Latest Literary Deals

Here are the major literary deals in the past week, kindest courtesy of Literary Marketplace. When, oh, when will I figure in these?


Debut Fiction
Film director David Cronenberg's first novel, partially set in Toronto, to Nicole Winstanley at Penguin Canada, who wrote him "several months ago to inquire about whether or not he'd consider writing a novel," in a pre-empt, for publication in early 2010, by Andrew Wylie of The Wylie Agency.

Doubleday editor Sarah Rainone's Love Songs For Lost Children, set at a wedding where a group of twenty-somethings, reunited for the first time in years, are forced to live through and live down who they were then, and reveal the secrets that have defined them since, to Carrie Thornton at Three Rivers Press, by Jud Laghi at LJK Literary Management (NA). Film/TV rights are being handled by Shari Smiley at CAA.

Recent Harvard grad, 23-year-old Pakistani writer Ali Sethi's debut novel, set in his native Lahore, the story of a fatherless Pakistani boy being raised in a family of outspoken women, and the guilt he experiences when his fate diverges from that of his closest friend and cousin, whose unconventional behavior brings severe consequences for her, to Megan Lynch at Riverhead, at auction, by Barney Karpfinger at The Karpfinger Agency (US). Rights have also gone to Hamish Hamilton in the UK and Penguin India.

Ivy Pochoda's The Art Of Losing, in which a woman weds a talented magician, whose hands attract stray saltshakers and poker chips�after one of his tricks goes terribly awry, the newly-wed is left with the question whether things she believes in are real or just another illusion, to Hilary Rubin Teeman of St. Martin's, in a nice deal, by Kim Witherspoon of Inkwell Management (World).

McSweeney's contributor G. Xavier Robillard's Captain Freedom: A Superhero's Quest for Truth, Justice, and The Celebrity He So Richly Deserves, to Carl Lennertz at Harper, for publication in Jan 2009, by Helen Zimmermann at the Helen Zimmermann Literary Agency. helen@zimmagency.com

Inspirational
Dearest Dorothy series author Charlene Ann Baumbich's Snowglobe Connections series, about a set of mysterious antique snowglobes, each capable of unlocking the desires of the heart, and the Divinely inspired transformations that occur in the people who possess them, to Shannon Hill at WaterBrook Press, in a three-book deal, by Danielle Egan-Miller at Browne & Miller Literary Associates (World English).

Mystery/Crime
Former firearms industry professional Lori Armstrong's Ritual Sacrifices, the first in a new mystery series featuring an Army sniper who has returned home to run her family's South Dakota ranch, to Trish Lande Grader at Touchstone Fireside, in a two-book deal, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group (NA).

Thriller
Four books in the new Red Dragon series by bestselling authors Larry Bond and Jim DeFelice, to Bob Gleason at Tor, by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group (NA).

General/Other
Bridie Clark's novel I Think She's Got It, a modern retelling of Pygmalion, the story of a shy, young Midwesterner who is transformed into a sophisticated socialite by a dashing but arrogant man-about-town who is convinced he can turn anyone -- even the most awkward wallflower -- into this year's "it" girl, to Rob Weisbach at the Weinstein Company, also optioning film and TV rights for the Weinstein Company, for publication in 2009, by Daniel Greenberg at the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (world).

Children's: Middle grade
Ann Haywood Leal's debut Also Known As Harper, about a girl named after Harper Lee (and her brother, named after Hemingway) whose family is evicted from their house and makes a new home at a run down motel, to Reka Simonsen at Holt, at auction, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (world).

Children's: Young Adult
Aprilynne Pike's Autumn Wings, a four-book series about an ordinary girl who discovers that she is a faerie sent to guard the gateway to Avalon in the mortal world, and when she is thrust into the midst of a centuries-old battle between faeries and trolls, she's torn between a mortal and a faerie love, as well as her loyalties to both worlds, to Tara Weikum at Harper Children's, in a pre-empt, by Jodi Reamer at Writers House (World English).

John Green and David Levithan's Will Grayson, Will Grayson, about two teens - both named Will Grayson - whose paths cross and lives become intertwined after a chance meeting in a very unexpected place, to Julie Strauss-Gabel at Dutton Children's, by Jodi Reamer at Writers House (world).

Children's librarian Josh Berk's debut Big Deaf Fatty, set in coal mining Pennsylvania and narrated with sardonic humor by a boy who is overweight, deaf, and mute during his first year in mainstream high school, when he begrudgingly solves a murder and uncovers a secret truth about his family history, to Cecile Goyette at Knopf, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Ted Malawer at Firebrand Literary.
ted@firebrandliterary.com

Jane Smiley's daughter, Lucy Silag's debut trilogy Perfectly Paris follows four Americans to Paris for their junior year of high school, where they enjoy their first taste of real freedom until one girl mysteriously disappears, to Lexa Hillyer at Razorbill, by Molly Friedrich at Friedrich Agency.