An Industry Update...

Hey gang...it's been ages (again) since my last post. Things have been crazy but now that summer is over and we're settled into fall, things are getting back under control. I have a new blog schedule - Mondays will be all about the industry, Wednesdays we'll do writing tips and Friday talk books in general... other blog posts will go up as I come up with ideas but these three days will be all about specific information.

So, without further ado, let's get to that update!

The Key
"nice deal" $1 - $49,000
"very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
"good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
"significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
"major deal" $500,000 and up

FICTION
Debut
Robin Black's YESTERDAY'S NEWS, a collection of stories that explore the
landscape of loss and grief, and FORGIVING, a novel that looks at a
family revisited by the tragedies and transgressions of the past, to
Kate Medina at Random House, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (NA).

Ruiyan Xu's THE LOST AND FORGOTTEN LANGUAGES OF SHANGHAI, in which a
young successful bilingual Chinese businessman finds himself unable to
speak Chinese after a bizarre accident and can only speak English, which
leaves him unable to communicate with his family and everyone around
him; an attractive American woman neurologist is brought to Shanghai to
treat him, and this changes all of their lives in ways beyond all
recognition, to Hope Dellon at St. Martin's, by Elaine Koster at the
Elaine Koster Agency (NA).

UK rights to Helen Garnons-Williams at Bloomsbury UK, by David Grossman
at the David Grossman Agency on behalf of Elaine Koster at the Elaine
Koster Agency. Italian rights to MariaGiulia Castagnone at Piemme, by
Chandler Crawford of the Chandler Crawford Agency.

Former DJ and journalist Philip Wilding's CROSS COUNTRY MURDER SONG, in
which a journey across America by a psychotic driver wreaks havoc,
mayhem and devastation among a cast of original and frightening
characters, to Dan Franklin at Jonathan Cape and Beth Coates at Vintage,
for publication in Spring 2010, by Mal Peachey at Essential Works.

General/Other
Pseudonymous author of Amberville, Tim Davys' next three books in his
Mollisan Town Quartet, LANCEHEIM, TOURQUAI and YOK, translated from
Swedish and once again involving stuffed animals behaving badly, to
Jeanette Perez at Harper, for publication in March
2010, by Susanna Einstein at LJK Literary Management (world).

Author of The Wisdom of Crocodiles and screenwriter Paul Hoffman's epic
trilogy beginning with THE LEFT HAND OF GOD, featuring a 14-year-old
prodigy raised by a secretive sect of warrior monks who will play a
pivotal role in a conflict he barely understands, a clash of
civilizations that has been looming for thousands of years, as nothing
less than the fate of mankind rests on the shoulders, to Alex Clarke at
Michael Joseph, in a pre-empt, for publication in summer 2009, by
Anthony Goff at David Higham Associates (world).

US rights to Brian Tart at Dutton, with Ben Sevier editing, by Sarah
Hunt Cooke for Michael Joseph.

Rights to Goldmann in Germany; and Longanesi in Italy; both for six
figures, and Objectiva in Brazil.
chantal.noel@uk.penguingroup.com
sarah.hunt-cooke@uk.penguingroup.com

Designer, artist, and actress Gloria Vanderbilt's OBSESSION: An Erotic
Tale, to Dan Halpern at Ecco, for publication in July of 2009, by Jeanne
Wilmot (World).

Author of Souvenir and the forthcoming Reunion Therese Fowler's
BREAKAWAY, about a woman caught in a custody battle over her son that is
complicated by her troubling dreams -- some say visions -- that her son
is in danger, and her ex-husband may be the source, to Linda Marrow at
Ballantine, in a two-book deal, by Wendy Sherman at Wendy Sherman
Associates (NA).
wendy@wsherman.com

Author of POMEGRANATE SOUP Marsha Mehran's THE MARGARET THATCHER SCHOOL
OF BEAUTY, set in pre-revolutionary Iran and present-day Los Angeles,
and narrated in the tradition of the Thousand and One Nights, following
the lives of a group of immigrants -- four Iranian women and their
American-raised daughters who for years gathered weekly on the carpeted
rooftop of Scheherazade's Beauty Palace to drink tea and tell stories,
and who are now reunited for a three days leading up to a family wedding
-- revealing betrayals, heartache, self-discovery and ultimately, the
power of female intuition, to Peternelle van Arsdale at Putnam, by
Elizabeth Sheinkman at Curtis Brown UK (world English).
Elizabeth@curtisbrown.co.uk
Rights: Betsy@curtisbrown.co.uk

David Means' fourth story collection, following Mitzi Angel to Faber and Faber,
and to Lee Brackstone at Faber & Faber in the UK, along with a second
collection, for publication in 2010, by Andrew Wylie at The Wylie Agency

Children's: Fantasy
Caitlin Kittredge's YA fantasy trilogy THE IRON CODEX, beginning with
THE WITCH'S ALPHABET, a series set in a Lovecraftian industrial city in
an alternate 1950s that centers on a mechanically gifted young girl
approaching her 16th birthday, the age at which everyone in her family
goes insane, leaving it up to her to unravel the mystery of their
madness -- and save the world, to Krista Marino at Delacorte, in a
pre-empt, by Rachel Vater at Folio Literary Management (NA).

German rights to Bertelsmann Jugendbuch Verlag, in a good deal, in a
pre-empt, by Celeste Fine at Folio Literary Management in association
with Peter and Paul Fritz.

Children's: Young Adult
Marianna Baer's debut IMMACULATE, in which a 15 year old struggles with
the impossible fact of her virgin pregnancy while others, including her
Brooklyn City Council-candidate father, impose their own ideas and
agendas, along with a second novel, FROST HOUSE, the story of a senior
at a New England boarding school who must take increasingly desperate
measures to feel safe when confronted not only with an eccentric,
unstable new roommate, but with the demons, both psychological and
supernatural, haunting her dorm, to Kristin Daly at Balzer & Bray,
in a pre-empt, by Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger (NA).
sara@harveyklinger.com

UK
IMPAC winning-author of The Master, Colm Toibin's BROOKLYN, about a
young woman who emigrates from a small Irish town to Brooklyn in the
1950s, a novel of great love and loss, and of the terrible choice
between personal freedom and duty, plus another novel and a collection
of short stories, moving to Mary Mount at Viking UK, for publication
beginning in May 2009, by Peter Straus at Rogers, Coleridge & White.

Anne Fortier's JULIET, to Lynne Drew at Harper UK and to Fiona Henderson
at Harper Australia, at auction, by Angharad Kowal at Writers House (UK,
excl. Canada; and ANZ).

Rights to Laguna in Serbia, at auction, by Vuk Perisic of Plima Literary
Agency; to Sijthoff in Holland, in a pre-empt, by Caroline van Gelderen;
to Sextante in Brazil, in a pre-empt, by Karin Schindler; to Psichogios
in Greece, by John Moukakos; and to Editura Polirom in Romania by Simona
Kessler; all on behalf of Maja Nikolic and Daniel Lazar at Writers
House.

Booker-shortlisted bus driver Magnus Mills's THE ARCH, THE CIRCUS AND
THE CROSS, to Bill Swainson at Bloomsbury UK, for publication in August
2009, by David Miller at Rogers, Coleridge & White.