Publishing Industry Lowdown (Oct. 10-21)

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 deals, important changes, etc.

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!

Since I was out of town last week, I’ve got 2 weeks worth of deals to share…

Now, let’s get started!!

Deals

Shannon Messenger’s debut middle-grade series KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, about a girl who discovers there are secrets buried in her memory that others would kill for, and has to figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world before the wrong person finds the answer first, to Liesa Abrams at Aladdin, in a three-book deal, for publication starting in Fall 2012.

Author of The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets Kimberley Griffiths Little’s middle grade WHEN THE BUTTERFLIES CAME, a mystical, emotional, and physical journey about a young girl who discovers a set of mysterious keys inside her grandmother’s old house, unlocking an explosive secret that will change her life forever for publication in January 2013.

Evan Angler’s debut middle grade SWIPE, about a 12-year old boy poised to receive the Mark — an outward sign of citizenship tattooed onto the skin using nano-ink — and the band of outcasts determined to prevent him from getting it, in a two-book deal.

Author of middle-grade novel VIRGINA BOUND and nonfiction book A PERFECT RED, Amy Butler Greenfield’s trilogy CHANTRESS, set in London in the 1660s, the adventure story of a girl who can sing magic in a world that forbids it, which gets her into trouble with an evil Lord Protector and his mind-stealing minion of ravens, to Karen Wojtyla at Margaret K. McElderry Books, in a pre-empt, for publication beginning in Summer 2013 by Julie Just at Janklow & Nesbit.

Mother-daughters team Kelly Moore, Tucker Reed, and Larkin Reed’s young adult AMBER HOUSE, in which a teenager, her autistic brother, and their mother visit a three-centuries old family home full of secrets, where she begins seeing specters of the past; when these ghosts endanger her brother, she must race against time and the house itself to stop the course of history before it is cemented forever, in a three-book deal.

Joyce Magnin’s young adult CAKE, in which a twelve-year-old veteran at changing homes and families moves into her fourth foster home and finds cake, chickens, two retired missionaries from Malawi, and love.

Melissa West’s debut young adult GRAVITY, the first book in a dystopian series in which the sixteen-year-old daughter of New America’s top military commander must choose whether to believe her country’s malicious depiction of the Ancients, or trust the alien she’s fallen in love with and betray humankind, in a three-book deal, for publication in Fall 2012.

Eric Greitens’s young adult THE WARRIOR HEART, adapted from the NYT bestseller The Heart and the Fist; sharing the author’s experiences as a teen and as a young man that led him to a life of service, both as a humanitarian and as a Navy SEAL, for publication in Fall 2012.

Author of Demonata and The Saga of Darren Shan series, with a reported over 25 million combined copies sold around the world, Darren Shan’s new series ZOM-B, moving to Ingrid Selberg at Simon & Schuster UK, to be edited by Venetia Gosling, in a twelve-book deal, for publication starting in Fall 2012.

NYT bestseller and Newbery Honor winner Shannon Hale’s PRINCESS ACADEMY 2, in which the academy girls travel to the capital city of Asland to help the princess-to-be, for publication in August 2012.

James Dashner’s THE DEATH CURE, the third book in the Maze Runner series, to Barry Cunningham at Chicken House.

Scott Blagden’s young adult DEAR LIFE, YOU SUCK, about a tough-talking orphan in small-town Maine who needs to figure out what to do with his life as his eighteenth birthday fast approaches, for publication in Spring 2013.

Brandy Colbert’s debut young adult A POINT SO DELICATE, about a ballet prodigy whose life begins to unravel when she’s forced to admit to the role she played in her childhood friend’s abduction.

NYT bestselling author of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Ransom Riggs’s young adult ARCANUM, about two teenaged brothers who discover a cache of sinister magical objects and must fight for survival when a mysterious killer begins to hunt them down, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2014.

The Daughters series author Joanna Philbin’s young adult THE RULES OF SUMMER, about a seventeen-year-old girl who spends the summer with an East Hampton family whose walk-in closets hide skeletons amongst the tennis whites, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2013.

Eve Silver’s young adult RESPAWN, the first book in a teen series about a girl who finds herself inside a “game” where she must hunt aliens, or be hunted by them, in a three-book deal.

Lydia Kang’s young adult THE FOUNTAIN, about a 17-year-old, who must rescue her kidnapped sister with the help of a band of outcasts with mutated genes, set in 2150 when genetic manipulation has been outlawed, for publication in 2013.

Author of BEAUTIFUL and CLEAN, Amy Reed’s next 2 young adult untitled books that promise to be edgy.

(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace)

Other News

Kobo has released a new tablet e-reader to compete with the undeniably awesome Amazon Kindle. The Kobo Vox wil be available for $200 sometime next week.

Also competing with Amazon (isn’t everyone these days?), B&N is expanding its store to non-book stuff. I don’t know how much these changes matter because it seems to me–as is the case with most brands–you’re either already an Amazon-shopper or a B&N-shopper. I don’t know why you’d switch camps now. Then again, what the heck do I know about marketing and sales?

Speaking of B&N, they’ve gone into full vulture mode and taken over the Borders website. It makes me teary-eyed–I mean, it’s as if Borders never even existed…

I’m sure everyone has already heard about the controversy with the National Book Awards. Basically, there was some “miscommunication” and one of the nominees was asked to withdraw. I rather like Libba Bray’s response to the whole thing–the woman has a point.

If you’re as excited about the Adventures of Tintin movie due out this December (I grew up on the TV show and comics), then you might be as sad as I was to see this murderous review.

Are you a writer in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement? Then maybe you’ll be interested in this petition. From Neil Gaiman to Lemony Snicket, over 900 writers have penned their name to the list.

If you’re searching for some literary inspiration for your Halloween costume this year, then be sure to peruse the twitter hashtag #literarycostumes, which Random House set up. Seeing as I have no opportunity for costume-wearing here in Germany (sad, I know), I shall have to save this list for future costuming events…

Are you worried by the rapid changes in technology and reading? Then you might want to sit down before you watch this. I am literally TERRIFIED by what this means for my reading-future.

And finally, in completely unrelated news, I’ve been hearing reports of a few website glitches. Sorry about that…I am working on it

You tell me: Is there any industry news-bite I missed? Do you have an significant news you want to share?

 shersmarketplace.com/dealmakers/detail.cgi?id=1112″>Sara Croweat Harvey Klinger (world).