After she was dropped by her agent, Alex Aster turned to a books-obsessed corner of TikTok to gauge interest in her YA novel … and now Lightlark is one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the yearHaving finally published her first novel, Alex Aster was feeling disheartened. The book had tanked during the pandemic and she had been dropped by her literary agent. Then, on 13 March 2021, she decided to take to TikTok, asking her followers if they would: “read a book about a cursed island that only appears once every 100 years to host a game that gives the six rulers of the realm a chance to break their curses.” One of the rulers must die, the short video revealed, “even as love complicates everything” for the heroine, Isla Crown.Aster didn’t expect much, especially when she checked in a few hours later to see that her post had only clocked up about 1,000 views. Maybe the books world was right, she thought. Maybe there wasn’t a market for Lightlark, a young adult story she had been writing and rewriting for years, to no interest from publishers. The next day, however, she woke up to see her video had been viewed more than a million times. A week later, Lightlark had gone to auction and she had a six-figure deal with Amulet Books. Last month, Universal preemptively bought the film rights for, in her words, “more zeros than I’ve seen in my life”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2022-08-16 13:32:30 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#literary agent
#six-figure deal
#books world
#million times
#film rights
#ya novel
Simon & Schuster Children's UK and US have won a hotly contested multi-publisher auction for debut author A F Steadman's fantasy adventure series, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, in a seven-figure (sterling) co-publication deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-14 04:30:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ss children
#seven-figure deal
#unicorn thief
Hosts Kate, Eric, and Medaya are joined by renowned Chinese writer Yan Lianke, whose latest book is the memoir Three Brothers, about his childhood growing up during the Cultural Revolution. Calling in from Beijing, Yan discusses his life as a writer, being banned and censored in his own country... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-08-28 20:55:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#literature appeared
#yan lianke
#childhood growing
#cultural revolution
#memoir
Atlantic's Corvus imprint has acquired two novels from debut author Katy Cox, including M is for Mummy, a "warm and witty" story about parenting an autistic child. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-11 05:57:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#corvus imprint
#autistic child
#debut author
International Literary Properties has acquired 12 literary estates from Peters, Fraser + Dunlop, including those of Evelyn Waugh and Georges Simenon, in an eight-figure deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-02 04:26:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Pan Macmillan has landed Kristin Hannah's new novel in a six-figure deal ahead of the Netflix series of her book Firefly Lane (Pan). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-26 08:06:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#six-figure deal
#netflix series
#pan macmillan
#macmillan
Welbeck Publishing Group has signed a three-book deal with debut historical writer Ben Creed. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-17 20:25:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#three-book deal
#debut author
Toby Ferris traveled across Europe to see all of the Dutch Renaissance painter’s surviving work. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-11 18:07:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#short life
#strange world
Simon & Schuster UK has landed Bill Bowder's real-life thriller Freezing Order, which has also been at the centre of a flurry of translation deals and secured a six-figure audio deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-02 17:16:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#translation deals
Bloomsbury has won Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl, a satirical debut novel about race and authenticity in the workplace, for a six-figure deal following a nine-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-01 20:26:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#black girl
#six-figure deal
#satirical debut
#debut novel
#bloomsbury
Clive Cussler, the author of more than 85 books, written over 4 decades, died at home on Monday, February 24, at the age of 88. Cussler was a major bestseller in his lifetime, selling over 100 million copies of his thrillers and adventure novels, and hitting The New York Times‘s bestseller list... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-26 20:05:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bestseller list
Every assistant sifting through the slush pile, dreaming of selling their own novel, can now focus on the tale of Zakiya Harris, a former assistant editor who just sold her debut to Atria in a seven-figure deal. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Every assistant sifting through the slush pile, dreaming of selling their own novel, can now focus on the tale of Zakiya Harris, a former assistant editor who just sold her debut to Atria in a seven-figure deal. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#figure deal
#slush pile
#assistant editor
#seven-figure deal
Windmill’s new publishing director Charlotte Cray has pre-empted a “searing” début novel by Elizabeth Lee Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-12 04:39:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#six-figure deal
#publishing director
Canongate has signed a six-figurre deal for London-based author Tahmima Anam's fourth novel Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-10 17:15:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#six-figure deal
Serpent’s Tail has acquired an "irresistibly surreal" debut short story collection by Alice Ash. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-26 21:39:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#debut author
Thanksgiving is this week, which can only mean one thing: we’ve entered high You’ve Got Mail season. I’ve seen the movie at least a dozen times, so when today I endeavored to find an exact quote—for a blog post about Barnes & Noble, the IRL Fox Books-turned-lone-reed—I was not expecting my... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-11-25 17:58:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#dozen times
#barnes noble
HarperCollins has snapped up two women’s fiction books by debut author Hannah Sunderland. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-18 02:55:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#fiction books
#harpercollins
#debut author
Doubleday has snapped up Hallie Rubenhold's new book, Bad Women, which tells the story of the 1910 murder of Belle Elmore, by her husband Dr Crippen, and the extraordinary women caught up in these events. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-23 20:24:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#hallie rubenhold
#six-figure deal
Headline imprint Tinder Press is publishing the "life-changing" new novel from The Secret Life of Bees author Sue Monk Kidd. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-16 18:58:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#secret life
Hutchinson has signed a six-figure deal with author Nancy Tucker for her debut novel, The First Day of Spring, following an auction, with rights sold in the US, Brazil and France. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-15 10:14:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#exceptional debut
#hutchinson snaps
#six-figure deal
#rights sold