Publishing Industry Lowdown (January 23-27)

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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!

And yikes…who can believe January is almost over? Already?! Well, let’s get to these deals, shall we?

Deals

Lana Krumwiede’s untitled middle grade sequel to FREAKLING, in which a boy ventures into the Republik in order to reunite his family and restore stability to the city of Deliverance, for publication in Fall 2013.

Sarah Maas’s second book in the young adult THRONE OF GLASS series, which makes its global debut in Fall 2012, about a young but expert assassin and her quest to overthrow an evil king, in a two-book deal. ♥ ♥ ♥ WOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥

Marion Jensen’s middle grade ALMOST SUPER, pitched as SAVVY meets THE INCREDIBLES, about two brothers in a family of superheroes who must team up with the girl they thought was their enemy to defeat the real super villains in town, despite having new powers that are total duds, in a two-book deal.

FREEZE FRAME author Heidi Ayarbe’s young adult THE STORY OF US, pitched as a “reverse aftermath” novel, in which a teen girl’s family life dramatically improves after a fire burns down her house, leading her to wonder if the fire was no accident.

Emma Trevayne’s debut young adult CODA, featuring an 18-year-old frontman of an underground band in a society where the only (legal) music is Corporation-sanctioned and digitally encoded to function as a deadly drug, and his rise to fame which gives him the opportunity to bring down the Corp — or suffer a fate worse than death for trying; pitched as THE MATRIX meets V FOR VENDETTA.

Playwright and actor Tom Isbell’s young adult THE HATCHERY, set in a post-apocalyptic future about a group of sixteen-year-old boys called Less Thans, who are convinced that their overseers at the orphanage are raising them as prey for hunters who kill for sport, in a three-book deal, for publication in 2013.

Annie Cardi’s debut young adult QUEEN OF THE AIR, about a teenage girl struggling to balance high school, passing Drivers Ed, and a new relationship while trying to keep her mother’s progressing mental illness — delusions that she is Amelia Earhart –secret, for publication in Spring 2014.

Coretta Scott King Honor winner Jewell Parker Rhodes’s young adult FIREFLIES AND MOON PIES, the coming-of-age story of a young girl who, with help from a bit of Southern folk magic, tries to salvage her summer along the banks of the Mississippi in the immediate aftermath of the Gulf oil spill for publication in Fall 2013.

Scott Seegert and illustrator John Martin’s middle grade VORDAK THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE: Double Trouble, the third book in the title character’s evil series bent on world domination, in which he clones himself with humorously disastrous results.

Cristina Moracho’s debut young adult ALTHEA AND OLIVER, about the 17-year-old title characters — inseparable friends since age six — whose relationship is splintered by her growing romantic attachment to him, and his succumbing to an incurable sleep disorder, Kleine-Levin Syndrome; pitched as THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE crossed with WEETZIE BAT and the work of Sarah Dessen.

(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace)

Other Stuff

So, I don’t have much to share this week (I’m still in the throes of packing my house for our move). Sorry!

Now, at the risk of raising your blood pressure a notch or two (or twenty), I’ll just share this “fun” link to start. (Prepare to feel your blood boil…but don’t bother leaving a comment. He deletes the ones he doesn’t like.)

If you’re interested in seeing how the numbers add up for a writer’s income, here’s an interesting (and honest) post from author Jim Hines (the same author who has reached great fame for his amazing attempts to mimic women on fantasy covers). Moral of the story? Most writers can’t support themselves from their writing alone, taxes are PAINFULLY high (since we qualify as self-employed), and there are no “benefits”.

And don’t miss these Pub(lishing) Crawl giveaways for Sarah J. Maas’s The Assassing and the Pirate Lord, Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls and Dan Wells’s Partials,a manuscript/query/synopsis critique, a copy of Brodi Ashton’s Everneath, and a copy of Anne Ursu’s Breadcrumbs.

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

♥