BU Prof Sells YA Debut
At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, senior executive editor Margaret Raymo preempted world English rights to Elaine Dimopoulos’s debut YA novel, Eco-Chic. The author (who teaches children’s lit at Boston University) follows two girls in the novel—a manufactured pop star and a talented fashionista—as they, HMH explained, navigate a world where “children are the gatekeepers of all culture, and staying young and trendy are the keys to success.” The novel is set for spring 2015; Dimopoulos was represented by Edward Necarsulmer IV at the Dunow, Carlson & Lerner agency.

Da Capo Lands Thrash Metalist
Cofounder of thrash metal band Anthrax, Scott Ian, sold his memoir, I’m the Man, to Ben Schafer at Perseus’s Da Capo Press. Anthrax is known as one of the “Big Four” thrash bands (along with Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth), and the book will offer a complete history of the group. Ian will be cowriting with Jon Wiederhorn (a senior writer at Revolver), and will also, Da Capo said, get into into his upbringing “in a dysfunctional home, and his escapism through the turbulent world of heavy metal”; the book will feature “full-color autobiographical comic book inserts.” Jim Fitzgerald, who has eponymous agency, brokered the world rights deal with Schafer.

Do-Gooder Lief to Rodale
Rodale Books’s Ursula Cary took world English rights to I Am Because You Are, by the founder of the Ubuntu Education Fund, Jacob Lief. The fund is a grassroots philanthropic organization working in the communities around Port Elizabeth, South Africa, that has, as Rodale put it, “developed a model for raising children and transforming lives.” Lief started the fund in post-apartheid South Africa in 1998, and the book will, Rodale said, “provide an incisive and clear-eyed look at how we invest in future generations, and why we should care about giving all children the same care that we would give our own.” Lief, who was represented by agent Stephanie Tade at the Stephanie Tade Agency, will be writing with New Yorker editor Andrea Thompson.

Gudenkauf Re-Ups at Mira
Bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf signed with her current publisher, Harlequin Mira, to do two more books. Agent Marianne Merola at Brandt & Hochman brokered the two-book, world English rights deal with Margaret Marbury. Gudenkauf has turned into something of a star at Mira; the imprint said her first book, 2009’s The Weight of Silence, has, to date, sold nearly 500,000 copies; her next book, Little Mercies, is coming in July 2014. (Erika Imranyi will be editing.)

Panera Founder Talks for Portfolio
Ron Shaich, founder and CEO of the Panera Bread restaurant chain, sold a currently untitled business narrative to Niki Papadopoulos at Portfolio. Papadopoulos took world rights from Carol Franco at Kneerim, Williams & Bloom. The book will chart Shaich’s arc, from working at a convenience store as an undergrad to building the Panera Bread business, which Franco noted is one of the country’s “best-performing” restaurant chains. The book is set for 2015.

Correction
Last week’s column mistakenly noted that Mark Levin, who signed a two-book deal with Threshold Editions, would be writing about his love of animals. Levin (who wrote a memoir about losing his dog, Rescuing Sprite, along with numerous nonfiction bestsellers like Liberty and Tyranny), will be doing two more books about politics through this deal.