Kris Puopolo at Broadway paid six figures for a book called
The Culture Code, by cultural anthropologist and marketing expert
Dr. Clotaire Rapaille. It looks for the reasons behind the way Americans live and buy as they do, and was a world rights buy from
Peter Miller and
Scott Hoffman at PMA Literary.... A children's book by debut novelist (and Iowa Writers Workshop grad)
Trenton Lee Stewart was aggressively preempted for Little, Brown Books for Young Readers by
Megan Tingley; she paid six figures to agent
Eric Simonoff at Janklow & Nesbit to beat four other publishers for
The Mysterious Benedict Society, which involves readers taking tests also taken by its young characters.... Viking's
Wendy Wolf bought 
Bacardi, a book on the Cuban rum-distilling dynasty whose fortunes have been tied up with those of the island for 150 years. Author
Tom Gjelten is an award-winning NPR correspondent, and Wolf bought his book from agent
Gail Ross, for publication in 2006.... A first novel about the efforts of Latina women in the U.S. to fit into the prevailing culture while preserving the best of their own,
Sister Chicas, was bought for NAL by
Kara Caesare; she bought North American rights for both English and Spanish editions from agent
Nick Ellison, acting on behalf of the three authors, Ann Cardinal, Lisa Alvarado and
Jane Alberdeston Coralin .... An unprecedented movie deal with Nobel Prize—winner
Gabriel García Márquez was signed with
Scott Steindorff'sStone Village Productions after the producer had spent two years pursuing the reluctant author. The deal is for
Love in the Time of Cholera and was signed with
Carmen Balcells and
Nuria Coloma at Balcells's Barcelona agency for over $1 million, with close to twice as much added if a movie goes into production.
