Book Deals: K. Ancrum's ICARUS Acquired by HarperTeen!

August 25, 2022 by Eric Smith

I’ve said this before about working with Kayla, and I’ll say it again… I was a fan long before I was given the chance to work on her astonishing novels.

I adored The Wicker King something fierce, and considered myself so wildly lucky when I got to work with her on Darling, A Murder of Crows, and well… some more things in the pipeline.

Including these new books, heading your way in 2024.

Let’s talk about ICARUS! Here’s the blip from Publisher’s Weekly:

Stephanie Stein at HarperTeen has bought World English rights, in a two-book deal, to K. Ancrum’s romantic YA thriller ICARUS, a reimagining of the classic myth pitched as The Goldfinch meets Ari & Dante, in which a teen cat burglar carries out his father’s mission of stealing works of art from a local wealthy man, to replace them with intricate, perfect replicas… until he’s caught by another boy his age imprisoned in the rich neighbor’s home. Publication is planned for Winter 2024. Eric Smith at P.S. Literary Agency brokered the deal.

It’s an astonishing new book, with a second following after, and well… Kayla’s not done with news yet.

But hey… more on that soon.

Congrats, Kayla!

Book Deals: Tiana Smith's Adult Debut, THE SPY AND I, Acquired by Berkley

June 17, 2022 by Eric Smith

Tiana Smith’s latest Young Adult rom-com, How to Speak Boy, holds a special place in my agent heart. After-all, it’s a novel centered around speech and debate, something that I made my entire personality when I was in high school. It was like she wrote that book just for me.

And now, I’m so pleased to announce she’s written her adult debut, and it’ll be out with Berkley next year… with a sequel to follow!

Here’s a bit more about it from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Tiana Smith’s adult debut THE SPY AND I, an action-packed romcom about a case of mistaken identity, when the heroine is confused for her super spy sister and must work with a hot and mysterious covert operative to save the day.

Oh, this book. It’s a riotous, wonderful romp packed full of Tiana’s crackling humor. I can’t wait for adult readers to discover this one.

Congrats, Tiana!

Book Deals: Tawny Lara's DRY HUMPING to Quirk Books

June 01, 2022 by Eric Smith

I remember calling Tawny when this book proposal hit my inbox, because I needed it immediately. Her voice, her message, her history of tackling this topic… she was THE person to write this book, and a writer I desperately wanted to work with.

And now, just a few months later, here we are.

So happy to say that Tawny Lara’s debut book, DRY HUMPING, will be published with Quirk Books next year. Here are some details about the perfectly titled book:

Contributor to Playboy, Men's Health, HuffPost, and cohost of the Recovery Rocks podcast Tawny Lara's DRY HUMPING: A BOOZE-FREE GUIDE TO SEX, DATING, AND RELATIONSHIPS, a how-to guide on navigating relationships, dating, and sexuality while living a sober or sober-curious life.

Watch out for it. It’s an important, funny, and wonderful book, that I think will help a lot of people. Congrats, Tawny!

Book Deals: Adam Sass' Your Lonely Nights are Over to Viking!

May 25, 2022 by Eric Smith

When Surrender Your Sons hit the Young Adult scene, the vibrations could be felt. That debut novel racked up the best of lists and won a bundle of well-deserved awards.

I loved watching the book world celebrate when Adam landed his major deal with Viking for his rom-coms, and well… he wasn’t going to leave thrillers behind.

His latest, YOUR LONELY NIGHTS ARE OVER, has been scooped up by the team at Viking, and oh boy, it is great. Here’s some details from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Adam Sass's YOUR LONELY NIGHTS ARE OVER, pitched as Scream meets Clueless, in which two gay teen BFFs find their friendship tested when one of them is accused of being the mysterious killer who has been stalking their school's queer club.

Keep an eye out for this one. And trust no one, dearie.

Book Deals: Sophie Saint Thomas' WEED WITCH to Running Press!

April 25, 2022 by Eric Smith

Well, Sophie Saint Thomas is revving up to publish her FIFTH book, my friends. With Glamour Witch publishing earlier next year and this latest title, she is continuing to be an unstoppable force.

Sophie’s newest book, WEED WITCH, will be published with Running Press next year.

Here’s a bit more about it from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Author of FINDING YOUR HIGHER SELF and SEX WITCH Sophie Saint Thomas's WEED WITCH, a witch's guide to all things cannabis: spells and rituals using weed, consuming cannabis to enhance tarot and other magical practices, incorporating CBD into a wellness routine, and much more.

Congrats Sophie! You constantly keep me busy in the best way possible, and I can’t wait until book number six. Let’s go!

Book Deals: Alison Stine's DUST to Wednesday Books!

April 15, 2022 by Eric Smith

Working with Alison Stine has been such a career highlight for me. Her novels, from Road Out of Winter to Trashlands, have shocked and awed me, as well as readers! Road Out of Winter scooped up the Philip K. Dick Award, Trashlands has been nominated for a bundle of things (including the Mark Twain prize!). And with good cause. Her books are stunning.

And well, now she’s entering the world of YA, and I’m beyond thrilled.

Her novel, DUST, was scooped up by St. Martin’s Press / Wednesday Books, and will be in bookstores everywhere next year. Here’s a bit about it from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Philip K. Dick Award-winning author Alison Stine's DUST, about a partially deaf girl in a strict, reclusive family who meets someone else in the Deaf community for the first time, finding connection amidst a land ravaged by climate change, and when a second Dust Bowl of apocalyptic proportions approaches, she and the boy who has begun to secretly teach her sign language must convince their skeptical rural community to flee to safety.

I can’t wait for kids to experience Alison’s powerful voice, with a story that’s so wildly close to her.

Congrats Alison!

Book Deals: Aidan Moher's Fight, Magic, Items to Running Press!

February 21, 2022 by Eric Smith

I’ve been a fan of Aidan Moher for a while.

It’s been a real joy, following his essays. Whether he’s writing about fantasy or sci-fi novelists, classic video games, or how those things intersect, his work is something really special and spectacularly geeky.

And now, you’ll get to read his first published non-fiction book.

FIGHT MAGIC ITEMS is Aidan’s deep dive into the history of JRPGs, and how they’ve influenced so much of pop culture. If you’ve never read any of Aidan’s work in that space, I highly recommend checking out his piece that digs into Chrono Trigger. It’s a long, brilliant read, and full of the love and attention to detail you can expect from a full book.

Here’s a bit more from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Non-fiction / Pop Culture: Hugo-award winner and contributor to Wired, Kotaku, and Electronic Gaming Monthly, Aidan Moher’s FIGHT, MAGIC, ITEMS, an exploration of the history of Japanese role-playing games through deep dive essays and personal interviews, and how their stories have transformed pop culture and won the hearts of gamers worldwide, to Britny Brooks at Running Press, for publication in October 2022.

Goodness I am so excited about this one. And to have another project with THE Britny Brooks, an editor who continuously understands all my spectacularly nerdy projects.

Congrats Aidan!

February's Brain Pick: Chat with Video Game Writers & Authors Mary Kenney and Brittney M. Morris

February 09, 2022 by Eric Smith

It’s that time!

Last month’s virtual brain pick felt like a real success, and I’m happy to keep doing them like this. If you attended, thank you! If you didn’t, maybe come to this one? It’s fun, I promise.

This month’s brain pick will feature two special guests near and dear to me, Brittney M. Morris and Mary Kenney!

YA readers will recognize Brittney as the author of Slay and The Cost of Knowing. I’ve been lucky enough to get to know her over the years, as the two of us both write very nerdy books and have done some events together. Recently, she was brought on to work on Spider-Man 2 at Insomniac Games!

And speaking of Insomniac Games, Mary Kenney is a YA author, comics writer, and games writer at Insomniac! I’m lucky enough to represent her in my agent life, and her debut, Gamer Girls, publishes later this year with Running Press.

So, how DO these brain pick chats work?

Well, for the first half hour, we have a conversation. This one will be about writing and games, clearly. Me, Brittney, and Mary will chat about what they do, how it all works, a bit about their wonderful books, all that good stuff.

And then afterwards, we’ll have a solid 90 minutes of Q&A brain pick time. Sometimes it’s a little more, sometimes it’s a little less, depending on how many questions we get. And that’s on whatever you’re curious about. Are you logging on to ask questions about querying or publishing? Working with editors or agents? Or maybe you want to know strictly about gaming! Ask about how to get into writing for them, how the process is different from books, how they got their start? How YOU can get your start.

Well, now’s the time to get those questions answered.

As always, this is a completely free event. We’ll have a tip jar available. Last month we donated to Blue Stoop, and this month we’ll be donating towards Melody L. Simpson’s Melanin in YA.