It’s been a while since I posted news about how John‘s clients are kicking ass, so let’s get into it!
PRESS RELEASE – ESTONIAN RIGHTS DEAL FOR SUZANNE MCLEOD
Hannah Whitaker, Senior Rights Manager at Orion, has sold Estonian rights to Suzanne McLeod’s debut urban fantasy THE SWEET SCENT OF BLOOD to Varrak, who will publish in spring 2011.
World rights in six novels by Suzanne have been acquired by Jo Fletcher at Gollancz from agent John Jarrold. Rights have also been sold in a number of other markets, including the USA, Russia and Germany.
Awesome news for Suzanne and readers in Estonia! 🙂 I know, I know, I *will* be getting into Suzanne’s series soon, don’t look at me like that! 😉
Next up:
PRESS RELEASE – TURKISH RIGHTS DEAL FOR HANNU RAJANIEMI
Hannah Whitaker, Senior Rights Manager at Orion, has sold Turkish rights to highly-praised SF debut THE QUANTUM THIEF by Finnish science fiction novelist resident in Scotland, Hannu Rajaniemi, to Pegasus.
World rights in THE QUANTUM THIEF, plus two further books, were acquired pre-emptively by Simon Spanton of Gollancz (who published in September 2010) from agent John Jarrold for a high five-figure sum in pounds sterling, on the basis of one chapter. Rights have also been sold in the USA, Germany, Spain and Finland.
And a remarkable fourth reprint of Gollancz’ trade paperback edition has just been confirmed.
Hannu’s march to world domination is gathering steam, it seems! Congrats to him! 🙂
And lastly:
PRESS RELEASE – PRE-EMPTIVE TWO-BOOK WORLD RIGHTS DEAL FOR DEBUT FANTASY NOVELIST
Julie Crisp, Editorial Director of Pan Macmillan in London, has concluded a pre-emptive World Rights deal for two epic fantasy novels in a series called THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN by new British author John Gwynne with agent John Jarrold, for a very good five-figure sum.
SO DEEP A MALICE, the first volume in the series, will be published by Tor UK in 2012, followed by its sequel TERROR OF HEAVEN in 2013.
With one foot in Celtic myth and the other loosely straddling the imagined beginning of the Roman empire, this fresh and original fantasy takes two worlds, old and new, and demonstrates the clash that will occur when the modern tries to overthrow established traditions.
Set on a continent called the Banished Lands, populated by men and giants, dark forests, dreadwolves and draigs; this debut fantasy follows the story of Corban, a young man who just wants to become a warrior, but whose path will lead him to so much more. Populated with original and engaging characters, set in a primal, feral world, soon to become the battleground of angels and demons, this is a tale of love and betrayal, truth and courage, friendship and loyalty. An epic and intimate coming-of-age tale filled with mystery, Machiavellian politics, adventure, joy and tragedy.
Julie Crisp said of the acquisition, ‘This is an incredibly exciting book. It gave me the same feeling when reading it that I had when I first read George R R Martin, Robert Jordan and Patrick Rothfuss. I fell in love with the characters, the world building and the detailed imagining. The beginning of a brand new series, this is a contemporary epic fantasy that I’m sure will gather an enthusiastic and loyal readership and we’re thrilled to be publishing John at Tor UK.’
John Jarrold said: ‘I’m not sure I’ve seen a major fantasy novel that I would recommend more strongly to readers of George R R Martin in the last ten years. I’ve now read it three times and I am still emotionally involved with the characters and storylines throughout, which is a wonderful achievement for a new writer. Julie’s enthusiasm was immediate when it was submitted to major publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, and she was able to bring her senior colleagues on board with a very strong pre-emptive offer within days.’
Sounds pretty intruiging! I’ll keep my eye on this one for sure (and hopefully by the time Book 1 hits the shelves I’ll have finished Suzanne and Hannu’s novels…). 🙂
Until tomorrow,
BE EPIC!
Dave de Burgh 