Kate Dresser at Putnam won world English rights, at auction, to The Mash-Up, the debut novel by former PopSugar editor Laura Marie Meyers (pictured l.), from Jemiscoe Chambers-Black at Andrea Brown. The romance, per the agency, follows “a cautious accountant who wakes up inside one of her old MASH games—in all its nostalgic, Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper glory—only to learn that the path back to reality involves winning the heart of her
brother’s irritatingly handsome best friend.“ Publication is slated for summer 2026.

Chelsea Hodson at Rose Books acquired U.S. rights to Scott McClanahan’s Fights! from Anna Stein at CAA. The book, the publisher said, is “set in the mountains of West Virginia and the early 2010s New York indie literary scene and unites the two great love stories of the author’s adult life—with his wife, writer Julia Escoria, and with his editor and friend, the late Tyrant Books publisher Giancarlo DiTrapano.” Publication is set for summer 2026.

Hydia Scott-Riley at Emily Bestler purchased world English rights, at auction, to two books by Lila Herron from Jill Marr at SDLA. The first book, Any Means Necessary, is set for a March 2026 release and follows, the publisher said, “a vivacious plus-size emergency room nurse who, looking to get away from the horrors of the ER, takes a house-sitting job for a rich and dangerous man known as ‘the fixer.’ As her role transitions to be his personal physician, she’s thrown into a whirlwind reality—and the longer they live and work together, the harder it is for them to ignore the attraction simmering between them.”

Marie Michels at Pamela Dorman won North American rights, at auction, to Kate Eberle’s If Books Could Kill from Hannah Smith at Michael Joseph. The “high-concept romantic comedy,” per the publisher, follows “an adventure-loving woman who makes a tongue-in-cheek wish to live inside of a romance novel but finds herself dropped into a crime thriller instead.” Release is set for June 2026. Foreign rights were sold at auction in Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland; preempted in France, Italy, and Romania; and taken in Brazil, Hungary, Portugal, and Ukraine.

Ryan Doherty at Celadon picked up North American rights to The Secret Dinner by Scars of Beauty creator Raphael Montes, in a two-book deal, from Stephen Morrison at Susanna Lea. The book, the publisher said, “finds four best friends moving from a small town to Rio in hopes of bright futures in the big city, but they’re soon sucked into a dark world of secret dinner parties catering to the twisted fantasies of the city’s elite.” Publication is planned for August 2026.

In Brief

  • Daniel Seton at Pushkin took world English rights to Giuliano da Empoli’s The Hour of the Predator: Encounters with the Autocrats and Tech Billionaires Taking Over the World, translated from the French by Sam Taylor, from Margot Miriel at Gallimard, for an October release.
  • Sean Manning at S&S netted world rights to Bob Dylan’s Point Blank (Quick Studies), unagented—an art book with nearly 100 black-and-white drawings paired with short prose works by other writers, for a November release.
  • Austin Ross at Harper Select landed North American rights to Idle in Provence by Monty Python’s Eric Idle, on “turning a ruin in Provence from a shack into a ‘shackeau’ and how it changed his life,” from Matt Bialer at Sanford J. Greenburger, for a September 2026 release.
  • Gillian Blake and Matthew Inman at Crown acquired North American rights to Matthew McConaughey’s Poems & Prayers from Matthew Elblonk at DeFiore, for a September release.
  • Charles Suitt at 13A bought world English rights to Allen Iverson’s memoir Misunderstood, from Ian Kleinert, who was then at Paradigm, with Aimee Bell to edit for an October release.