A huge congrats to Joan He, whose debut young adult deal was announced on her twenty-first birthday!
From Publishers Weekly:
CRANE is such a gorgeous, detailed, intricately-plotted fantasy mystery, and I can’t wait for you guys to read it! Way to go Joan!
In case you missed it on twitter last week, we are popping all the champagne over here for Ashok Banker and THE RISE TRILOGY.
Check out the announcement from Publishers Weekly:
Krista Marino at Delacorte has acquired, in a seven-figure preempt, author Ashok Banker‘s The Rise Trilogy, pitched as Six of Crows meets An Ember in the Ashes, with a cast featuring LGBTQIA, PoC, and differently abled protagonists. The #ownvoices series follows a young thief and her gang as they battle to overthrow a brutal tyrant and stay a demon invasion. Publication of the first book is planned for fall 2018; John Cusick at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management brokered the deal for North American English rights.
Ashok reached out to me earlier this year, and I was immediately grabbed by this strange and wonderful universe he’d created. I don’t want to give too much away, but right there in the first chapters I found monsters rising up out of the floor to eat someone’s mother, a multi-faceted heist, and a roof top chase involving magic and flying police wagons. It was weird and wonderful and breathtaking, and I can’t wait for you all to read it. We found the perfect editor in Krista, who edits so many star fantasy writers and loved RISE as much as we do.
I knew I wanted to represent this story, but it wasn’t until Ashok and I got on the phone that I discovered what a warm, wise, and engaged person he is. Ashok is also incredibly humble, which is amazing given how much he’s achieved.
Ashok’s 54 books have sold over 3 million copies, been translated in eighteen languages, and sold in fifty-eight countries. If that weren’t enough, he’s also the pioneer of genre fiction in India; his internationally acclaimed Ramayana Series revolutionized Indian publishing, creating a genre called “Mytho”, now the biggest in the country. He is also the creator and screenwriter of the first Indian TV series in English, and co-creator and screenwriter of the first Malaysian TV series in English, the most watched “Mytho” TV series in India.
So yeah, the guy basically invented a genre.
You should follow Ashok on twitter for book news, and also his passionate advocacy for social justice and diversity in publishing: https://twitter.com/ashokkbanker
And more RISE news to come! Congrats Ashok!
A huge congrats to Quinn Sosna-Spear on her debut deal with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers! Guys this manuscript is so weird and wonderful, I can’t wait for you to read it.
Liz Kossnar at Simon & Schuster has acquired world rights to a debut novel by Quinn Sosna-Spear. Pitched as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets American Gods, The Mortician’s Son follows 12-year-old Walter’s travels in the stolen family hearse, through towns where people dress as fish, worship bees, and dig for living rocks, en route to meet the infamous inventor who mentored his father. Publication is planned for fall 2018; John M. Cusick at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management brokered the deal.
You can find Quinn online @qsosnaspear and quinnsosnaspear.com.
A huge congrats to INN BETWEEN and THE DOLL’S EYE author Marina Cohen on her latest deal with Roaring Brook Press!
Emily Feinberg at Roaring Brook Press has bought world rights to Marina Cohen’s middle-grade fantasy Box of Bones. When 12-year-old Kallie opens a mysterious puzzle box, her life begins to entangle with another world, where Liah, a young bone carver, journeys with her master to sell wares to a Wicked Queen. Publication is scheduled for winter 2019; John M. Cusick of Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management brokered the deal.
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From Publishers Weekly:
Laura Schreiber at Disney-Hyperion has acquired playwright Don Zolidis‘s debut YA novel, The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig (A Love Story) , in a preempt. It’s a coming-of-age story set in 1994 Wisconsin, chronicling the on-again-off-again relationship of Amy and Craig, who come to understand each other better through multiple disastrous breakups. Publication date is projected for fall 2018; John M. Cusick of Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management brokered the six-figure, two-book deal for North American rights.
Not only is Don an incredible playwright (if you were a teen theater-geek in the past ten years, chances are you read one of his monologues), SEVEN TORMENTS is one of the straight up funniest things I’ve read in ages. Congrats Don!
I’m so exited for this totally weird and wonderful series!
From PW…
Tiffany Liao at Razorbill has acquired Evan Kuhlman‘s Blobby Blobson, illustrated by Merrill Rainey, first in an illustrated middle grade series. It features the adventures of a blob boy from the sewer who tries to fit in at a suburban middle school. Publication is planned for spring 2017; John Cusick at Folio Literary Management represented the author and Nicole Tugeau at Tugeau 2 represented the illustrator in the two-book deal for world rights.
Now, Truman Capote’s classic non-fiction novel In Cold Blood is one of my favorite books of all time. It explores the murder and aftermath of the Clutter family in 1959 Holcomb, Kansas, the search for their killers, and the eventual trial and execution (um, spoilers). So when author Amy Brashear queried me with a y.a. retelling of ICB from the point of view of Nancy Clutter’s teenage best friend, I requested immediately. Today I’m thrilled to announce that haunting coming-of-age, CONDEMNED, will be published by SoHo Teen!
Greenhouse: When and how did you start writing?
Amy: I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I was always scribbling something down on paper. I blame my mom. We would watch a lot of murder shows growing up, especially Murder, She Wrote. We would sit in front of the TV and try to figure it out before Jessica did. I wanted to be a writer like Jessica Fletcher. I wanted to write about murder and solve crimes. I was a weird little girl.
Can you remember the first book that made an impact on you? Who were your childhood storytelling heroes?
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I was in the fifth grade and we had just moved from Garden City, Kansas to Nacogdoches, Texas. My class went on a field trip to Stephen F. Austin University to see a production of The Diary of Anne Frank. I had never read the book before seeing the play. But after school my mom took my brother and I to the bookstore at the mall and bought a copy. I still have that worn paperback.
Growing up I read a lot and that’s due to my mom. She would always tell my brother and I stories. She would always make them up. Though they would often be about us— what we were like as kids. When I started reading on my own I would read the Little House on the Prairie books, the Boxcar Children, the Babysitters Club books, Goosebumps, really anything by R.L. Stine, Caroline B. Cooney, Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, Roald Dahl, and Lois Duncan. I couldn’t get enough of those books.
Can you talk us through the writing of your first book? What were the key moments?
I grew up in Southwest Kansas and knew about the Clutter family murder way before I read 
by Truman Capote, which is one of my favorite books. I was always fascinated about the case. Truman focused on Dick and Perry but I was fascinated with what it would be like to live during that time in that small town and what happens when everyone is looking at everyone else as someone who could have done something so violent. I wanted to answer the question of what happens if you’re best friend was murdered and your father ends up having to represent one of the suspects. I did so much research for this book. Newspaper articles were my saving grace.
Was it hard to get an agent? Can you talk us through the process?
Yes. Yes it was. I’m a product of the slush-pile. I didn’t know anyone in publishing. Being published has been a dream for a very long time. I’ve queried many a book. But I guess this book was different. I researched many agents and queried many that I thought would be a perfect representative of my book but I ultimately signed with John, an agent that wasn’t just the perfect agent to represent this book but hopefully my future career.
Describe your writing day. Where do you write? How do you organize your time? Where do you look for inspiration?
I like to write historical fiction so I spend a lot of time researching. I like to read old newspaper articles, looking at vintage photographs, old magazines, anything and everything can make a good story. I write anytime I can. I use the note app on my phone throughout the day, whenever inspiration strikes.
Can you tell us about your next book?
I’ve finished another YA historical. It’s set in 1969. I’m drafting a YA alternate history novel set in 1984 and a MG historical fantasy.
Are there any tips you could give aspiring writers who are looking to get published?
I know it sounds silly but never number your chapters until the very last minute. Trust me it will save you a lot of hair pulling. Always backup your work in many different places. Trust me. I’ve been there. And even though it’s easier said than done try not to worry and have patience.
Can you describe three aspects of writing craft that have been most important as you’ve developed as an author?
1. Have an outline but don’t stick with it. Let the words take you where they want to go.
2. Don’t be afraid to cut characters during revisions.
3. When you get “stuck” don’t be afraid to step away and work on other things.
Which favorite authors would you invite to a dinner party? What fictional character do you wish you’d invented?
Truman Capote. I think it would be a fun dinner party. Though he’d be doing all the talking and gossiping. But there would be laughing. And I think many secrets would be spilled.
Luna Lovegood and Amy Dunne. Two of the most different but amazing characters ever written.
Congrats Courtney! From Publishers Weekly:
Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends has bought the next two YA novels by Shutter author Courtney Alameda. The first, Pitch Dark, is set against a future of marauding space scavengers and deadly aliens who kill with sound. Publication is scheduled for fall 2016, with the second book to follow in fall 2017. John M. Cusick at Greenhouse Literary negotiated the deal for North American rights.
(For the record, PITCH DARK is going to be *insane*. And I get to read it before allllll y’all. Be jealous 🙂 )
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Visit Courtney’s website, follow her on Twitter, and like her on Facebook.
Check out SHUTTER on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, and Goodreads.
Congrats to Julie Olson on her four-book illustration deal with HarperCollins / Zondervan! (You may remember Julie joined the agency back in September. You can read an interview with Julie here.)
From Publishers Marketplace: Julie Olson to illustrate Mona Hodgson’s four PRINCESS TWINS books, important spiritual lessons in kindness, humility, inner beauty, and trusting God, to Cindy Davis at Zondervan, by John Cusick at Greenhouse Literary Agency (World).
John M. Cusick 