Publishing Industry Lowdown (Dec. 5-16)

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 missed last week (d!@# internet), I have two weeks worth of deals here, so let’s get started!!

Deals

Jeffrey Salane’s middle grade LAWLESS, about a super-smart girl who is enrolled in a top-secret school for the children of criminal masterminds, to be followed by JUSTICE and RONIN, for publication in Spring 2013.

Erynn Mangum’s young adult PAIGE REWRITTEN, about a girl who can’t say “no” — at least to seemingly good things like volunteering in church and helping her best friend plan a wedding, but can there be too much of a good thing?, PAIGE TURNED and PAIGE FINISHED, for publication in beginning with Book One in May 2013.

Jenny Torres Sanchez’s young adult DEATH, DICKINSON, AND THE DEMENTED LIFE OF FRENCHIE GARCIA, about a 17-year-old girl who after the death of her high school crush uses Emily Dickinson, her neighborhood cemetery and an unlikely friendship to figure out how to piece together her broken past and uncertain future.

National Book Award finalist and author of more than a dozen books including the new young adult YOU ARE MY ONLY and the forthcoming SMALL DAMAGES, Beth Kephart’s two untitled novels, the first of which introduces a teenage graffiti artist living in Berlin in the early 1980s on the eve of a daring escape.

Andrea Cheng’s middle grade YEAR OF THE CAT, a sequel to THE YEAR OF THE BOOK featuring Anna Wang and her growing Asian-American family the year they not only get an aloof cat, but an adopted baby from China, with illustrations from Patrice Barton.

Jennifer Gill’s middle grade THE SECRET OF FERRELL SAVAGE AND MARY VITTLES, about friends Ferrell and Mary, an annual sled race, and the revelation that Ferrell’s great, great, great grandfather may have eaten Mary’s great, great, great uncle in a Donner Party-like event during the Gold Rush, for publication in Spring 2014.

Jamie Zerndt’s young adult THE CLOUD SEEDERS, in which it hasn’t rained for over a year and two brothers don’t know where their parents are; in an attempt to find them, the two set out on a road trip that leads to a revelation of a national conspiracy and revolution, for publication in 2012.      

NOWHERE GIRL author A. J. Paquette’s middle grade DAHLIA’S RULES FOR GHOSTING, in which a young ghost learns her limits and powers as a ghost as she tries to solve the mystery of her own death, while fending off an unscrupulous ghosthunter with the help of a living boy.

Lisa Falkenstern’s young adult STEAMPUNK ALPHABET, an unusal and gorgeous alphabet book featuring steampunk artwork, for publication in fall 2013.

Evan Roskos’s debut young adult YAWP!, about a sixteen-year-old’s attempts to save himself from depression by reciting Walt Whitman, writing poems, hugging trees, and talking to an imaginary bird-therapist named Dr. Bird, and his quest to save his troubled sister, who has been kicked out of school and out of the house.

Sweeney St George mystery series for adults author Sarah Stewart Taylor’s middle grade THE EXPEDITIONERS, set in a cyberpunk dystopian future, in which the three children of a famous but discredited explorer must secretly try to find a treasure he has hidden, all the while outwitting evil government agents determined to suppress knowledge of geography.

Coretta Scott King / John Steptoe Award-winner Kekla Magoon’s middle grade PANTHERS!, on the history of the Black Panther Party, and the positive ways we are still affected by their actions 50 years later.

Jacqueline Green’s debut young adult suspense trilogy young adult TRUTH OR DARE, about a New England seaside town whose dark secrets are blown open when a wild game of truth or dare spins out of control, and three senior girls learn that the smallest of choices can have the greatest consequences, for publication in Spring 2013.

Screenwriter T. Michael Martin’s debut young adult THE END GAMES, about two brothers braving the apocalypse in the wilderness of West Virginia, pitched as The Stand meets John Green, in a two-book deal, for publication in Summer 2013.

Terry Lynn Johnson’s young adult ICE DOGS, in which a 15-year old dogsled racer and sled dog owner loses her way on a routine daytime outing with her dogs; with food gone and temperatures dropping, her survival and that of her dogs and the mysterious boy she meets in the woods, is up to her, for publication in Winter 2013.

Jennifer Carson’s HAPENNY MAGICK, Maewyn must learn to use her magic before it’s to late and save her race of little people, for publication in December 2012.

Dan Poblocki’s middle grade THE GHOST OF GRAYLOCK, in which a twelve-year-old is excited to learn of the ghostly legends surrounding an abandoned psychiatric hospital in his new town, but after he visits the place, he’s convinced that someone — or something — has followed him home, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2012.

Latte Rebellion author Sarah Stevenson’s young adult UNDERNEATH, the story of a girl who develops the power to hear thoughts in the wake of a family tragedy, in a two-book deal, for publication in Summer 2013.

High school teacher and author of young adult MESSED UP, ADDICTED TO HER and RACING CALIFORNIA Janet Lynch’s MY BEAUTIFUL HIPPIE, inspired by her students’ fascination with the sixties, in which they wear sixties styles and T-shirts with sixties rock stars, and listen to sixties music; set in the Haight-Ashbury District of San Francisco, with a 15-year old female protagonist who’s an aspiring pianist that falls in love with a hippie; representing themes that echo today with traditional values vs the counterculture, the morality of wars in general and the Vietnam War in particular and the effects of the women’s movement on American society.

Author of young adult SKYSHIP ACADEMY: THE PEARL WARS and the forthcoming SKYSHIP ACADEMY: CRIMSON RISING, Nick James’s final book in the trilogy, for publication in Fall 2013.

STREET PHARM and SNITCH author Allison van Diepen’s young adult THE GAME, about a teen drug dealer who becomes a police informant to get revenge on a gang leader for sending him to juvie, for publication in Fall 2013.

Joelle Charbonneau’s young adult THE TESTING, in which sixteen-year-old is chosen by her government to undergo The Testing, which decides if she gets to go to The University; The University is for the country’s best and brightest teens and puts the rebuilding and future leadership of the United States in their hands; during The Testing, extreme psychological and physical trials pit them against one another to determine which teens have what it takes to become a leader, and INDEPENDENT STUDY and GRADUATION DAY, for publication in Fall 2013.

Anna Dressed in Blood author Kendare Blake’s young adult ANTIGODDESS series, where the ancient, perpetually teenaged Greek gods Athena and Hermes cling to life in the contemporary world, seeking the causes of their mysterious, slow deaths and gathering their allies in reincarnated form: Cassandra, an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess; Odysseus, the handsome trickster; and other fickle characters with their own secret motives; they must all band together against Hera and Poseidon who have become horrific caricatures of their former glory in their desperation to survive, in a three-book deal.

Ilsa Bick’s young adult DROWNING INSTINCT, about the intense bond between a sixteen-year-old girl and a chemistry teacher who may be too good to be true, for publication in Winter 2012.

(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace)

Other News

Lots of reactions to the Slate article about supporting local bookstoresThis from Galley Cat, this from Nathan Bransford and this one (my personal fave) from Sarah LaPolla. If you wanna support your local store, then just join in the twitter frenzy with a bkstorelove hashtag!

Here’s an interesting article from the WSJ about a woman who sold more than 400,000 copies of her book…and she self-published it.

Looking to catch an editor’s eye? Then don’t missthis great chance to pitch to editors from Entangled publishing!

This post literally changed my lifemy writing life at least. It’s about increasing your writing productivity. IT SEEMS SO OBVIOUS, yet how many of us actually do it? I sure as hell didn’t. Just read it. See if your daily word count isn’t transformed.

The Justice Department has confirmed it’ll look into unfair pricing practices for ebooks. I honestly don’t know how I feel about this or what it means for me…but I do know the comments are pretty infuriating. And ignorant. Very ignorant.

A Texas writer goes off (power to ya, lady! I agree!) on ebook thieves. I hope her Congressman’s bill passes…

I got my first NON-friend/editor/agent review this week! So like a reader who reviews books and stuff. And SHE LIKED SS&D! YIPPEE!

Speaking of ME (hehe), my agent Joanna Volpe has a really interesting post up that shows what a day in her life is like. Honestly, it makes my head spin just reading it…I could NEVER survive as an agent.

BOOK CHRISTMAS TREES–YAAAY!

This is literally the funniest video I’ve seen in ages. I have watched it a billion times (I am not EVEN joking right now ;)).

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