Norton Signs Schoenfeld, Woof

Maria Guarnaschelli at Norton bought North American rights to Gabe Schoenfeld’s Necessary Secrets via Chris Calhoun at Sterling Lord. Schoenfeld, formerly a senior editor at Commentary magazine and author of the essay “Has the New York Times Violated the Espionage Act?” will offer a historically informed analysis of America’s tolerance for leaks of classified information to the media. Tentative pub date is 2011.

Also at Norton, Jill Bialosky bought a novel by Emily Woof titled The Whole Wide Beauty; Tina Bennett at Janklow & Nesbit sold North American rights just after Faber preempted the book in the U.K. British actress Woof’s (The Full Monty; Velvet Goldmine) debut novel focuses on a woman who, muffled by a conventional marriage and the demands of a young son, embarks on an affair with a poet who was mentored by her father. Likely pub date is early 2010.

Choteborsky and Pine Double Up

Crown editor and associate publishing manager Mary Choteborsky acquired North American rights to Michael Medved’s new book, The 5 Big Lies About American Business, via Richard Pine at InkWell. The book, which will debunk the most pernicious myths about our corporate system, follows on the heels of the radio host’s The 10 Big Lies About America; Crown Forum will publish in fall 2009.

Choteborsky also bought Elizabeth Rogers’s Shift Your Habit; Pine sold North American. Tied to Rogers’s Web site and company (www.shiftyourhabit.com), the book will promote simple shifts readers can make in their daily lives to save the planet, save time and save money. Rogers is coauthor of The Green Book, which has 250,000 copies in print. Three Rivers will publish Habit in spring 2010.

Da Capo Lands Hajdu, Streissguth

Da Capo executive editor Ben Schafer bought world rights to a new book by David Hajdu, Heroes and Villains: Essays on Music, Movies, Comics and Culture. Essay subjects include Kanye West, Woody Guthrie, the White Stripes, Elvis Costello and Joni Mitchell. Hajdu’s most recent book, The Ten-Cent Plague, was published by FSG. This was another deal brokered by Sterling Lord’s Chris Calhoun.

Schafer also acquired Michael Streissguth’s The List: Roseanne Cash’s Search for the Legacy and Spirit of Southern Music; Jim Fitzgerald sold world rights. In 1973, Johnny Cash made a list of 100 essential country songs for his daughter Roseanne to learn if she wanted to get to the heart and soul of country music; the track listing of her next album, “The List,” will be culled from those songs. In the book, Streissguth will follow Cash into the studio and on tour to take readers behind the scenes of the making of the new album, which is coming out in October. The book will also touch on Cash’s relationship with her father and her recovery from recent brain surgery. Pub date is fall 2009, to coincide with the album’s release date.

Rees Stays at Soho

Soho Press editor Katie Herman has signed up a fourth Omar Yussef mystery by Matt Beynon Rees titled The Fourth Assassin; Lisa Erbach Vance at Aaron Priest sold North American rights on behalf of Deborah Harris. In the new book, Yussef travels to New York for a U.N. conference and a visit to his youngest son, only to discover one of his son’s roommates beheaded in their apartment. Pub date is fall 2009; the third mystery in the series, The Samaritan’s Secret, was published by Soho in February.

Spycraft for the Office

At Portfolio, David Moldawer bought world rights to CIA MBA: Business Tips from the Clandestine World by J.C. Carleson. The author, who left the corporate world to become an undercover CIA officer, will explain how to develop the skills used by operatives to gather intelligence and how to apply them in a corporate setting (without breaking the law). Jessica Regel at Jean Naggar made the sale.

Father to Son

Alyse Diamond at St. Martin’s preempted Walker Lamond’s Rules for My Unborn Son with a six-figure offer to Karen Gerwin at the Creative Culture. This collection of fatherly advice for boys began as the author’s blog (rulesformyunbornson.tumblr.com), a way to preserve and share the lessons his late father had taught him growing up. SMP has world rights and plans a December 2009 publication.

Rinzler Gets Two from Harvard

Alan Rinzler at Jossey-Bass won an auction for The Inventive Brain: 7 Steps to Maximize Creativity, Productivity and Innovation in Your Business and Your Life by Harvard lecturer Shelley Carson and the editors of Harvard Health Publications; Linda Konner made the six-figure North American sale. In an earlier deal with Konner, Rinzler bought world rights to Your Successful Pre-Schooler: Strategies You Need to Know to Help Make Your Child a Winner; authors are Ann Densmore, Ed.D., Margaret Bauman, M.D., and HHP editors.