Deals

The fictional author Lemony Snicket will return in a four book series from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers called All the Wrong Questions. Graphic novelist Seth will illustrate the “authorized autobiographical account” of Snicket’s childhood.

The series will debut with Who Could That Be at This Hour? in October. The publisher will print one million copies of the first book by the fictional author since A Series of Unfortunate Events sold over 60 million copies. Snicket is the pen name of author Daniel Handler.

Here’s more from the release: “Drawing on events that took place during a period of his youth spent in a fading town, far from anyone he knew or trusted, Snicket chronicles his experiences as an apprentice in an organization nobody knows about. While there, he began to ask a series of questions—wrong questions that should not have been on his mind. Who Could That Be at This Hour? is Snicket’s account of the first wrong question.”

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Romance author Kresley Cole has landed a deal with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for her first young adult novel.

Entitled Poison Princess, the first book will launch The Arcana Chronicles series. Publication is set for October 12th. Writers House literary agent Robin Rue represented Cole on this deal.

Here’s more from the release: “Poison Princess centers on sixteen-year-old Evangeline “Evie” Greene, a privileged teenager from Louisiana. When an apocalyptic event decimates her hometown, killing everyone she loves, Evie realizes the hallucinations she’d been having for the past year were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux. As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call.” (Photo Credit: Deanna Meredith Studios)

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Country music star Billy Ray Cyrus will publish his memoir with Amazon Publishing in hardcover and eBook edition in spring 2013.

Trident Media CEO Dan Strone negotiated the deal alongside John Ferriter, Lo Bosworth and Stuart Dill from Octagon Entertainment. Strone also negotiated an $800,000 deal for Penny Marshall‘s memoir with Amazon.

Cyrus (pictured, via) had this statement in the release: “I learned early from The Book of Psalms that: ‘The Truth will be your shield and your buckle’. I’ve always loved that.  You only get one chance to tell your life story.  This is my chance to set the record straight.  I realized that over the years that there have been untruths and misconceptions about me, my music, my life, my family and our dreams.  I’m going to lay out the facts starting from August 25th, 1961 and work my way to the present, even if it stings a little.”

Author Maggie Stiefvater has landed a deal with Scholastic for a four-book epic fantasy series.

The first book, The Raven Boys, is slated for release in September. The Raven Boys stars Richard Campbell Gansey, III (a boy who “has it all”) and Blue Sargent (daughter of the town psychic).

Stiefvater (pictured, via) had this statement in the release: “I grew up on a diet of exceptional fantasy series for children— The Dark Is Rising, The Black Cauldron, A Wrinkle in Time, The Chronicles of Narnia — and I’ve always wanted to write one of those sprawling epic sagas built from intimate moments. I sat on a draft of The Raven Boys for a decade, but it wasn’t until I had the tools I learned from writing the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races that I knew how to do it.”

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Actor Tom Isbell has landed a seven-figure book deal at HarperCollins’ children’s division for a young adult fantasy trilogy.

The first book is entitled The Hatchery. Literary agent Victoria Sanders negotiated the deal with acquiring editors Alyson Day and Phoebe Yeh. A tentative publication date has been set for 2013.

Isbell has starred in movies alongside Robert De Niro, Ed Harris and Harrison Ford. He has also written children’s plays; he is currently adapting Rodman Philbrick‘s Newberry Honor-winning book, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (to be produced by Theatre for Young Audiences at the Kennedy Center in the fall of 2012).

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Dr. Jill Biden, wife of vice president Joe Biden, landed a deal with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for her picture book, Don’t Forget Nana, God Bless Our Troops. Publication is set for June.

Biden’s proceeds from the book will be donated to charity organizations that support military families. Williams & Connolly LLP attorney Robert B. Barnett negotiated the deal with publisher Jon Anderson. Paula Wiseman will edit the book.

Here’s more from the release: “Inspired by the real life experiences of the Biden family, Don’t Forget Nana, God Bless Our Troops will be told through the eyes of Vice President Joe and Jill Biden’s granddaughter, Natalie Biden. The story is inspired by Natalie’s life at home when her father was deployed. Natalie’s father, Beau Biden, is a Major in the Delaware Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq for a year. Readers will follow Natalie’s experience as she learns to cope with missing her father and finds comfort in the kindness of members of her community, including teachers and neighbors, and the strength and pride that she and her mother and brother felt from being part of a military family.”

Legendary musician Burt Bacharach has landed a book deal with HarperCollins. Bacharach will collaborate with journalist Robert Greenfield on the book, Anyone Who Had a Heart. Publication is set for November 2012.

Publisher Jonathan Burnham and executive editor Claire Wachtel negotiated the deal with Intellectual Property Group literary agents Amy Schiffman and Brian Lipson.

Here’s more from the release: “As powerful and moving as Burt Bacharach’s most unforgettable songs, Anyone Who Had a Heart will provide readers with a backstage pass to a world of show business that no longer exists. It will also give them an up close and personal look at the life of an artist whose incredible body of work has earned him a unique position in the American cultural landscape while also providing the sound track for the lives of millions of devoted fans all over the world.”

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J.R. Martinez, the winner of Season 13 of Dancing with the Stars, recently landed a book deal with Hyperion.

According to Publishers Weekly, Sterling Lord Literistic agent Robert Guinsler negotiated the deal with senior editor Christine Pride. After the deal, Martinez (pictured) tweeted that the title hasn’t been finalized, but publication is set for fall 2012.

Here’s more from Reality TV Magazine: “J.R. captivated Americans with not only his dancing, but his courageous war story. This Iraq war veteran was burned over 40% of his body in a Humvee accident. J.R. turned his tragedy into a success story, just by his will to be positive and live life to its fullest. It has been quite a few months for J.R. Martinez. After winning DWTS, J.R. shared that he and his girlfriend are going to be parents.”

Simon & Schuster imprint Atria Books has acquired the English language rights for Le Second Souffle (Second Wind) by Philippe Pozzo di Borgo.

In 2001, Pozzo di Borgo published his memoir in his native France. The book inspired the 2011 French film adaptation titled Intouchables (Untouchables); the movie has become a big hit in France with almost 14 million ticket sales. Above, we’ve embedded the film’s theatrical trailer.

Here’s more from the release: “In Second Wind, Philippe recounts his story of being left a quadriplegic after a paragliding accident, which transformed him in an instant from an aristocratic business and social leader into a helpless and tragic figure, an ‘untouchable’ in contemporary society. Eventually, he hired an unlikely caregiver—an unemployed, hot-headed, uninhibited Algerian immigrant who turned out to be just as lost and lonely as Philippe, and who was instrumental in helping him return to the world of the living.”

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Actor and author Rob Lowe has inked a book deal with Simon & Schuster for a new book called Love Life.  Publication is set for 2013.

The follow-up to his Stories I Only Tell My Friends memoir will focus on “sex, marriage, money, work, fatherhood and sports.” William Morris Endeavor agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh negotiated the deal along with Jon Liebman of Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

The Parks & Recreation star has nearly 200,000 friends on Twitter, posting about football, books and his television work. The actor added this comment: “I’m hoping readers will think of the first book as a restaurant where they ate a good meal, and that they’ll want to come back and try a new dish.”