Publishing Industry Lowdown (April 2-6)

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!

Let’s get started, shall we?

Deals

Shawn Stout’s next two books in the middle grade PENELOPE CRUMB series, pitched in the style of Ramona, Clementine and Judy Moody, for publication in Fall 2013 & Summer 2014.

BON APPETIT: A DELICIOUS BIOGRAPHY OF JULIA CHILD author/illustrator Jessie Hartland’s middle grade STEVE JOBS, a graphic biography of the innovative Apple chief.

Jacqueline Davies’s middle grade LEMONADE WAR: The Candy Hearts Cover-up, bringing us even closer to two children as it explores the distinctive power of poetry and love — fourth-grade style, in a two-book deal.

Vicki Burgess’s middle grade THE MAPMAKER’S SONS, pitched as reminiscent of The Princess Bride — ancient maps of legend, complete with mythical creatures, raging seas, and wild, faraway lands, are all real; days before his thirteenth birthday, a boy learns his destiny when a staggering family secret is revealed and when he steps into a forgotten world, it will take every ounce of skill and courage he possesses to find the weapon at the heart of his map and fulfill his destiny as the Mapmaker’s Son.

Twenty-year-old Lindsay Cummings’s debut young adult THE MURDER COMPLEX, set in a future world where the murder rate exceeds the birth rate and no one is safe, not even a 15-year-old trained by her father to fight, kill and survive against all odds, whose life changes forever when she falls in love with a boy harboring a terrible secret that could uncover the haunting truth about her family and put them both in mortal danger, in a two-book deal.

Chelsea Pitcher’s young adult THE S-WORD, pitched as The Scarlet Letter meets Veronica Mars, about a high school girl who found her best friend in a compromising position with her own boyfriend on prom night and cut off their friendship, then was plagued by guilt and decided to find out who was responsible after her best friend was branded Queen of Sluts and committed suicide, for publication in 2013.

Lisa Schroeder’s middle grade FROSTING AND FRIENDSHIP, a new companion novel to IT’S RAINING CUPCAKES and SPRINKLES AND SECRETS, for publication in fall 2013.

Jeff Tapia’s middle grade HIPPOMOBILE!, narrated by twins about their campaign to save the town of Wymore (pop. 49) by restoring the amazing Hippomobile.

Tara Dairman’s debut middle grade THE DELICIOUS DOUBLE LIFE OF GLADYS GATSBY, about an eleven-year-old foodie who gets an undercover assignment moonlighting as a New York Times food critic.

THE DAY BEFORE author Lisa Schroeder’s young adult FALLING FOR YOU, about a teen girl who relives her love for a dangerous boy and unravels the secrets that haunt her family, as she hovers between life and death, for publication in Spring 2013.

The Blind Contessa’s New Machine author Carey Wallace’s young adult A CATALOGUE OF PHANTASMS, set in a seaside New England town in the 1930’s, where a 14-year-old roams yet another summer house after months of criss-crossing Europe with a mother determined to distract herself from her husband’s death; as she investigates the secret history of the house under the protective glare of the servants, she stumbles upon a beautiful and mysterious glasshouse, where she meets a ghost who can’t remember how he died.

Angie Smibert’s young adult THE MEME PLAGUE, the last title in the MEMENTO NORA trilogy, wherein a group of teens fight to expose the truth about the city’s mandatroy ID program and the ID chips’ ability to implant false memories.

Julianna Scott’s new young adult series beginning with THE HOLDERS, pitched as THE SUMMONING meets EVERNIGHT, which tells the story of two teen holders of supernatural powers, pawns in a rivalry between the good and evil of their kind, and the fight for knowledge, love, and their own lives set against the backdrop of their Irish boarding school community, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2013 and beyond.

Rosamund Hodge’s debut young adult SUNDERED, a Beauty and the Beast reimagining, a love story about a girl trained from childhood to kill the dangerous-yet-alluring lord she must marry on her nineteenth birthday; trapped in his enchanted castle, she must uncover his secrets to lift the ancient curse on her kingdom, for two books.

(Source: Publisher’s Marketplace)

Other Stuff

Um…it’s been one of those weeks. One of those weeks where, as Erica O’Rourke so aptly described it to me, This is what happens when I spend all my time writing like a crazy person…I am pretty much feral at this point.

I know you all know that feeling. The feeling that you just trekked the entire Oregon Trail, forded seventeen rivers, and loss Bess to dysentery. The feeling that you just competed in (and maybe didn’t survive) the Hunger Games. The feeling that you were trampled by a pack of dancing hippos.

So yes. It’s true.

I am pretty much feral at this point. If you have anything to contribute to my awareness of what happened in the last week, I welcome it. I have not lifted my head from the keyboard in 7+ days.

You tell me: WHERE DID THIS WEEK GO?

♥