Publishing Industry Lowdown (January 30-February 10)
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!
I didn’t share deals last week, so we’ve got 2 weeks worth of deals this week! Let’s get started, shall we?
Deals
Antonia Michaelis’s THE ADOPTED ROOM, in which an 11-year old has to free another child, who is held prisoner in a strange room that only the boy can visit, and THE SECRET OF THE TWELFTH CONTINENT, for publication in Fall 2012.
Daniel Schwabauer’s middle grade RUNT THE BRAVE (David and Goliath) and RUNT THE HUNTED (David and Saul), retelling favorite Bible stories through the woodland mice of Tira-Nor, to Rick Steele at AMG Books, in a nice deal, in a three-book deal, for publication in 2012, by Amanda Luedeke at MacGregor Literary.
Katherine Catmull’s middle grade SUMMER & BIRD, the story of two girls who, when their parents vanish overnight, follow their mother’s meager clue into a world called Down, where, with divided hearts, they must fight against a bird-swallowing Puppeteer in order to find their parents, discover the identity of the true queen, and save the land of the birds, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2012.
NYT bestselling author of the Shiver trilogy Maggie Stiefvater’s four-book young adult series, THE RAVEN CYCLE, beginning with THE RAVEN BOYS, featuring a rich boy at the Aglionby Academy, one of the Raven Boys, who is on a hunt to find a vanished Welsh king (according to legend he will grant a wish to the first person to find him), and the daughter of a psychic, who has been told that if she ever kisses her true love he will die, but is too practical to believe in things like true love, for publication beginning in September 2012.
Debut author team Walter Jury and S.E. Fine’s young adult SCAN and a sequel, BURN, a high-action thriller about a 16-year-old boy who has been prepared his whole life for “something important,” only to discover it means he’s one of the last humans left on earth, in a good deal.
Shannon Messenger’s debut young adult LET THE SKY FALL, about a teen who survives a deadly tornado but loses his memory, only to discover that the beautiful girl who haunts his dreams is both real and the key to the mysteries of his past, to Liesa Abrams at Simon Pulse, in a two-book deal, for publication of book one in Spring 2013.
Edward F. Albee Foundation fellow and McSweeney’s contributor Courtney Eldridge’s YA debut GHOST SIGNS, about an artistic teen’s quest for the truth when her math-genius boyfriend disappears from their Twin Peaks-like town.
Judy Spelbring’s debut young adult PERFECTION, about a teenage girl living in a society focused on the concept of Aryan purity, who has been genetically engineered to be the perfect soldier; and after a harrowing journey, soon discovers that purity comes in many different forms; pitched as SPECIALS meets MEIN KAMPF, in a three-book deal, for publication in May 2013.
Christa Desir’s young adult TRAINWRECK, in which a boy helplessly watches as his girlfriend’s life falls apart after she is sexually abused.
Brett Hartman’s young adult CADILLAC CHRONICLES, the story of a white teenage boy and an elderly black man traveling together by way of an adopt-a-senior program gone haywire, for publication in spring 2013.
L.A. Meyer’s young adult BOSTON JACKY, the next installment in the Bloody Jack Adventures, bringing the impetuous Jacky Faber back to Boston, where she finds herself in a heap of trouble.
TRAPPED author Michael Northrop’s young adult ROTTEN, the tale of a rescue Rottweiler and a troubled teen who overcome each other’s defenses only to have everything threatened by a treacherous friend and one snap of the dog’s powerful jaws, in a two-book deal.
Courtney Summers’s young adult ALL THE RAGE, about a young girl who wakes up on the side of the road with no memory of how she got there, with a semi-erased message she left for herself her only clue; as she pieces together the evening before and all of the events leading up to it, a dark and sinister game is revealed.
Josin McQuein’s young adult PREMEDITATED, about the lengths one girl will go in order to get revenge on the boy who ruined her cousin’s life, for publication in Fall 2013.
Fiona McDonald’s middle grade GHOST DOLL AND JASPER, a graphic novel about the adventure of a broken doll touched by stardust and a mangy alley cat, who seek a new home while trying to evade an evil scientist, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2012.
Former NFL star linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons and NYT bestselling author Tim Green’s three middle grade new sports novels, featuring authentic, high-action accounts of the trials and triumphs that come with being a young athlete.
Melissa Landers’s young adult ALIENATED, in which a high school valedictorian takes in an extraterrestrial exchange student in order to receive a college scholarship, prompting a national controversy that spins out of control, only to find herself falling for her mysterious alien friend, in a two-book deal.
Michelle Rowen’s young adult COUNTDOWN, in which a street thief and a convicted murderer must work together against the clock to beat a deadly reality game, previously published as adult fiction, to be revised and retitled for young adult.
Natasha Lowe’s middle grade THE POWER OF POPPY PENDLE, in which a ten-year-old witch from a long line of witches greatly prefers baking yummy cakes and cookies (recipes included) to mixing up spells, for publication in August 2012.
Author of The Evolution of Ethan Poe Robin Reardon’s untitled fifth young adult novel.
Sarah Fine’s young adult SANCTUM, the first book in the GUARDS OF THE SHADOWLANDS series, featuring a seventeen-year-old girl who has one chance to save her best friend’s soul from hell where, in the process, she falls for the indentured Guard who is sent to make sure she doesn’t succeed, in a pre-empt, in a three-book deal, for publication in Fall 2012.
Author of Sorta Like a Rock Star and Boy 21 Matthew Quick’s young adult FORGIVE ME, LEONARD PEACOCK, which follows 18-year-old Leonard through his decision to kill his former best friend and then himself, and the hope he finds when he least expects it, all in one 24-hour period, for publication in Spring 2013.
Sarah Aronson’s young adult BELIEVE, in which a girl who, as a child, made headline news as the sole survivor of a suicide bombing in the Middle East, finds herself at the center of seemingly miraculous events on the tenth anniversary, unleashing a media frenzy which causes her to seek the truth about her parents, herself, and the day that changed her life forever, for publication in Fall 2013.
(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace)
Other Stuff
Do you hate editing your manuscript? Well, then this is the post for you. Rachel Aaron’s method reminds me a LOT of my own actually. And, if you haven’t read her post on increasing your writing productivity, then DO. It literally changed my life.
Want to know what happens AFTER your book has sold? Erin Bowman has a very thorough description of what revising with an editor is like.
Are you on Pinterest? (I am!) Do you love books? Then this post about book-loving-boards might interest you. And if you’re a writer, then this post about using Pinterest for your writing needs might be right up your alley…
Have you scene this Hunger Games parody of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games”? It’s kinda awesome.
And don’t miss these Pub(lishing) Crawl giveaways:
- Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
- $27 gift card to Amazon OR 27-page manuscript critique OR 2 books
- In Too Deep by Mandy Hubbard
- Across the Universe AND A Million Suns by Beth Revis
- Scarlet Swag Pack from A.C. Gaughen
You tell me: Is there any industry news-bite or fun link you wanna share?
♥
Anonymous
February 10, 2012 @ 5:25 pm
Alienated sounds awesome, but…now I’m picturing a girl falling in love with a monosyllabic, big-eyed E.T. person. Eesh.
Also, the writing productivity post is really helpful. Thank you for that. I totally agree with the part where she says how her enthusiasm level goes down when she’s writing scenes that she doesn’t actually care about as opposed to the “candy bar” scenes. I have that problem – that, and I think I describe too much. ><
I am now following you on Pinterest! 🙂
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:34 am
I know! I try to make every scene a candy bar scene now–and it helps SO MUCH. Holy crow, it’s amazing how much my productivity has increased!
Arianna Sterling
February 10, 2012 @ 7:44 pm
I’ve been super excited for Maggie’s new series since she announced it on her blog. Ballad and Scorpio Races are some of my favorite books (eventually I will read Shiver and Co., I swear I will!) and she’s just sooooooo awesome.
GHOST SIGNS sounds like it’ll be a good story–hopefully with a legit ghost? There aren’t enough plain old ghost stories out there, which is probably why my favorite (GHOST OF GRAYDON PLACE) is from like the 80s. Like I stole it from my mother.
TRAINWRECK and ROTTEN both sound like they’ll be intense and awesome. I’m also interested in ALL THE RAGE, COUNTDOWN and SANCTUM. So much awesome in this post!
And I love those posts from Rachel Aaron’s blog. Thanks for the links.
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:35 am
I’ve got SCORPIO RACES, but have yet to peel back the cover. Soon, soon–once all my moving is complete. 🙂
Meredith
February 10, 2012 @ 8:20 pm
Hmmm. COUNTDOWN is interesting. Adult repackaged as YA. Gut reaction? I don’t know how I feel about this. I think I need to know more.
Pinterest is awesome. And such a time suck. But an awesome time suck.
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:35 am
Agreed. Gut reaction is iffy.
And Pinterest = <3. So addictive…so fun…
Emy Shin
February 10, 2012 @ 10:18 pm
This is the first time I’ve heard of Maggie Stiefvater’s new book — and it sounds so intriguing.
Thanks for putting this post together, Sooz. 🙂
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:35 am
You’re so very welcome, Emy!! <3
Ellen
February 10, 2012 @ 11:50 pm
OMG. I saw the query letter for “Premeditated” on QueryShark a year ago. In six lines she made me want to read the whole book. So excited to hear that that’s getting published!!!
Becca C.
February 11, 2012 @ 4:37 am
Oh, yeah, it is that one!!! I didn’t put two and two together there, even though I knew it was Josin who wrote that query. That was a completely genius query, of COURSE it sold 😛 I see Josin on AW all the time, she’s awesome.
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:36 am
Gah! I need to go look up this amazing query you’re all gushing about!!
Charlotte
February 11, 2012 @ 1:48 am
Thanks so much for doing this–it’s fascinating to see all the intriguing books coming down the pipeline!
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:38 am
Fascinating and intimidating! 😉 Seriously, though, it’s always great to see the cool, unique stories there are on the horizon.
Becca C.
February 11, 2012 @ 4:35 am
Two thoughts:
1) Wow, I think those Rachel Aaron blog posts are going to change my life, too. I mean really… wow.
2) “…meets MEIN KAMPF”? Really? :/ That’s… offensive and offputting. I could think of a million other things to relate it to.
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:38 am
Yeah, I was surprised by the MEIN KAMPF reference too…but, I guess it means more the horrors that resulted from MEIN KAMPF than the actual text??
And those Rachel Aaron posts WILL change your life. They completely transformed mine. 🙂
Anonymous
February 11, 2012 @ 6:25 am
That last one sounds really good. (Also, Yay Premeditated!)
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:39 am
A bunch of good books out there, but yeah, BELIEVE looks especially great. And PREMEDITATED!
Brandimziegler
February 11, 2012 @ 9:12 pm
Wow, Susan! Thanks for the Link to Rachel Aaron’s post about increasing word count! That led me to an hour of reading more of her blog posts and just… wow. I am so inspired! Thank you! Love your Friday lowdowns 🙂
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:40 am
You’re so welcome, Brandi!! <3 And yes: prepare to be revitalized after reading Rachel Aaron's posts!!
Brandimziegler
February 11, 2012 @ 9:15 pm
And um… that Lana Del Rey video? Epic!
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:40 am
I KNOW, RIGHT? I’m also a Lana Del Rey fan, so I just loved the whole cover idea. 🙂
Julie
February 12, 2012 @ 2:31 am
Wow…so many awesome YA books. It’s going to be hard to keep up. I need a notebook or spreadsheet to keep track of them all! Funny video! I’m following you on Pinterest, too!
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:40 am
Yay! I followed you back!
And I totally know what you mean–there are just TOO many intriguing books to follow!
Rae
February 12, 2012 @ 4:30 am
Read the query of PREMEDITATED (because people in the comments have been talking about it, haha!) on Query Shark and it does seem interesting! PERFECTION reminds me of Gundam Seed (#^w^) (random note) I scrolled through the article really quickly and thought Scott Westerfeld was coming out with a new book when I saw ‘Goliath’ and almost started freaking out. Haha, I guess the bonus chapter and art on his blog for it just wasn’t enough ;w;
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:42 am
Never enough–there can never be enough Westerfeld. 😉
Gah–I still have to go look for the PREMEDITATED query. My curiosity is SO piqued!
Sophia Chang
February 13, 2012 @ 11:33 am
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
I could not stop laughing at the lyrics – esp. b/c I LOVE Lana del Rey. I don’t care how much she flubbed SNL. I’m gonna have to facebook that video.
Susan Dennard
February 16, 2012 @ 12:41 am
I KNOW, RIGHT?? I love her too…and this cover. 😀
Jessica Silva
February 19, 2012 @ 12:26 am
catching up on your lowdowns 😉 I’m so happy for Christa’s TRAINWRECK. I’ve been following her blog since before she had an agent, and it’s so awesome to see her get a book deal. also can’t wait to read it.