Deals

Gospel music star BeBe Winans has landed a book deal for a memoir about his friendship with the late singer Whitney Houston. Worthy Publishing will publish The Whitney I Knew in July, complete with photos and links to video performances.

Above, we’ve embedded footage of Winans’ moving tribute to Houston at her funeral. Here’s more about his upcoming memoir:

Winans met Houston at a concert in Detroit 26 years ago and quickly developed a close bond. They considered each other to be family … Delivering a moving eulogy at her nationally telecast funeral, BeBe Winans affirmed the truth about the Houston he knew for so long, relaying stories laced with humor and strength of spirit that characterized her life. “She gave us plenty of memories. In my heart and mind, I have so many great, great moments to share,” said Winans.

Mortal Instruments author Cassandra Clare and The Spiderwick Chronicles author Holly Black have landed a book deal for a five-book middle grade fantasy series.

Scholastic will publish the first book, The Iron Trial, in 2014. Editorial director David Levithan negotiated the deal with literary agents Russell Galen (for Clare) and Barry Goldblatt (for Black).

Here’s more from the release: “In this exciting new series, twelve-year-old Callum Hunt has grown up knowing three rules by heart. Never trust a magician. Never pass a test a magician gives you. And never let a magician take you to the Magisterium. Callum is about to break all the rules. And when he does, his life will change in ways he can’t possibly imagine.”

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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger has published a sequel to his classic book about high school football, Friday Night Lights. Published through Byliner, the After Friday Night Lights eBook looks at the lives of the characters in a book that spawned a movie and a television show.

The book focuses on the journalist’s relationship with Boobie Miles, a promising football star in the original book. The $2.99 eBook is available through Apple, Amazon and Kobo. Check it out:

Heading into the 1988 season, Miles looked like a star-in-the-making, a sure bet to ascend to college and the NFL. Abandoned by his mother, beaten by his dad, he had scraped through a rough upbringing, but it appeared that success on the field was soon to redeem his pain. Then, in a meaningless preseason scrimmage, Boobie blew out his knee. By midseason he was off the team, no longer needed by his coaches, who had found themselves a new running back. After Friday Night Lights follows Boobie through the dark years he suffered after his injury right up to a hopeful present. It is the indelible portrait of the oddest of enduring friendships: that of a writer and his subject, a “neurotic Jew” and a West Texas oil-field worker, a white man raised in privilege and a black man brought up in poverty and violence, and a father and his “fourth son.”

High-wire artist Philippe Petit has landed a deal with ABRAMS to publish his nonfiction title, Why Knot? How to Tie the Most Ingenious, Useful, Beautiful, Life-Saving, Magical, Intriguing, and Secure Knots Ever Knotted.

The book will be released in spring 2013. Publisher Steve Tager oversaw the acquisition of this title and secured world rights. Editor Laura Dozier will edit the project.

Here’s more from the release: “[This book] will explain how to tie sixty useful knots. All the knots included have been put to task during one wire walk or another; each passed the ultimate test: to hold a man’s life. All of the sketches and drawings are by Petit himself, and many are beautifully wrought works of art that have been exhibited at the Clic Gallery in Soho. The book will also include photographs of Petit’s major high-wire walks, with explanations of how specific knots have been put to significant use. Why Knot? comes with a little red rope—similar to the one Petit carries in his pocket at all times—that will allow readers to practice their new knot skills.”

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Sh*t Girls Say creators Kyle Humphrey and Graydon Sheppard have inked a book deal with Harlequin.  A book based on the popular YouTube video series is scheduled for a fall 2012 release.

The first video (embedded above) has already generated more than 16 million views on YouTube. Creative Artists Agency negotiated the deal with executive editor Deborah Brody.

Here’s more from the release:  “In the irreverent spirit of Humphrey and Sheppard’s YouTube videos and Twitter feed—which allows Graydon Sheppard to famously exhibit his feminine side—the book will feature full-color images that capture the hilarious essence of everyday phrases used by women. Quirky and fun, the print edition of Sh*t Girls Say will appeal to the millions of devotees of this pop culture phenomenon.”

Amazon has cut a deal for a ten-year print and eBook license for North American rights to Ian Fleming‘s James Bond series. Starting this summer, Amazon Publishing’s Thomas & Mercer imprint will re-release the classic spy series.

Curtis Brown managing director Jonny Geller negotiated the deal. Amazon has also acquired the rights to two nonfiction books written by Fleming:  Thrilling Cities and The Diamond Smugglers. Geller had this comment in the release: “This deal heralds a new phase in Ian Fleming’s publishing story. We are excited to be working with Amazon in North America to bring a new generation of readers to Ian Fleming’s classic novels.”

Last year, the Thomas & Mercer imprint announced that acquired the rights to 47 books by the late crime writer Ed McBain.

The Duchess of Cambridge’s little sister, Pippa Middleton, has a party-planning book coming out from Penguin in October.

USA Today reported that Middleton received a $600,000 advance for Celebrate. Here is more from the story: “Interest in the book is as stratospheric as interest in Pippa: Big-get guns Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters were said to be in a six-figure bidding war to be the first to get Pippa on their couch when she promotes the book.”

The fan site Pippa-Middleton.co.uk confirmed the news and published the email confirmation from Penguin. This past week, Middleton made headlines for driving in a car with a French man who was photographed waving a fake gun at the press.

Secret Series author Pseudonymous Bosch (a.k.a. Raphael Simon) has inked a deal for a new middle grade trilogy with Penguin’s Dial Books for Young Readers.

The not-yet-titled first book is slated for release in 2013. Literary agent Sarah Burnes (from the Gernert Company) negotiated the deal with editor-at-large Jennifer Hunt. Hunt will edit the project.

Bosch (pictured, via) submitted this “secret” statement in the release: “It is a thrill to be working with Jennifer Hunt again as well as with all my new friends at Dial.  As my readers know, I love to eat, especially anything chocolate.  I couldn’t be more excited to embark on this important search for three new cooks.  If bread is the staff of life, then a good cook is…What?  Not cooks, books?  I’m supposed to write three new books?  Oh, no—how distressing!”

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The rock band Metallica will get a two-volume biography from Da Capo Press. Written by rock author Paul Brannigan and music journalist Ian Winwood, the first volume of Birth. School. Metallica. Death will hit shelves in the fall of 2013.

DeFiore & Company agent Matthew Elblonk negotiated the deal (in association with Matthew Hamilton at Aitken Alexander) with Da Capo Press executive editor Ben Schafer.

The editor had this comment: “Metallica’s story is an epic narrative finally getting the same multi-book treatment as Elvis Presley, Charles Darwin, and several former Presidents.”

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Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk has landed a deal with ABRAMS for The Innocence of Objects. The book is slated for worldwide release in October 2012. Andrew Wylie of the Wylie Agency negotiated the deal with editor-in-chief Eric Himmel.

This publication catalogs Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence. The actual museum will open to the public on April 27th. This institution, located in Pamuk’s hometown Istanbul, was inspired by Pamuk’s 2008 novel which shares the same name.

Here’s more from the release: “The Innocence of Objects will explore the many meanings of this remarkable project. While it offers a rich visual guide to the exhibitions, it also allows Pamuk to write about things that matter deeply to him, including the psychology of the collector, the proper role of the museum, the uses of photography in modernizing societies, and of course the customs and traditions of his beloved city. The book’s imagery is equally evocative, ranging from pop ephemera that has become ‘collectible,’ to Pamuk’s superb collection of haunting photographs and movie stills of old Istanbul, to the stunning images captured by Turkish photographer Ara Guler.”

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