Publishing Industry Lowdown (August 22-26)
It’s that day again–time for Sooz’s YA and MG Publishing Industry Lowdow. The general idea is that I share the biggest news in the young adult and middle grade publishing world each Friday–big deal*, important changes, etc.
Note: 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!
It’s been a very light week for deals, so let’s get started!!
Deals
NYT bestselling author of THE MISSING and SHADOW CHILDREN series Margaret Peterson Haddix’s untitled new middle grade series, the next series about a group of children raised in exile from their violent society returning “home” for the first time, in a three-book deal, for publication in Summer 2015, 2016, 2017.
HAPPENS EVERY DAY author Isabel Gillies’s young adult BESIDE ME, about the soaring highs of first love and crushing lows of first heartbreak; set in the high society of New York City’s art world and the hip, downtown music scene, for publication in Summer 2013.
Rachele Alpine’s young adult debut CANARY, about a girl who suddenly finds herself in the popular crowd at a new school when her father is hired as the basketball coach, for publication in Fall 2013.
Amanda Sun’s young adult debut INK WASH, in which a sixteen-year-old orphan is uprooted to Japan and crosses paths with her school’s arrogant kendo star whose drawings come to life in dangerous ways, pushing them both into Japan’s paranormal underworld, in a two-book deal.
N. Griffin’s middle grade THE MYSTERY OF ROOM 11, in which a girl and her steadfast sidekick are on the case to solve a locked room mystery involving a hamster, several classmates, and…things, being stuck with glue by a mysterious prankster, shenanigans, and the worst substitute teacher in the world, for publication in Spring 2014.
Debut author Lanie Bross’s young adult FATES, the story of an Executor sent to earth to bring about human destinies, who finds herself unaccountably experiencing human emotions, leading to an epic romance set across multiple worlds, in a two-book deal.
Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt’s young adult RAGS & BONES, an anthology of short stories retelling classic tales by contributors including Neil Gaiman, Lev Grossman, Kelley Armstrong, and Carrie Ryan, for publication in Fall 2013.
(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace*)
Other News
Ewan Morrison of The Guardian thinks that books will die and as a result, so will authors (as a paid profession, at least). It is a VERY grim outlook indeed…
Except that this news bite from The Daily Telegraph might be even more depressing. British schoolkids aged 14-16 are ten times more likely to shun than their primary school counterparts. Why? Because they prefer Facebook to reading. Sure, this is the UK, but I don’t see any reason iPod Touches to mess with.
The internet is in an uproar over a self-pubbed picture book due this October called Maggie Goes on a Diet. I’m not gonna weigh in on the controversy, but I will say the article from the New Yorker is downright hilarious.
You tell me: Is there any industry news-bite I missed? Do you have an significant news you want to share?
♥
*Note: Because Publishers Marketplace requires a paid subscription, 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!
Marni Bates’s FAUXMANCE, in which a teenager dives into a music hottie’s cruise ship stateroom due to seasickness and they send the Hollywood gossip machine into overdrive by innocently spending the night together; then he has to make their fauxmance look real to save the band’s family-friendly image, to Megan Records at Kensington Children’s, in a nice deal, for publication in 2012, by Laurie McLean at Larsen/Pomada Literary Agents (World).
Andrew Smith’s WINGER, about a fourteen-year-old at boarding school who grapples with living in the dorm for trouble makers, falling for his female best friend who thinks of him as just a kid, and playing wing on the Varsity rugby team with some of his frightening new dorm-mates, and ONCE THERE WERE BIRDS, a futuristic novel with echoes of the Wild West, about a teen boxer who escapes from a prison school for boys and is followed by a younger kid who is determined to stick with him, but who has his own secret agenda and something to prove, to David Gale at Simon & Schuster Children’s, for publication in Spring 2013, by Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (World English).
August 26, 2011 @ 12:45 pm
Wow, a very light week indeed! I definitely disagree with the Guardian article. Sure, publishing is changing, but the industry will adapt. If the advance system goes, something else will replace it, and authors are going to be just fine. There will always be money to be made off the written word, just maybe not in ways anyone has thought of yet.
I was just reading an article earlier this week that basically argued getting rid of the advance system would be a GOOD thing for authors. I’ve tried to find it again for the last five minutes, but no luck.
August 29, 2011 @ 11:13 am
No advance system, eh? Interesting… I can’t lie, my advance for SS&D has made me very happy and able to continue writing–I’m glad the end of the advance system hasn’t happened yet!
August 26, 2011 @ 12:52 pm
Still haven’t found it. I’m giving up. But I did find this, which was emailed to me by a CP earlier this week:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/08/end-is-nigh.html
Which then led me to this:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/08/who-wants-whom-dialog-between-ja.html
Definitely predicts the end of the big publisher, but it argues that the author willing to adapt will be just fine. 😉
August 29, 2011 @ 11:12 am
Oooh, thanks for all the links. I am comforted to know that my career isn’t over before it’s even begun. 😀
August 26, 2011 @ 6:39 pm
Oh my gosh, that article had me laughing so hard. What an incredibly lame “book.” It looks like most people are enlightened enough to know that teaching healthy lifestyle habits is the way to go…
Thanks for the lowdown, Sooz!
August 29, 2011 @ 11:14 am
You’re welcome, Happy. 😀 And yeah, I read someone else’s thoughts on that book, and she was like, “Um, why is the protagonist in a picture book FOURTEEN YEARS OLD!?”
August 26, 2011 @ 11:28 pm
I look forward to your lowdown post every week! It’s so inspiring to read about all of these awesome books being published–and so incredibly annoying to have to wait several years to read them.
“Maggie Goes on a Diet” looks ridiculous.I really can’t imagine a book like that doing any children any good.
August 29, 2011 @ 11:15 am
Aw thanks, Erika. I’m glad you find it useful–and inspiring. 😀 It’s helpful for me too because it forces me to stay current with this industry stuff. And yeah, waiting 2 years for some of these titles IS annoying.