Publishing Industry Lowdown (January 16-20)

It’s that day again–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!

It was kind of a slow week in the MG/YA world, so shall we get started?

Deals

Hugo Award-winning Emily Pohl-Weary’s young adult FREAK, about a teen indie-rock queen turned were-girl after a “wild dog” attack in Central Park, pitched as Josie and the Pussycats meets American Werewolf in London in the spirit of Teen Wolf.

Katie Ormsbee’s debut middle grade KISS THE JOY, in which a young girl enters a faerie realm rife with danger and civil unrest, hoping only to save her best friend, and along the way unravels the truth about her parents, her past and her place in the world, in a two-book deal.

Stanford and Cambridge trained archeologist Jordan Jacobs’s three middle grade novels, pitched as Harriet the Spy meets Indiana Jones, and following the adventures of a 12-year-old would-be archeologist who encounters mysteries and mayhem at some of the world’s foremost excavation sites.

2011 Newbery Medal winner Clare Vanderpool’s middle grade NAVIGATING EARLY, in which two boys who are the unlikeliest of friends go on an odyssey in search of a great black bear, where they meet truly strange characters, some of whom are dangerous, all of whom are in some ways lost, and each of whom figures into a concurrent myth based on patterns in the number pi, in a two-book deal.

Lauren Stringer’s middle grade WHEN STRAVINSKY MET NIJINSKY, about two famous artists’ collaboration on the Rite of Spring, for publication in Spring 2013 to coincide with 100th anniversary of the ballet’s first performance.

Jennifer Hoffine’s debut young adult series CHEATER BEATERS, featuring a teenage girl who discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her and deals with it by swearing off serious relationships and starting her own detective agency to investigate cheaters; she ropes her best friend and new neighbor into helping her, only to discover love might be easier to find than she thought.

Jennifer L. Armentrout’s young adult DON’T LOOK BACK, pitched as Black Swan meets Pretty Little Liars, featuring a teen girl who had it all until the night she and her friend go missing, and she loses all recollection of who she is, but must piece together a life she no longer wants and the events that led to her friend’s disappearance, in a two-book deal.

Jolene Perry’s young adult KNEE DEEP, about a teenage girl who is torn in between two guys; the guy she’s promised her life to, whose sudden random outbursts are starting to leave bruises mentally and physically; and the guy who she can be herself with, watch girlie movies with, and confide in, her best friend, for publication in May 2012.

Jolene Perry’s young adult NIGHT SKY, featuring a teenage boy who feels like his whole world is crumbling around him when his father leaves his mother for another woman and his girlfriend leaves him for another guy; and he thinks he’s found a distraction in a fling with a teenage Native American girl and soon realizes that she’s anything but a distraction, for publication in March, 2012.

Anna Collomore’s young adult THE UNRAVELING, about a girl who becomes a nanny for a seemingly perfect family and slowly loses her grip on reality; pitched as The Nanny Diaries meets Black Swan, for publication in Spring 2013.

(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace)

Other Stuff

I’ll just go ahead and apologize for the Sooz-heavy mash-up of links. First of all, there has been a LOT going on in my life that’s worth linking to (in my opinion, at least ;))…and second of all, I’m in the middle of moving houses! GAH. SO MUCH PACKING AND ORGANIZING AND PURGING OF CRAP.

So, ahem. Please pardon me.

I do have ONE worthwhile, non-MEMEMEME post, and that is this fascinating summary of what teens are REALLY reading (thanks to the YA Sleuth for turning me onto that one).

Pub(lishing) Crawl launched with GREAT success! Today, I have the pleasure of sharing an interview with my friend and fellow writer, Veronica Rossi! You might have heard of her little book, Under the Never Sky? Be sure to check out the interview and enter in the giveaway!

Monday: Marie Lu (win a copy of her debut, Legend)

Tuesday: Reintroducing Sarah, Sooz, & Vanessa (win the lecture packet from the Writing for Young Adults Workshop)

Wednesday: Reintroducing Kat, Julie, & Vahini (win an ARC of Article 5 and a copy of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making)

Thursday: Reintroducing Mandy, Savannah, Sammy, and Billy (win a SIGNED copy of Cinder!!!)

The auction for Write Dreams is still running. It’s a 50 page manuscript & query critique from YOURS TRULY! 😉

Oh, and the lovely Alicia Gregoire has a guest post from me today–it’s about my revising process. DON’T FORGET THE ARC GIVEAWAY! It ends today. ♥

And now…for anyone who lived through the 90s,  this is for you:

You tell me: Is there any industry news-bite or fun link you wanna share?