Friday the 13th Pub Lowdown!

It’s that day again…except NOT. Because today is different from other Fridays. Today is riddled with horror and bad luck. Today might be the worst day for publishing…or maybe the best–if you’re one of those superstitious-opposites people.

No matter the terrors of the day, it’s still time for Sooz’s YA and MG Publishing Industry Lowdow. The general idea is that I share all the deals I know if in the young adult and middle grade publishing world each Friday.

My source for deal news is Publishers Marketplace, which requires a paid subscription. As such I’m only sharing part of the information here–basically, just author names and pitches. If you want to know deal sizes (e.g. advances), editors, publishers, and agents, I highly recommend you sign up for PM–it’s totally worth the cost!

Let’s get started, shall we? (Though you should probably double check the locks on your doors…or scan for black cats.)

Deals

Jennifer Echols’s untitled trilogy of young adult romantic comedies, about high school students selected by their class for the senior superlative Who’s Who categories like Biggest Flirt and Most Likely to Succeed, and how the labels change the way they view themselves and alter the course of their lives, in a three-book deal, for publication in beginning early summer 2014.

Aubrie Dionne’s young adult COLONIZATION: Paradise 21, finding a new home has never been so dangerous.

John Capraro’s young adult REACHING FOR STARS, when her overbearing father interferes with her dream of becoming a starship shuttle pilot, a headstrong teen stops at nothing to get her way – and ends up forced into a life-or-death decision.

Author of the forthcoming young adult THE LITTLE WOODS, McCormick Templeman’s THE GLASS CASKET, pitched as a twisted retelling of Snow White, in which a 16-year-old is left to uncover the evil forces responsible for her cousin’s gruesome murder before they destroy her family, her village, and her whole world, in a two-book deal.

Director, writer, and producer of such movies as About a Boy, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and The Golden Compass, Chris Weitz’s debut young adult book THE YOUNG WORLD, the first in an epic, post-apocalyptic trilogy, set in a post-apocalyptic New York City in which only teenagers were spared, the heirs to a world brought back to the Stone Age, and now they must learn to master it in order to survive, for publication beginning in Spring 2014.

Heather Swain’s young adult THE LAST APPLE, imagining a near future with no food, where survivors receive inoculations and nutritional beverages developed by scientists and no longer feel hunger – except for a girl, who still wants to eat…but quickly finds out how dangerous that desire has become, in a two-book deal, for hardcover publication in Fall 2013.

Karen Sandler’s young adult TANKBORN: Awakening and TANKBORN: Revoluntion, about a genetically engineered slave (GEN), who discovers the secrets behind the creation of the GENs and joins the rebellion that will free them, for publication in Spring 2013.

Keshia Swaim’s young adult BLOOD BOUND, in which a half-fae teenage girl starts college, but the people who killed her father have terrible plans for her… and what her allies have planned for her doesn’t seem much better, in a nice deal, for publication in September 2013.

Sherry Ficklin and Tyler Jolley’s young adult EXTRACTED (The Lost Imperials, Book 1), in which two siblings, unknowingly stolen from history, fight on opposing sides of a battle to control time and space, for publication in November 2013.

Laura Lam’s young adult PANTOMIME, set in a magical and mysterious circus where a boy runs to forget his past, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2013.

Greg Leitich Smith’s middle grade LITTLE GREEN MEN AT THE MERCURY INN, about three friends at a motel in Cocoa Beach, Florida, after a manned space launch at Kennedy Space Center is scrubbed due to the appearance of a UFO over Cape Canaveral, for publication in fall 2013.

Adam-Troy Castro’s fifth and sixth books in the forthcoming middle grade GUSTAV GLOOM series.

Romily Bernard’s debut young adult FIND ME, launching a new series about hacker and crime-solver Wick Tate, pitched as a Lisbeth Salander for teens, who is sent a journal written by a dead friend, apparently asking for her help and putting her on the trail of a dangerous predator who’s after her little sister, for publication in Fall 2013.

Elisabeth Henderson’s young adult 100 Questions You’d Never Ask Your Parents, concise, factual answers to pre-teen and teen questions about sex, drugs, body and mood (among other mysteries) that encourages safety without being judgmental, plus 100 More Questions You’d Never Ask Your Parents.

(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace)

Other Stuff

J.K. Rowling’s next book has a title–and a release date!  THE CASUAL VACANCY is described as “blackly comic” and is set in a small town where everyone is at war with each other. It will release September 27 and is priced at–get this–$35!! Honestly, I don’t care if it’s J.K., I will not dole out that much money for her book. Period. You can learn more about it here.

Well, as expected, the Department of Justice sued the Apple and the publishers on Wednesday morning. Those publishers settling include HarperCollins (statement here), Hachette Book Group (statement here), and Simon & Schuster…but Penguin, Macmillan, and Apple are fighting this sucker. Also, as of Thursday afternoon, 16 states were also suing the 5 publishers and Apple. Crazytown.

In utterly shocking and horrifying news–truly worth of Friday the 13th–Snoop Dogg has a new book coming out…that you can smoke. NO KIDDING. It’s made of hemp rolling papers. O_o WHA…?

The ALA announced the top 10 most challenged library books of 2011. #1? Lauren Myracle’s ttyl series. Huh. Oookaaaaay. But the one that has me really surprised is #4: My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler. Alrighty then.

If you like Disney movies, then you’ll probably enjoy these revamped, modernized covers. I’m especially loving Peter Pan.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: The Legend of Korra will premier tomorrow. I’m sure most of you watched the first episodes when Nick shared them…or you downloaded them for free on iTunes. But–even having seen the episodes twice now–I WILL WATCH THE PREMIER AGAIN. It was that good.

HarperTeen’s Epic Reads site is giving away a TON of advanced copies of their upcoming titles (including my own Something Strange & Deadly). Between now and mid-May, 6 people per week can win 5 titles! That is…well, epic.

And finally, I went to Chicago yesterday to hang out with Erica O’Rourke (she’s even cooler than her books…and you guys know how obsessed I am with her books). And we got to attend Leigh Bardugo‘s pre-launch party. Leigh was amazing in her talk (her book is amazing soon…and due out in 1.5 months!!!). While there, I became acquainted with what I can literally say is the coolest indie bookstore ever: Anderson’s Bookshop. It’s been a long time since I went into an independent bookstore (or an English bookstore, for that matter), and I was overwhelmed by the difference. Not only was the place oozing with cozy bookness, all the employees were spectacularly knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I am officially in love. If you live in the Chicago area or ever visit, you have to stop by Anderson’s Bookshop.

You tell me: Did I miss any important info or great news to share?