Summit Takes Uhle’s Family Memoir
In a preempt, Amanda Uhle, executive director and publisher of McSweeney’s, has sold world English rights to Destroy This House to Judy Clain at Summit Books. Julie Stevenson from Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents brokered the deal. Summit said the book is “a shocking, deeply personal memoir of growing up with a hoarder mother and con-man father,” describing “in cinematic detail” how Uhle navigated her parents’ “mental health disorders, her family’s waves of extreme poverty and wealth, and the raucousness, pain, joy, and, ultimately, boundless love that exists between a parent and child.” No pub date has been announced.
Aronson Has ‘Consequences’ for Bloomsbury
In an exclusive submission, Bloomsbury’s Nancy Miller has acquired world English rights to Unintended Consequences by Louise Aronson, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Elderhood. Emma Patterson at Brandt & Hochman negotiated the deal. Bloomsbury said the book is “an intimate look at two apparently distinct sectors of American healthcare, fertility and ‘anti-aging,’ ” that examines “what they can teach us about our own evolving senses of personhood and identity.” The book is set for a spring 2026 publication.
Atria Nabs Journo’s First Novel
In one of her first acquisitions for Atria, Laura Brown has bought North American rights at auction to The Three Lives of Cate Kay, the debut novel by journalist Kate Fagan (What Made Maddy Run). Katie Greenstreet at Paper Literary negotiated the deal. Atria said the book follows elusive, mega-bestselling author Cate Kay, who, after a tragic accident, “keeps her real identity a closely guarded secret, taking on new identities and shapeshifting into different roles,” until she receives a letter that “upends everything she thought she knew about her past, emboldening her to reveal her true self.” The book is set to publish in spring 2025.
Gallery Signs O’Connor’s ‘One and Only’
Fiction writer Melissa O’Connor has sold North American rights to her debut novel, The One and Only Vivian Stone, to Carrie Feron at Gallery. The deal was negotiated by Johanna V. Castillo at Writers House. Castillo likened the book to “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” adding that in it, “a jaded writer discovers the recorded confessions of a famous 1950s comedian, who details her forbidden love for Hollywood’s leading actor and a volatile relationship with her costar on America’s most beloved sitcom, ultimately leading to a scandalous reveal connecting both women.” The book is set for a summer 2025 publication.
Blakely Sells Six to Sourcebooks Casablanca
Deb Werksman at Sourcebooks Casablanca has struck a six-book, world English rights deal with bestselling contemporary romance author Lauren Blakely. The deal, handled by Michelle Wolfson at Wolfson Literary Agency, includes two as-yet-untitled rom-coms in Blakely’s new Darling Springs series (in which, the publisher said, “a group of friends who are like family find their hard-won happily ever afters in a lively small town”), along with a new sports romance and three previously published sports romances. The new books are expected to begin publishing in 2025.
Kennedy’s ‘Thornbird’ Sings for Delacorte
In her YA thriller debut, bestselling author Elle Kennedy, writing as Morgan Leigh, has sold U.S., Canadian, and open market rights to Thornbird to Wendy Loggia at Delacorte. Kimberly Brower at Brower Literary & Management handled the two-book deal, following an auction. Delacorte said the book features “shocking twists and turns” as it follows the daughter of a serial killer who “returns to the town where the murders took place—and unwillingly gets caught up in the search for the missing bodies.” Thornbird is tentatively scheduled for a summer 2026 publication.
