In Feature Articles by Porter AndersonDecember 9
Our last Rights Roundup of the year features work selling into Galician
Two sales reported so far: Les Éditions du Panseur is using this feline image to promote Isabelle Aupy’s ‘The Man Who Didn’t Like Cats Anymore,’ one of the books in today’s Rights Roundup
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
As we watch the end of a very long 2022 arrive
much of the world book publishing industry is braced for deepening economic challenges
Q4 is expected to be a second consecutive month of economic contraction
technically the signal of the start of a recession
and other regions also face inflationary and possibly recessionary headwinds
is an old and effective form of diversification
a way to hedge against falling consumer sentiment when discretionary household budgets may tighten
even those most needed in a world beset with challenges
can be the hardest—and yet the best—for which to sell rights
Sometimes the slower sellers are among the most satisfying
As we reported in July, Juliette Kayyem’s The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning To Live in an Age of Disasters (Hachette Book Group/Public Affairs)
is one of the most relevant releases of the year
And it’s one of the most internationally fluent works you’ll find about our exploding contemporary crises
It’s not “the feel-good hit of the year,” but what it tells readers is central to our debates of the moment–precisely the kind of book that demonstrates why the world book industry is indispensable
Kayyem, a former assistant secretary of Homeland Security in the Obama administration, writes about both international and domestic issues, events, analysis. The audiobook is a fine example of an author who knows how to read her own work
But who can sell the rights to a book about the disasters we fear most? It turns out that Rebecca Gardner, Nora Gonzalez, and their colleagues at The Gernert Company can. They’ve just sold the Korean rights to the largest general trade publisher in South Korea: Seoul’s Minumsa
Compared to stacks of rights sales for some books
that deal might not seem the cue to form the conga line
But those of us who watch these things carefully know that once a book is up on its feet and walking
And what the compassionate Kayyem is telling her readers is how to understand
and react (better) to the shocks and tremors and catastrophes we know are gaining power
Many books—maybe every book—has something that requires a smart agent
an innovative scout to get those rights sold
It’s a lot of work and it lies at the very heart of the internationalism of the book business
especially as we support it here at Publishing Perspectives
Thanks to all of you for being part of another year of Rights Roundups
We applaud all rights sales shared with us this year
and look forward to highlighting more in 2023
it’s good to see the tougher deals closing
we use some of the sales copy supplied to us by agents and rights directors
editing that copy to give you an idea about a book’s nature and tone
If you’d like to submit a deal to Publishing Perspectives
see the instructions at the end of this article
In How Winston Delivered Christmas: An Advent Story in 24-and-a-Half Chapters
“Winston the mouse is on a very important mission
he finds a letter that has gotten lost on its way to Father Christmas
he sets out to deliver it himself in time for Christmas Day
“Each chapter includes its very own festive activity for the family to enjoy together
including writing a letter to Father Christmas
an old man recalls his island and its inhabitants as they were before
Before the day when suddenly all the cats disappeared with no explanation and were replaced by dogs
“Such dogs people were asked to call ‘cats.'”
“Rahel and Peter have been married for almost 30 years
the love has taken its leave from their marriage
intended to salvage what still remains between them
and to answer the question of how and with whom they want to spend their later years.”
“The luxurious Japanese spa Yasuragi just outside of Stockholm is a haven for the stressed-out inhabitants of the capital city
“But when four people are found dead around the resort
and there’s no denying that there must be a connection
“The headstrong and fearless police detective
is put on the case and she soon realizes that this is no ordinary investigation
Will she be able to find the murderer before he gets another victim?”
The Bathysphere Book: Effects of the Luminous Ocean Depths
and sensual account of early deep sea exploration and its afterlives
The Bathysphere Book begins with the first voyage to the deep ocean in 1930 and expands to explore the adventures and entanglements of its all-too-human participants at a time when the world still felt entirely new.”
The book is called an “assemblage of brief chapters along with more than 50 full-color images
records from the original bathysphere logbooks
and the moving story of surreptitious romance between researchers William Beebe and Gloria Hollister that anchors their exploration
“Brad Fox blurs the line between poetry and research
unearthing and rendering a visionary meeting with the unknown.”
but just when she’s presented with the chance to head a help center for gang members in Los Angeles
a series of attacks attributed to the Hispanic community put her at risk
“Through her attempt to escape from a plot that involves the upper echelons of American politics
the novel explores the mechanisms of political far-right mafias in the present-day United States
and the overall rise of anti-Latinx sentiment and other extremisms.”
“Mathilde is forced to leave her teaching position after having an affair with an 18-year-old student
and she moves to the picturesque Norwegian countryside
“Her life becomes involved with the locals
“But underneath the friendly and pastoral surface on the farm
and wild snowball battles take place in winter
the three friends face the bigger and the smaller adventures in their lives together.”
Thomas Wellman is a comics artist and storyteller from Germany
Panels from comics artist and writer Thomas Wellman’s series ‘Nita
Do you have rights deals to report? Agents and rights directors can use our rights deal submission form to send us the information we need
please send them to Porter@PublishingPerspectives.com
More of Publishing Perspectives‘ rights roundups are here, and more from us on international rights trading is here
Porter Anderson has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards
He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives
He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller
Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com
which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman
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