Deals

The Random House imprint Triumph Books has canceled a memoir by former NBA referee Tim Donaghy.

According to ESPN.com, "Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA" would have launched in a few weeks, exploring the former referee's NBA work and his 15-month imprisonment for wire fraud. Donaghy was convicted for working with a gambler while refereeing games for the NBA. In the article, Random House expressed "concerns over potential liability," but Pat Berdan from Executive Prison Consultants defended the referee's book.

Here's more from the article: "'Somehow, the NBA got wind of the project and let Random House know in a threatening-type correspondence that they would object to the publication of such a book and they threatened that they would sue if they did go ahead and do that,' said Berdan, who didn't see any letters from the NBA."

On Bastille Day earlier this year, author Matt Stewart published his his 480,000-character debut novel "The French Revolution" entirely on Twitter--writing at the revolutionary rate of one tweet every 15 minutes.

For his troubles, Stewart earned a GalleyCat post and a book deal. According to Publishers Marketplace, his book sold to Denise Oswald at Soft Skull. The deal was negotiated by Lisa Grubka at Foundry Literary + Media.

Stewart explained his microblogging achievement to GalleyCat: "It's tremendously rewarding to see that publishers are embracing a terrific story--and innovative (and dare I say Dickensian!) ways to connect with readers."

Foundry Literary + Media founder Peter McGuigan reportedly landed a million dollar deal for author Vicki Myron at Dutton--hoping to replicate the success of Hachette's surprise bestseller, "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World."

Myron co-wrote the original book--about the lost cat who charmed a library in Iowa--with Bret Witter, and he will return to work on the new book, "Dewey's Nine Lives." According to Publishers Weekly, Hachette will publish two picture books about the cat in coming months. Editor Carrie Thornton bought the book, and publication is set for fall 2010.

Here's more from the article: "The industry chatter is that the Penguin imprint paid a $2 million advance for 'Dewey's Nine Lives,' which is in the same vein as Dewey. McGuigan said, in describing the book, that it's about the 'amazing relationships between cats and their people' and added that it will also feature new stories about Dewey himself."

In a new deal, urban fantasy author Kim Harrison will script three original stories for graphic novels from Del Rey Books.

The books will focus on Harrison's witch heroine, Rachel Morgan. Editor-in-chief Betsy Mitchell bought world rights to three original stories set in Harrison's world of vampires, werewolves, demons and more. Harrison will script the graphic novels herself.

Here's more from the release: "The first will be a prequel to Dead Witch Walking, to be told from the point of view of Rachel's friend Ivy, when both women were employed by Inderlander Security. The deal was negotiated by agent Richard Curtis."

Bucking the publishing recession, Hudson Street Press' new editor-in-chief bought four books in a single week.

Last week, Hudson Street EIC Caroline Sutton bought four non-fiction titles: "Achieve," a book about reaching goals by Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D; "Living Well Through Hard Times," a book about "how to live the best possible life" by Karl Pillemer, Ph.D., Professor of Human Development and Geriatrics at Cornell University; "Rush," a book about finding happiness in challenging situations, by former White House Director of Economic Policy, Todd Buchholz; and finally, "How to Raise Your Adult Child," a book about "big problems of their big children" by Susan Feinberg Ph.D. and Gail Parent.

In an email interview with GalleyCat, Sutton praised her rapidly-growing catalog: "I'm very happy with the way the list is shaping up. I'd like to see Hudson Street Press become a name everyone immediately associates with nonfiction that has a really strong takeaway, whether the approach is prescriptive, descriptive, or more narrative."

Hyperion will publish a memoir that tells the other side of the story behind the memoir, "Eat, Pray, Love"—a literary response scheduled for a fall 2010 release.

According to Publishers Weekly, Michael Cooper sold "Displaced" to Hyperion's Brenda Copeland. The book's auction was handled by William Morris Endeavor agent, Rebecca Oliver. Cooper's ex-wife, Elizabeth Gilbert, wrote "Eat, Pray, Love" about how she recovered from their divorce.

Here's more from the post: "Cooper offers the flip side of her tale—his account of overcoming the divorce and embarking on his own world journey. According to Hyperion, he goes on a 'search for purpose' that leads him through the Middle East and other developing countries."

Former Miss California Carrie Prejean has landed a book deal with Regnery Publishing. Entitled "Still Standing," the book will be released in November 2009.

The deal was sealed by Lee Hough at Alive Communications. Prejean drew criticism, praise, and Biblical comparisons earlier this year for her stance against gay marriage. She was subsequently dethroned for "contract violations."

Here's an excerpt from the publisher's punchy press release: "Prejean attracted national attention when she answered a question at the Miss USA Pageant defending traditional marriage ... Now she will tell her side of the story, answering such questions as what happened behind the scenes at the pageant, why she answered the Perez Hilton question as she did, what really led to her losing the Miss California crown, and how she has been forced to battle the left's double-standard on free speech." (Image via)

Hip-hop artist, producer, and DJ Q-Tip has scored a deal with Random House Publishing Group's Ballantine Books imprint, a memoir entitled, "Industry Rules."

The former member of the hip-hop supergroup, A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip (pictured, via) sold his book to to Ballantine editor Porscha Burke. The deal was negotiated by Jay Mandel at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. According to the release, the book is: "a creatively constructed telling of his life story."

Here's more about the artist, from a 1999 profile in Time Magazine: "Q-Tip raps about growing up in Queens, the breakup of A Tribe Called Quest and his embrace of Islam. He admits his partyin' ways don't always conform to Islamic values, but he's constantly striving to better himself, and at least in his mind, it's the effort that really matters."

Internet critic Andrew Keen (pictured, via) sold US rights for his next book to St. Martin's Press, studying the negative effects of the social networking era.

Level 5 Media agent Steve Hanselman sealed the deal, and Michael Flamini (who edited James Paul Gee's "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy" will edit the book. Keen's first book, "The Cult of The Amateur," explore how the Internet is "killing our culture."

Here's more, from Keen's blog: "The new book, provisionally entitled DIGITAL VERTIGO: Loneliness, Anxiety and Inequality in the Social Media Age will be a contemplative defense of privacy rights and genuine human interaction in the social networking era."

In a literary victory for the magazine we all read for the short stories, Playboy will publish 5,000-words of "The Original of Laura" by Vladmir Nabokov in December, one week before the novel hits bookstores.

The NY Observer reports on the fascinating bidding process as the magazine's literary editor Amy Grace Loyd pursued agent Andrew Wylie for the rights to the story. Knopf will publish the unfinished novel in the United States, and Penguin UK will handle the UK edition.

Here's more from the article: "'I'm happy to tell you we've never paid this much for a book excerpt before, ever,' Ms. Loyd said, adding: 'There are parts of it that are much more cohesive than others. But I found it fascinating in that way.'"