Jenny Han has inked a deal for her “semi-autobiographical” young adult novel. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers will publish To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in April 2014.

Publisher Justin Chanda negotiated the deal with Folio Literary Management senior vice president Emily Van Beek. Executive editor Zareen Jaffery will edit the manuscript. Here’s more from the release:

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters…

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Hachette Book Group’s new Redhook imprint will release Iain Banks‘ The Quarry on June 25, the publishing dates set quickly after Banks’ terminal cancer diagnosis.

Hachette’s Orbit imprint has published science fiction novels written by Banks. Here’s more about The Quarry:

Kit doesn’t know who his mother is. What he does know, however, is that his father, Guy, is dying of cancer. Feeling his death is imminent, Guy gathers around him his oldest friends—or at least the friends with the most to lose by his death. Paul, the rising star in the Labour party who dreads the day a tape they all made at university might come to light; Alison and Robbie, corporate bunnies whose relationship is daily more fractious; Pris and Haze, once an item, now estranged; and finally Hol; friend, mentor, former lover and the only one who seemed to care.

Prolific writer Mitch Albom has landed a three-book deal with HarperCollins’ Harper imprint, leaving his old publisher.

Albom’s next book will be a novel entitled The First Phone Call From Heaven. The storyline will focus on characters who receive phone calls from those who have passed away. Editor Karen Rinaldi negotiated the deal with literary agent David Black.

According to Albom’s Facebook page, the publisher plans to release the book on November 12, 2013.

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After selling 500,000 combined copies of Ian Fleming and Ed McBain backlist, Amazon Publishing has acquired books from the Saint series by Leslie Charteris and the Mrs. Bradley series by Gladys Mitchell.

Amazon’s Thomas & Mercer imprint will publish digital editions and print editions (“where rights permit”) later this year. Jane Gelfman from Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents negotiated the deal for 49 Saint series books. A TV pilot for the classic series about a mysterious thief is now being produced.

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Journalist Masha Gessen will write about the Tsarnaev brothers, tracing their family history from Chechnya to the horrific bombings they carried out in Boston. In the video embedded above, watch Gessen speak on The Daily Show.

Riverhead Books will publish the book, coming from the author of The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin. A Russian-American journalist, Gessen lives and works in Moscow. Here’s more from the release:

The book will explain who the brothers were, where they came from, what shaped them, and how they came to do what they appear to have done. From their displaced beginnings, as descendants of ethnic Chechens deported to Central Asia in the Stalin era, it will follow the brothers from strife-ridden Kyrgyzstan to war-torn Dagestan, and then, as new émigrés, to the looking-glass, utterly disorienting peace and order of Cambridge, Mass. Most crucially, it will reconstruct the struggle that ensued for each of the brothers, between assimilation and alienation, and their alleged metamorphosis into a new breed of home-grown terrorist, with their feet on American soil but their loyalties elsewhere, a split in identity that can be the breeding ground for a deadly sense of mission.

J.J. Abrams will work with Mulholland Books on S., an book idea conceived and developed by Abrams but written by Alive in Necropolis author Doug Dorst (pictured, right).

Abrams (pictured, left) is the producer, writer, and director behind projects like Lost, Star Trek and Super 8. He will support the book through his Bad Robot production company. Check it out:

[S] is Abrams’s first foray into publishing and will be released by Mulholland Books/Little, Brown and Company on October 29, 2013. At the core of this multilayered literary puzzle of love and adventure is a book of mysterious provenance. In the margins, another tale unfolds—through the hand-scribbled notes, questions, and confrontations of two readers. Between the pages, online, and in the real world, you’ll find evidence of their interaction, ephemera that bring this tale vividly to life.

(Via Sarah Weinman)

15-year-old actress and singer Bella Thorne has inked a book deal for a teen book series called Autumn Falls. If you want to see her writing, explore Thorne’s Twitter page with 2.9 million followers.

Delacorte Press will publish series, and the first book comes out the summer of 2014. DeFiore & Company agent Matthew Elblonk negotiated the deal with executive editor Wendy Loggia. Loggia will also edit the books. Here’s more from the release:

AUTUMN FALLS is the story of a 14-year-old girl whose high school life unexpectedly changes after an encounter with magic. AUTUMN FALLS is Thorne’s publishing debut, and she will co-write with Elise Allen. A multitalented teen star, Bella is best known for her lead role playing aspiring dancer “Cece Jones” on the hit Disney Channel original series Shake It Up, which is in its third season.

 The Forks Over Knives franchise will publish two books with Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone imprint. The first book will feature a three-week plan to implement a lifestyle with a whole-food, plant-based diet. The second title will be a cookbook.

William Morris Endeavor literary agent Andy McNicol negotiated the deal with Touchstone publisher Stacy Creamer (who will also edit). Here’s more from the release:

Both books will be written by Matthew Lederman, M.D., and Alona Pulde, M.D.. Dr. Pulde developed the Lifestyle Change Program used by patients in the Forks Over Knives documentary. Matthew Lederman, M.D. is a board-certified, Internal Medicine physician, specializing in nutrition and lifestyle medicine.

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The Muppets and How I Met Your Mother star Jason Segel has inked a book deal for a middle-grade fiction series he will write with Kirsten Miller. Random House Children’s Books will publish Nightmares! in fall 2014.

If you want to read more, you can join Segel’s 2.3 million followers on Twitter. WME and Abrams negotiated the deal with Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers publisher Beverly Horowitz. Executive editor Krista Marino will edit the book. The release had more details:

Both scary and funny, NIGHTMARES! is an adventure story about a group of kids who realize it’s up to them to save their town from fear, which has manifested itself in the form of nightmare creatures that have slipped into the everyday world. At its heart, NIGHTMARES! is about kids overcoming their fears … Says Segel, “I couldn’t be more excited that NIGHTMARES! has found a home at Random House. Ultimately, it’s a story about learning that we can accomplish anything, as long as we are brave enough to try. These are the types of stories that always inspired me.”

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