace and Mireille Guiliano; it is a Significant 7 pick for October at Amazon. Projected pub date for the Chanel book is fall 2010.
More from YA Stars
Emma Dryden at Atheneum/Margaret K. McElderry Books has acquired three more teen novels by Ellen Hopkins in a world rights deal with Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown. All three, written in verse, will continue to deal with teens in crisis; Perfect, the first of the three, will explore the drive among teens to attain perfection through surgery, self-regulated eating and extreme exercise. Perfect will pub in hardcover in fall 2011, to be followed by two additional hardcovers in 2012 and 2013 on the McElderry list. The next novel from Hopkins, who has over one million books in print, Tricks, will be published by McElderry in fall 2009.
At SimonPulse, Bethany Buck bought four books by Uglies series author Scott Westerfeld in a North American rights deal with Jill Grinberg. The new, steampunk-inspired series, titled Leviathan, follows two teens on a fantastical around-the-world adventure and includes three novels and one four-color guidebook.
German Bestseller to S&G
Cindy Spiegel at Spiegel & Grau bought North American rights to Richard David Precht's Who Am I—and if So, How Many? A Philosophical Journey via Geshe Wendebourg at RH Germany. A bestseller in Germany, this lighthearted tour of the big philosophical questions draws on neuroscience, psychology, history and pop culture to elucidate the questions at the heart of human existence. Pub date is fall 2010.
Debut to SMP
St. Martin's SVP Matthew Shear bought North American rights to two books by first-time author Ben Coes in a six-figure deal with Aaron Priest and Nicole Kenealy at Aaron Priest; Keith Kahla will edit. The first book, Power Down, is an international thriller that begins with a pair of brutal attacks against two American energy behemoths. Coes, a partner in a private equity firm, is a former White House—appointed speechwriter to the Secretary of Energy in the 1990s.
Looking at the Middle East
Agent Denise Shannon closed a deal for William Polk's Understanding Iran with Jake Klisivitch at Palgrave Macmillan, who took world English rights (the book will also be published by Palgrave's U.K. arm). Iran will follow the formula Polk created with Understanding Iraq, published by Harper in 2005, presenting a short and easily digestible history that will help readers make sense of current events there.
Martin Beiser at the Free Press bought world rights to frequent New York Times contributor Thanassis Cambanis's Hezbollah: The Party of God and the Future of the Middle East; Wendy Strothman made the sale, and pub date is 2010.
