Indie romance novelist Sylvain Reynard has inked a “substantial seven-figure deal” with Penguin Group’s Berkley imprint for Gabriel’s Inferno and Gabriel’s Rapture.

The book began as Twilight fan fiction, telling the story of “a sinful exploration of sex, love, and redemption” between a Dante scholar and his graduate student. Reynard had published with Omnific Publishing, a publisher “nurturing talented amateur writers into professional published authors.”

Knight Agency president Deidre Knight and co-agent Melissa Jeglinski represented Omnific Publishing in the deal with senior editor Cindy Hwang. Berkley will print 500,000 trade paperback copies of each book.

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After nine months, Penguin’s online writing community Book Country has produced its first book deal. First time novelist Kerry Schafer landed a two-book deal with Penguin’s Ace Books imprint.

Schafer (pictured, via) is a mental health crisis response specialist who lives in Washington State. You can read her Book Country work at this link. Knight Agency agent Deidre Knight negotiated the deal and Berkley Publishing Group editorial director Susan Allison uncovered the manuscript on the writing site.

Schafer explained in the release: “I had a different novel up on the site and discovered that the feedback helped improve my writing. Criticism takes a little getting used to; my thought was that I should get some pages up and start building a thicker skin.   When I uploaded BETWEEN to Book Country, I wasn’t even thinking about it being picked up by an editor or an agent.   What happened after that felt like pure magic.”

The Knight Agency has two sisters on staff: president Deidre Knight and vice president of sales Pamela Harty. The duo will team up for speed-dating contest to find their next client, as 125 writers will pitch the agents and one aspiring author will earn representation.

On March 7th, the agency will open the contest with a blog post. Writers can enter their names in the comments section of that post from 12 p.m. EST to 1 p.m. EST that same day. The agency will randomly select 125 contestants and read four rounds of virtual submissions to find the winner.

Agency publicist Jia Gayles offered more in an email: “Last December, Deidre ran a similar event that generated more than 350 entries within minutes of the contest opening. She ultimately signed grand prize winner Leigh Evans. Deidre also kept in touch with another competitor, Erin Kelly, who she signed several weeks later.”

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Scores of publishing types are vying for a coveted spot at the SXSW Festival next year, proposing more than twenty panel discussions about the future of publishing. Online readers can vote on their favorite panels, helping determine the line-up at the festival next March.

Last year’s publishing panel sparked fireworks among literary bloggers. Over at BookSquare, Kassia Krozser has created an excellent list of all the voting options for 2010. Here’s a sampling of the entries, but be sure to vote on the complete list. Simply follow the individual links to vote.

-Beyond Publishing: When Every Book is Connected to Everyone: Stephanie Troeth, Book Oven (Hugh McGuire, Peter Brantley, Andrew Savikas, Kassia Krozser)
-A Brave New Future for Book Publishing : Kevin Smokler, CEO BookTour.com
-Romancing the e-Book: Publishing’s e-Volutionary Revolution: Deidre Knight, Knight Agency (includes GalleyCat senior editor Ron Hogan)
-The Novel in 2050: Richard Nash, Red Lemonade
-Book Publishing – The New Ecosystem: Maya Bisineer, Memetales
-Authors, Publishers and Social Media: Hug it Out: Tim O’Shaughnessy, LivingSocial
-Why Keep Blogging? Real Answers for Smart Tweeple: Emily Gordon, Emdashes.com founder, includes GalleyCat senior editor Ron Hogan.