Pocket Stays Up ‘After Dark'
Pocket executive editor Lauren McKenna signed a world rights multibook deal with bestselling romance writer Kresley Cole. McKenna, Cole's longtime editor, bought three new books in the author's Immortals After Dark series, which Pocket currently publishes; the new books will all be hardcovers, a format-first for the line. The first Immortals book in the deal, which will be the 12th entry in the series, is called Lothaire and is scheduled for January 2012. (The first book in the series came out in 2006.) The deal also includes a number of young adult novels for Simon & Schuster's children's division. Robin Rue at Writers House represented Cole.
Penguin Goes to Macedonia
Investing in an internationally celebrated title, Penguin's John Siciliano bought world English rights, at auction, to Goce Smilevski's Sigmund Freud's Sister. Smilevski, who's Macedonian, won the 2010 European Union Prize for Literature for the novel, which has already sold in several other countries, including France, Italy, Slovenia, and Brazil. Pierre Astier at Agence Littéraire Pierre Astier & Associés brokered the deal for the author. The novel turns on the fact that Freud, during the German occupation of Austria, arranged for foreign visas for 16 others to flee to London with him, but did not bother to secure passage for his four sisters.
Soho Grabs the ‘Discus'
Agent Gail Hochman, of Brandt & Hochman, sold world English rights to Andromeda Romano-Lax's The Discus Thrower to Juliet Grames at Soho Press. In the 1938-set novel, by the author of The Spanish Bow (Mariner, 2008), a young German art dealer travels to Italy with orders to obtain a specific statue for Hitler. Discus is scheduled for 2012.
CP Re-Ups the Lee Boys
In a high six-figure deal, David McCormick, of McCormick & Williams, sold world rights to two books by Matt and Ted Lee, better known as the Lee brothers. Rica Allanic at Clarkson Potter acquired The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen and a second, currently untitled, work of nonfiction. McCormick said Charleston Kitchen will be a definitive guide to the city and its cuisine. The second book is planned as a memoir providing "a first-person perspective on the world of food." The South Carolina–born duo, who write about food for the New York Times, won a James Beard award for their first cookbook, The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007), and a number of awards for their second cookbook, The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern, which CP published in 2009.
Thomas Dunne Nabs 'Hepburn'
Brendan Deneen at Thomas Dunne Books pre-empted North American rights to Mitchell Kriegman and Lisa Daily's Being Audrey Hepburn. The book follows a 19-year-old New Jersey teen who is mistaken for a debutante when she wears an Audrey Hepburn dress to an event at the Met. In order to fit into high society she then immerses herself in Hepburn's films so she can better pull off the charade. Deneen represented the project while still an agent at FinePrint Literary Management and wound up closing with the authors' new reps—Kriegman is now with Kenneth Wright and Barbara Marcus at Writers House, and Daily is with Stephany Evans at FinePrint. Macmillan Films is also attached to produce.
Briefs
Anthony Mattero at Renaissance Literary & Talent sold dramatic rights to Teresa Strasser's Exploiting My Baby: A Memoir of Pregnancy & Childbirth to Sony Pictures Television. The book was just published by NAL and is heavy with celebrity plugs from moms like Brooke Burke and Jenny McCarthy. The Hollywood connection is thanks to the fact that Strasser is a TV writer and radio host, arguably best known for co-hosting The Adam Carolla Show. The book is a cheeky chronicle of Strasser's pregnancy.
