Deals

TV host and author Stephen Colbert has inked a book deal with Grand Central Publishing for his children’s book, I Am a Pole (and So Can You!). Publication is set for May 8, 2012.

Here’s more from the publisher: “The book came about as a result of a two-part interview that Stephen Colbert did last month with legendary children’s book author, Maurice Sendak, on The Colbert Report. During the interview, Colbert gave viewers a preview of a children’s book he was in the midst of writing. The interview went viral and immediately became an internet sensation, with fans clamoring for copies of the book.”

Colbert quipped in the release: “It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to write a children’s book. I hope the minutes you and your loved ones spend reading it are as fulfilling as the minutes I spent writing it.” Trident Media Group CEO Dan Strone and Dixon Talent agent James Dixon negotiated the deal with Grand Central publisher Jamie Raab.

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Young-adult novelist and book blogger Brittany Geragotelis has inked a deal with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers to re-launch her self-published title, Life’s a Witch. In addition, Simon & Schuster will publish a sequel to the book and a prequel in three eBook installments.

The deal was negotiated by publisher Justin Chanda and Marsal Lyon Literary Agency’s Kevan Lyon. Senior editor Alexandra Cooper will edit. Geragotelis (pictured, via) released Life’s a Witch as a free serial eBook on Wattpad, drawing more than 18 million readers. She also published Life’s a Witch as a print-on-demand paperback book through CreateSpace/Amazon.

Here’s more from the release: “Simon & Schuster will follow up by publishing this prequel as a book in December 2012. Then Life’s a Witch will be relaunched in Fall 2013, and the sequel to Life’s a Witch will be published in Fall 2014.”

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Tor Books has set a January 8, 2013 release date for A Memory of Light, the final book in The Wheel of Time series–concluding the epic fantasy created by the late Robert Jordan.

After Jordan died in 2007, novelist Brandon Sanderson (pictured) used his notes to write the conclusion to the series, publishing The Gathering Storm in 2009 and Towers of Midnight in 2010. When the news hit the Internet this afternoon, Tor.com and Sanderson’s site both struggled to handle the rush of traffic.

Sanderson posted a frank essay about the writing process on his Facebook page: “I turned in a 360,000-word book. That’s 20% longer than what they wanted, and that means each step of editing and production will require 20% more time than they had set aside. In addition, while I’ve set my own deadlines, I’ve come right up against them and (in a few cases) tiptoed across. For example, instead of sending a revised book at the end of December, I only had a first draft. That’s the length pushing me back and making me revise expectations.”

Amanda Knox will write a memoir for HarperCollins. According to the New York Times‘ sources, the deal was “for close $4 million.”

The Seattle student was charged in the 2007 death of her former roommate Meredith Kercher while studying abroad in Italy, but was exonerated by the Italian court system last year.

The AP had a statement from HarperCollins: “Aided by journals she kept during her imprisonment, Knox will talk about her harrowing experience at the hands of the Italian police and later prison guards and inmates. She will reveal never before-told details surrounding her case, and describe how she used her inner strength and strong family ties to cope with the most challenging time of her young life.”

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The O’Reilly Factor anchor Bill O’Reilly has landed a book deal to co-write Killing Kennedy: The
End of Camelot with Martin Dugard. It will be the second book in his series about presidential history, following up on the success of Killing Lincoln.

William Morris Endeavor agent Eric Simonoff negotiated the deal with Henry Holt and Company publisher Stephen Rubin. Henry Holt EIC Gillian Blake will edit.

O’Reilly had this statement in the release: “As with most baby boomers, the murder of JFK was a signature moment in my life … Killing Kennedy will answer many questions about the president and why his life was cut short.”

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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.”

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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