John Jarrold’s Corner: Curtis Jobling’s Well-Deserved *next* Two-Book Deal

Some absolutely wonderful news from John Jarrold!

Curtis Jobling has gotten a two-book deal from Puffin, due to the success of the first novel in his Wereworld series, Rise of the Wolf. 🙂 Check out my review here and then get yourself a copy!

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PUFFIN SNAPS UP A SECOND TWO-BOOK DEAL FOR THE WEREWORLD SERIES

Due to the instant success of Rise of the Wolf published on 6th January 2011, the first volume in the Wereworld series by British author and artist Curtis Jobling, Puffin is very excited to announce that they have moved fast and acquired a further two titles in the fantasy YA series.

As a result of the fantastic initial performance of the first book, shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, Puffin is moving the second volume from an early 2012 publication date to the summer of 2011. The two new novels will follow in 2012.

Following on from the initial two-book deal early in 2010, Shannon Park, Executive Editor at Puffin secured world rights for books three and four in the series from the John Jarrold Literary Agency, for a five figure sum.

Curtis Jobling says: ‘I am absolutely thrilled at the support and the belief Puffin has in Wereworld and am delighted to see how well received the first book has been. With book two already written and book three plotted, I’m looking forward to the busy adventure that lies ahead!’

‘I was delighted to hear so early in the game from Shannon with another two-book offer,’ said John Jarrold. ‘Having been a publisher for fifteen years before setting up the agency, I know all too well how unusual that is.  Congratulations to her and the team at Puffin who have got behind Curtis so strongly.’

Shannon Park, Executive Editor, says: ‘From the first moment I read Wereworld I was completely bowled over by the inventiveness of the world Curtis has created. To know that we have another two opportunities to explore it is an editor’s dream come true. I can’t wait!’

Curtis Jobling designed the Bafta winning BOB THE BUILDER and is also the creator of FRANKENSTEIN’S CAT, the BBC’s hit children’s animation series based upon his book of the same name. In addition he has numerous shows in development with Disney, the BBC and others. Please visit the Wereworld website here.

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I’m soooo chuffed with this news! That I’m looking forward to finding out what’s coming our way in book 2 is a no-brainer, and it’s great to see Curtis doing so well! A massive congrats to him, to Puffin, to John, and to all the readers out there who were sucked into Drew’s world – awesome news! 🙂

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Agency Client’s Titles for Jan / Feb

Hey everyone, hope you had (or are having) an epic Monday! 🙂

Thanks to John I’ve got a preliminary breakdown of the novels of his agency-clients that will be hitting the shelves this month and in February; excellent stuff to look forward to! Publication dates may change, though I’ll let you know as soon as I do. 🙂

JANUARY

Thirteen Years Later by Jasper Kent – already available, so get your copies here!

Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf by Curtis Jobling – UK, (Debut) Already available, Order your copies here, reviewed here!

The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees – UK, (Debut) Already available, order your copies here. Reading it at the moment and it’s great!

 

FEBRUARY

The Holy Machine by Chris Beckett – UK, Pre-order your copies here (releasing 1 Feb)

Thirteen Years Later by Jasper Kent (US Publication – Pyr) – Pre-order your copies here (releases 8 Feb)

Secrets of the Fire Sea by Stephen Hunt – UK, Pre-order your copies here (releases 3 Feb)

King of the Crags by Stephen Deas – UK, Pre-order your copies here (releasing 10 Feb), US, Pre-order your copies here (releasing 1 Feb)

The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas – US, Pre-order your copies here, releasing 1 Feb)

The Bitter Seed of Magic by Suzanne McLeod – UK, Pre-order your copies here (releasing 17 Feb)

 

Some exciting stuff to look forward to, huh? If you don’t see something that tugs at you then something is definitely wrong! 😉

Next month I’ll bring you March and April’s titles, and the awesomeness just carries on. 🙂

 

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Deals, Deals, Deals!

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!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Agency Clients Listed on Books of the Year 2010

Great news for these authors – and I have to say I’m surprised! The Financial Times?! I’m impressed!

Here they are:

Hannu Rajaniemi‘s début, The Quantum Thief (Amazon UK, Exclusive Books) (Agency Client);

Philip Palmer‘s Version 43 (Amazon UK, Exclusive Books) (Agency Client);

Check out the post (which came out on Saturday) here.

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: European Rights for Rod Rees

Hey everyone, more great news from John Jarrold regarding Rod Rees!

PRESS RELEASE – EUROPEAN RIGHTS DEALS FOR ROD REES

Flora McMichael, Rights Manager at Quercus, has sold rights in the four-novel DEMI-MONDE series by UK novelist Rod Rees to Jota in the Czech Republic and Infodar in Bulgaria (the latter via Kalina Stefanova at ELST Agency).

World rights in Rod’s series were acquired pre-emptively by Quercus (who publish the first volume in January 2011) from agent John Jarrold for a major advance in 2009. Rights have also been sold in the US, Germany, Russia, Poland and Italy.

THE DEMI-MONDE is set in a wonderfully imagined virtual world – the Demi-Monde of the title. Originally conceived by the US military as a training ground for their troops in the twenty-first century facing street fighting and enemies who use guerrilla tactics, rather than modern technology-based armies, the Demi-Monde was created by the world’s first quantum computer. Young singer Ella Thomas is sent there to rescue a VIP (she ticks all the boxes to blend into the world, which has a late-Victorian technology base) and discovers the world and its thirty million inhabitants, or ‘avatars’, are all too real. Especially those who run the world’s city-states, based on famous human monsters such as Reinhard Heydrich, Shaka Zulu, Empress Wu, Godfrey de Bouillon, Selim the Grim and Lavrentii Beria, with whom the world was seeded to make it more of a test…and that is only the beginning. There is already a fascinating website at www.thedemi-monde.com

This is great news! Rod only needs rights for China and India and he’s taken over most of the continent! 🙂 Congrats to all involved!

Look out for my review of The Demi-Monde: Winter in time for it’s January release; pre-order your copies here (Hardcover & Trade Paperback).

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: 2-Book German deal for Adam Nevill

Great news for German horror fans! Adam Nevill has been received a 2-book deal for German rights with Heyne; here are the details:

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PRESS RELEASE – GERMAN DEAL FOR ADAM NEVILL

Sascha Mamczak at Heyne has acquired German rights in two horror novels by Adam Nevill from Jon Mitchell, Rights Manager at Pan Macmillan. Julie Crisp acquired World rights in the books from agent John Jarrold.

This is the sixth translation deal for Adam Nevill via Macmillan’s rights department, following on from China, France, Russia, Spain and Turkey.

APARTMENT 16 was published very successfully by Pan in May this year, and THE RITUAL will follow in 2011. Heyne are planning to publish THE RITUAL first, following up with APARTMENT 16.

‘APARTMENT 16 has sold extremely well, reprinting three times and spending a long time as Amazon.co.uk’s bestselling horror title, and we’re both delighted with this deal,’ said John Jarrold. ‘Congratulations to Jon Mitchell!’

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Here’s the creepy and beautiful cover art for The Ritual; love the small detail hanging from that tree-branch!

Great news, huh? I wonder how you say “I shat my pants it was so scary!” in German? ‘Cause I think that phrase’ll be heard a-plenty! 😉

Congrats to John, Adam and the horror fans of Germany!

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold – Debut Acquired by Solaris Books

Great news from John Jarrold regarding an intriguing-sounding debut which I’ll definitely be reading!

PRESS RELEASE –SOLARIS ACQUIRE DEBUT FANTASY

Jonathan Oliver, commissioning editor of Solaris Books, has acquired BABYLON STEEL, the opening volume of a fast-moving fantasy series from debut novelist Gaie Sebold. The agent was John Jarrold, and the deal was for UK/US rights. The book is due for publication late in 2011.

Babylon Steel, ex-sword-for-hire, ex…other things, runs the best brothel in Scalentine; city of many portals, two moons, and a wide variety of races, were-creatures, and religions, not to mention the occasional insane warlock.

She’s not having a good week. The Vessels of Purity are protesting against brothels, women in the trade are being attacked, it’s tax time, and there’s not enough money to pay the bill. So when the mysterious Darask Fain offers her a job finding a missing girl, Babylon decides to take it. But the missing girl is not what she seems, and neither is Darask Fain. In the meantime two moon is approaching, and more than just a few night’s takings are at risk when Babylon’s hidden past reaches out to grab her by the throat.

“I’m delighted for Gaie,” said John Jarrold. “Her writing and story-telling are remarkable – and she is also outstandingly witty. And it’s great to get another new novelist out there!”

“It’s terrifically exciting to discover a new fantasy author who is producing fresh, interesting and funny work that’s also so vastly inventive,” Jonathan Oliver said. “Readers will fall in love with Gaie’s world and her brilliant central character.”

Gaie Sebold works for a charity. She has won a few awards for poetry and has sold short stories to magazines including Black Gate, Legend and City Slab, the recent Under the Rose anthology (Norilana) and the forthcoming End of an Aeon anthology (Fairwood Press). She is an occasional performance poet. She was born in the US but has lived in the UK most of her life, currently in an ‘up and coming’ area of London which doesn’t appear to have got very high yet. She is a member of T Party Writers, a London-based genre critique group. She has said this about the genesis of the book:

“The idea of having a heroine who was a Madam in a world where the clientele might be, shall we say, interesting, is one I have had in mind for several years. But the story didn’t really coalesce until I started thinking about where some of those clientele, and indeed the Madam herself, might have come from, and then the city-state of Scalentine and Babylon started to develop together.

“I wanted to write about people working in the Oldest Profession who were not necessarily villains or victims: but people doing a job, and taking pride in their work; and for sexual work to be part of celebrating and respecting sexuality, rather than something that diminishes or dirties it. Though I’m not ignoring the ugly aspects of real-life sex work, that wasn’t what I wanted to deal with in this story. After all, Scalentine is a fantasy city: dealing with possibilities that don’t exist, or barely exist, in our own world, is one of the things I think fantasy is for.

“I have also always been fascinated by the idea of different worlds that are only a mirror’s breadth away, and of different species living cheek by jowl. For me Scalentine is rather like my own peculiar version of London; where lots of different people and cultures end up creating a fascinating if not always easy mix.

“Also, of course, I just wanted to have fun: with Babylon and her crew, of whom I have become increasingly fond; and with Scalentine’s multiplicity of characters, races, species, portals and possibilities. Which I did.”

Sounds pretty interesting! Congrats to Gaie and to Solaris!

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: Rod Rees’ Novels going to Russia

Hey guys and girls, great news from John Jarrold!

PRESS RELEASE – RUSSIAN DEAL FOR ROD REES SF TITLES

Flora McMichael of Quercus’ rights department has sold Russian rights to the first two volumes of Rod Rees’ highly anticipated DEMI-MONDE series to Ripol in a good deal.

All four books in the series were acquired by Quercus – who will publish the first volume, THE DEMI-MONDE: WINTER in January 2011 – from agent John Jarrold.

Rod commented: ‘This is really very exciting. My wife Nelli is Russian, I lived in Moscow for eight years in the 1990s and our two children were born there so the Rees family has a very strong Russian connection. I suppose that’s why there’s always a flavouring of Russia in all my books and why I’ve made one of the lead characters in The Demi-Monde, Vanka Maykov, Russian. It’s an understatement to say I’m delighted to be joining the Ripol family of authors.

Great news for Rod and Russia! 🙂 I know I’m looking forward to this one, too. 🙂

Be EPIC!

 

Blurb for Rjurik Davidson’s forthcoming ‘Caeli-Amur’

Thanks to John Jarrold I’ve got some more info about Rjurik Davidson’s novels; Tor US gave him a 2-Book deal (click here for info) and now here’s something to whet your appetite – a blurb, of sorts, of the world that Caeli-Amur is set in:

Caeli-Amur: an ancient city perched on white cliffs overlooking the sea; a city ruled by three Houses, fighting internecine wars; a city which harbours ancient technology and hidden mysteries. But things are changing in Caeli-Amur. Ancient minotaurs arrive for the traditional Festival of the Sun. The slightly built New-Men bring their technology from their homeland. Wastelanders stream into the city hideously changed by the chemical streams to the north. In a hideout beneath the city, a small group of seditionists debate ways to overthrow the Houses. How can they rouse the citizens of the city? Should they begin a campaign of terror? Is there a way to uncover the thaumaturgical knowledge that the Houses guard so jealously? As the Houses scramble to maintain their rule, it becomes clear that things will change forever in Caeli-Amur.

Sounds pretty interesting, what with the different factions and the city itself sounding like a character; I’ll definitely be keeping a close watch on this. 🙂

If you want to get a taste of Caeli-Amur, check out Rjurik’s collection, The Library of Forgotten Books, available from PS Publishing – some of the stories in the collection are set in the city.

Be EPIC!

 

John Jarrold’s Corner: The Gotham Group

Nope, Bruce Wayne has not become a silent partner at John’s Agency. 🙂

Here’s the news:

PRESS RELEASE – GOTHAM GROUP TO REPRESENT JOHN JARROLD LITERARY AGENCY MEDIA RIGHTS

Media rights for the UK-based John Jarrold Literary Agency (http://www.johnjarrold.co.uk/ ), which specialises in science fiction, fantasy and horror, will be represented from this date by The Gotham Group in Los Angeles, California.

The Gotham Group is a multi-faceted management and production company, representing some of the most creative minds in Hollywood. Gotham boasts a roster of over 500 top directors, screenwriters, producers, authors, illustrators, and artists, as well as book and comic book publishers and animation studios. Gotham represents more source material from major publishers and comic book companies than any other entity, including works from such clients as Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins (U.S. & UK), Bloomsbury/Walker US, Dark Horse Entertainment, Houghton Mifflin/Harcourt, SAF Comics, and Com.x.

“I’m delighted to have my clients’ rights represented by such a prestigious company,” said John Jarrold, whose agency has over thirty books coming from major publishers in the UK and US in 2010. “My client Curtis Jobling (the creator of FRANKENSTEIN’S CAT and the forthcoming YA fantasy WEREWORLD series), introduced me to them, and we seemed to be a perfect fit. I’m looking forward to future conversations and deals.”

Contact John Jarrold for further details.

Sounds great, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what’ll come from this. 🙂 John represents a wide range of authors writing in many genres, so lets see what happens with this. 🙂

Be EPIC!