DEAL OF THE WEEK
Morrow Takes the ‘Measure’ of Erlick
William Morrow’s Liz Stein preempted world English rights to Nikki Erlick’s The Measure. The publisher said the debut novel is set in a world where people can find out how much time they have left to live and is being compared to The Age of Miracles and The Immortalists. “As communities, groups of friends, families, and relationships change in dramatic ways, the truth about choice and destiny unravels long-held beliefs about our time on this Earth and our place in the world,” Morrow added. The novel is slated for a 2022 release. International deals have closed in numerous countries and a TV adaptation is also in development, according to the publisher. Erlick is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in, among other outlets, Harper’s Bazaar and New York magazine. She was represented in the deal by Cindy Uh at CAA.
FROM THE U.S.
Tea Delivers for Dey Street
In a six-figure agreement, Michelle Tea (Black Wave) sold her memoir, Knocking Myself Up, to Dey Street. Peter Kispert took world English rights to the book, which follows the author’s plunge into the reproductive industrial complex, from Alison Lewis at the Zoë Pagnamenta Agency. Dey Street said Knocking Myself Up is about Tea’s “raucous journey to get pregnant as a 40-year-old, single, queer, uninsured woman, venturing into the very straight world of prospective motherhood and artificial reproductive technologies.”
Sourcebooks Rocks Coburn’s ‘Cradles’
Jennifer Coburn (We’ll Always Have Paris) re-upped at Sourcebooks Landmark, selling a WWII-set historical novel at auction to Shana Drehs in a world rights agreement. Cradles of the Reich is, the publisher said, “inspired by the untold stories of the Lebensborn program, a state-supported effort to raise the birth rate of Aryan children in Nazi Germany.” Sourcebooks compared the book to The Lilac Girls and The Nightingale. Marly Rusoff, who has an eponymous shingle, represented Coburn.
Beck Works ‘Magic’ at Graydon House
After an auction, Brittany Lavery at Graydon House won world rights to four books by Hazel Beck. The titles will launch the Witchlore series, which, the publisher said, is set in the fictional town of St. Cyprian and follows “a bookstore owner and Chamber of Commerce member who clashes with her rival, the mayor, and uncovers not only a clandestine group that wields a dark magic to control the idyllic river hamlet but hidden powers she never knew she possessed.” Beck is a pseudonym for the duo Nicole Helm and Megan Crane; Helm was represented by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary and Crane by Holly Root at Root Literary. The first book under contract, Small Town, Big Magic, is set for fall 2022.
Penguin Inks Cortez to Double
Writer and poet Rio Cortez closed a two-book, world English rights agreement with Penguin. Patrick Nolan struck the deal with Marya Spence at Janklow & Nesbit Associates. The first title, Golden Ax, is a poetry collection that will be released under the Penguin Poets line in 2022. The second, to be released by Viking, is nonfiction and will explore the author’s family tree to “reveal a history of Afro-pioneerism.”
Graywolf Re-ups Sharif
NBA–finalist Solmaz Sharif sold a poetry collection, Customs, to Jeff Shotts at Graywolf. Sharif’s 2016 debut, the collection Look, was also published by Graywolf. Customs, the house said, “is engaged with both the border checkpoints where one proves—or doesn’t prove—national belonging and the cultural customs of particular nations and communities.” Sharif, who did not use an agent in the deal, sold world rights.
