Publishing Industry Lowdown (August 29-Sept. 2)

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 has been another very light week, so let’s get started!!

Deals

Drazen Kozjan’s illustrations for the middle grade, ALLIANCE: The Friendship of Lafayette and Washington by Selene Castrovilla, a light-hearted look at the important relationship between two famous and colorful men.

Lamar Giles’s young adult debut WHISPERTOWN, about a teen in witness protection who investigates his best friend’s murder and stumbles on a dark conspiracy that may lead back to his own father, for publication in Spring 2013.

Attachments author Rainbow Rowell’s first young adult novel ELEANOR & PARK, the story of two misfits falling in love for the first time.

Anthony Francis’s young adult STRANDED, space pirates, stranded teenagers, and a rich, spoiled centauress in the first installment of a YA fantasy series, for publication in 2012.

Jaclyn Dolamore’s young adult DARK METROPOLIS, about a city in which corruption and vice are rampant and disappearances warrant a shrug from the authorities: when a girl vanishes, her best friend must search the city’s underground, only to find that here, people who die don’t necessarily stay dead, in a two-book deal.

Lori Campbell’s middle grade debut CARTBOY AND THE TIME CAPSULE, an illustrated series about sixth grader Hal Rifkindunfortunately nicknamed “Cartboy”and his terrible, horrible, humorous year, in a 2-book deal.

Peter H. Reynolds to illustrate the eleventh installment in the best selling middle grade JUDY MOODY series.

Josh Farrar’s middle grade A SONG FOR BIJOU, a post-Haiti earthquake love story, set in Brooklyn, for publication in 2013.

Robin Mellom’s young adult BUSTED, a companion novel to DITCHED, in which a girl takes a job running errands for an eccentric couple and finds herself involved in the crazy world of LA nightlife but after a misunderstanding lands her in jail, she has one fateful night to clear her name, help a rising movie starlet avoid the paparazzi and find Adam, the coworker who is quickly stealing her heart, for publication in Winter 2013.

Charlie Price’s young adult DEAD GIRL MOON, in which a scheming runaway, her fostercare sister, and the son of a petty thief are entangled in a teen prostitute’s murder investigation roiling their corrupt Montana town, for publication in Winter 2013.

HOLD STILL author Nina LaCour’s third young adult novel, about a girl who, while pursuing her dream job as a set designer and recovering from a break-up, gets swept up in an old Hollywood mystery surrounding a late, iconic actor and a rising young actress, who may help relieve her of her broken heart, in a two-book deal.

(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace*)

Other News

I have been super busy (and kinda lazy) with regards to scouring the internet for news this week. If you’ve got anything to add, PLEASE share!!

Amazon has a new @author feature that allows readers and writers to connect, ask questions through their Kindles or internet, and answer. Sounds interesting, but…who knows? It’s still in beta form.

Penguin is releasing a line of ebooks/apps for young readers. They’re basically enhanced versions of already popular kid’s books. Cool!

Want to try some upcoming books? Read free samples of Maureen Johnson’s The Name of the Star or the highly anticipated Ashes by Ilsa Bick (I started this and it ROCKED).

And finally, as I mentioned on Wednesday, there will be NO Query Day in September because I’m going to be out of town RESEARCHING PARIS (insert enormous SQUEE here) and finishing up the first draft of Something Strange and Deadly book 2 (which is tentatively titled A Darkness Strange and Lovely). Thanks for being understanding! ♥

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).

ljrennert@mac.com