47 North Picks Up Three
Sarah Fine sold world English and German rights to Reliquary, her next urban fantasy romance series, to Jason Kirk at Amazon’s 47 North, in a three-book deal brokered by Kathleen Ortiz at New Leaf Literary & Media. In the books, a woman’s desperate search for her missing fiancé leads her to a hidden nightclub where she finds a shadowy underworld of magic-addicts and mobsters, discovering that she possesses a significant ability of her own, according to the agent. The first book is scheduled to go on sale in summer 2016.

Gurwitch Stays at Blue Rider
Annabelle Gurwitch sold world rights to Wherever You Go, There They Are to Sarah Hochman, executive editor at Blue Rider Press. Gurwitch, who was represented by Laura Dail at the Laura Dail Literary Agency, is the author of 2014’s I See You Made an Effort, a finalist for the Thurber Humor Prize. Gurwitch’s solo show based on I See You, which recently premiered in Los Angeles and at the Edinburgh Fringe Fest, heads on a national tour in 2016. The new book is a collection of humorous essays about family and is slated for a spring 2017 publication.

Harlequin Lands Showalter
Harlequin has signed Gena Showalter to a seven-figure, four-book deal, which will see Showalter publishing three contemporary mass-market paperback titles and one hardcover paranormal title for HQN Books. Margaret O’Neill Marbury, v-p of women’s fiction editorial at Harlequin, negotiated the deal for world rights with agent Deidre Knight of the Knight Agency. Allison Carroll, associate editor at HQN Books, will edit.

Putnam Preempts Debut
Stacey Barney at Putnam Children’s preempted North American rights to Krystal Sutherland’s debut We Were Never Here. Catherine Drayton at InkWell Management brokered the two-book deal. In the book, high school senior Henry Page finds himself inexplicably falling for Grace Town, the new girl at school. Although Grace has secrets that keep Henry at arm’s length, like why she visits a graveyard every day, Henry is determined to win her over. “And when the two are teamed up as coeditors of their school newspaper, he has the perfect chance to do just that,” the publisher said. Publication is scheduled for fall 2016.

Clarke Heads to Sourcebooks
Aubrey Poole of Sourcebooks Fire acquired North American rights to bestselling U.K. young adult author Cat Clarke’s middle grade debut The Pants Project. The novel was sold by Allison Hellegers at Rights People on behalf of Julia Churchill at AM Heath in the U.K. The story chronicles a transgender boy’s “brave fight to change the school’s outdated dress code, gaining a new best friend in the process,” per the agent. Publication is set for early 2017.

Nelson Plays Ball at Disney

Author and illustrator Kadir Nelson sold world rights to Stephanie Lurie at Disney-Hyperion for Basket Ball, an illustrated nonfiction book about the history of African-Americans in the game, from the early 1900s through the present day. In four sections, Nelson covers the pre-NBA African-American college teams, traveling basketball clubs in Harlem, the formation of the NBA, key figures and rivalries, and the birth of trademark moves such as the pick-and-roll and slam dunk. Steven Malk at Writers House represented Nelson in the deal. The book will go on sale in fall 2018.

Note: Clare Swanson filled in for Rachel Deahl on this week’s column.

*This article has been corrected. A previous version of this article misspelled Laura Dail's name and agency. It is Dail, not Dial.