Sara Birmingham at Random House bought North American rights, in a heated auction, to Maria, Maria by Jennifer Galvão (pictured l.), from Stephanie Delman at Trellis. Foreign rights have sold in 11 territories. The debut novel, per the publisher, “follows a young man exiled from 1950s Portugal, the wife he was forced to leave behind, and the mistress who becomes his scribe and their intermediary, tracing the unexpectedly profound epistolary relationship that develops between the two women—both named Maria.” Publication is planned for spring 2027.

Julie Will at Flatiron preempted North American rights to clinical psychologist Sophia Choukas-Bradley’s Beyond the Looking Glass from Mark Tavani at the David Black Agency. Amy McWalters at Penguin Life took U.K. rights. The debut, per the publisher, offers a “framework for understanding what it means for young women to come of age on a social media stage, examining the collision of body image and social media and offering practical tools for a better path forward.” Publication is set for 2027.

David Pomerico at Harper Voyager preempted world English rights to Katie Wu’s debut novel, Madder Lake, from Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2027. The romantic fantasy, per the agency, follows “two students from wildly different backgrounds battling to win a painting competition that could determine their individual fates as artists at the world’s foremost university for studying the magical art of transportive painting, who start to fall for each other just as they learn the stakes of
the competition are much higher than they realized.”

Lisa Yoskowitz at Requited won North American rights, at auction, to Taylor J. LaRue’s debut romantasy, Steelborn, from Pete Knapp at Park, Fine & Brower, in a three-book deal. The novel, per the publisher, is set “in a kingdom where the magic-born are hunted. There, notorious thief Reya teams up with cursed immortal warrior Caelan to chase a legendary cure. As they journey to the edge of the world, the rage and secrets Reya has spent a lifetime trying to bury threaten to consume her, and Caelan may turn out to be as much her salvation as she is his.” Release is set for next summer.

Courtney Young at Riverhead preempted world rights to Starforged by nuclear astrophysicist and TikTokker Sanjana Curtis from Jeff Shreve at Curious Minds Agency, for a fall 2028 release. The book, the publisher said, “explains how the universe creates itself, walking readers through the forging of the elements in the periodic table from the big bang to today, and shows how substances created in powerful cosmic explosions make our everyday lives possible.”

In Brief

  • Jonathan Karp at S&S preempted world rights to 107 Days, by 2024 presidential candidate and former U.S. vice president Kamala Harris, from Mollie Glick, David Larabell, Kate Childs-Jones, Sloan Harris, Craig Gering, and Bryan Lourd at CAA, with Dawn Davis assisting in editing, for a September release.

  • Matt Inman at Crown netted North American rights to Sen. John Fetterman’s memoir Unfettered from Eric Simonoff at WME, for a November release.

  • Sydney Collins and Chelcee Johns at Ballantine took North American rights to Christina Hammonds Reed’s adult debut novel, The Johnson Four, “about a father who dreams of Motown stardom for his three sons and the ghost of a lynched Black orphan whom the family takes in,” from David Doerrer at the Platform, for release next spring.

  • Eric Reynolds at Fantagraphics secured world rights to Josh Tuininga’s dark comedy heist graphic novel High St. from Farley Chase of Chase Literary, for release next fall.

  • Matt Baugher at Harper Horizon picked up world rights to actor Jimmy Hawkins’s The Heart of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ from Judy Coppage at the Coppage Company, for a September release.