Zeno Literary Agency Ltd.

Updated 8th May 2012 : CLOSED – Please do not query us until this status changes.

As now listed on Amazon.co.uk, Corvus have pushed back their publication of the new Tim Powers novel, HIDE ME AMONG THE GRAVES to early September.

This delay has allowed for some extra special attention to be paid to their cover art and also to that of  their forthcoming reissue of THE STRESS OF HER REGARD – and seen side by side, they make for an impressive and eye-catching bit of author branding, no?

And no sooner had my post about the various sales of OSAMA gone live yesterday,  than the news came through that Lavie’s book has made this year’s shortlist for the John W. Campbell Award, the third major prize that this extraordinary novel has been up for.

Zeno has a special association with the Campbell Award and if Lavie should win, he’ll actually be the third Zeno author in four years to do so – following in the footsteps of Ian R. MacLeod (2009) and Ian McDonald (2011).

Congratulations and good luck, Lavie!

Mass market paperback rights for Lavie Tidhar‘s provocative and much acclaimed novel OSAMA have been bought by Jonathan Oliver at Solaris Books in a deal negotiated by John Berlyne of the Zeno Agency. Solaris will publish in October in both the US and the UK and their edition will feature the original PS Publishing cover art by Pedro Marques.

In translation markets, Hungarian rights for OSAMA we bought by Ad Astra via Gynn Kalman of the Torus Books Agency on behalf of Zeno, and Polish rights went to MAG in a deal negotiated by Patrycja Swiat at ANAW Literary Agency on behalf of Zeno.

Over on the Orbit Blog, this recent post giving some love to their up-coming publication of Ian Tregillis‘s stunning WWII fantasy BITTER SEEDS…

We’re delighted to announced that Zeno now represents award winning author Mark Hodder in the UK and commonwealth, on behalf of primary agent Eddie Schneider at the JABberwocky Literary Agency  Inc. in New York.

Mark’s fantastic steampunk romp THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF SPRING-HEELED JACK was a hugely popular winner of the 2011 Philip K. Dick Award, and along with the two follow up titles THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE CLOCKWORK MAN and EXPEDITION TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON (published by Pyr in the US and Snow Books here in the UK) has brought this author great acclaim and a huge fan base in a relatively short period of time.

We can now announce three new Burton and Swinburn novels, THE SECRET OF ABDU EL-YEZDI THE MYSTIC, IN THE GRIP OF THE BEAST, and THE MYSTERY OF THE MULTIPLYING MEN, which will run parallel to the first trilogy. These, along with a ‘sword-and-planet’ standalone, A RED SUN ALSO RISES have been acquired at auction in a four book deal by Michael Rowley at Ebury, and will be published on their soon-to-be-name dedicated SF/F list, the first title appearing in 2013.

We’re delighted to announce several recent sales to  Stacy Patton-Anderson at Audible.

First up, a slew of titles by Lavie Tidhar – including his PS Publishing novel OSAMA, a work that has been on everyone’s lips of late, not least because it was name-checked in Christopher Priest’s now infamous ranty  blog post as one of the titles (along with WAKE UP AND DREAM by fellow Zeno client, Ian R. MacLeod) that should have made this year’s Arthur C. Clarke award shortlist. We, of course, couldn’t possibly comment on this matter… except to say how absolutely correct Mr Priest is!

Along with OSAMA, Audible will also be releasing Lavie’s entire BOOKMAN trilogy in audio – THE BOOKMAN, CAMERA OBSCURA and the recently published THE GREAT GAME, and the final title in this superb batch is Lavie’s collaboration with fellow Israeli author Nir Yaniv, THE TEL-AVIV DOSSIER, a scarcer Tidhar title, originally published by Chizine Publications in Canada.

Joining Lavie at Audible is another client, Ian McDonald – himself often seen on awards and ‘best of’ shortlists. Audible will be publishing an audio edition of Ian’s THE DERVISH HOUSE, a novel that was nominated for last year’s Clarke and Hugo awards and which won the Campbell, the BSF and the SFSite poll. They will also be publishing BRASYL (also nominated for the Clarke) and RIVER OF GODS (nominated for the Clarke, Hugo and the Tiptree).

World Fantasy Award and Philip K. Dick award winner James P. Blaylock will see his new novel ZEUGLODON (to be published later this year by Subterranean) and also his classic work THE DIGGING LEVIATHAN published in audio.

And finally – very much in the sense of ‘at long last’ -  an author with too many award wins and nominations to list here, William Gibson. To accompany their release of Gibson’s new non-fiction collection DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOUR, Audible have acquired a number of backlist titles – namely NEUROMANCER, THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE, PATTERN RECOGNITION, SPOOK COUNTRY and ZERO HISTORY.

Happy listening!

Congratulations to our client Aliette de Bodard, whose story Shipbirth has been short-listed for this the 2011 Nebula Award in the Short Story category.

The Nebulas are are ‘voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.‘ and have been so since 1965!

The ceremony this year will take place at the Nebula Awards Weekend, May 17th thru 20th in Arlington, Virginia, USA.

You can read Aliette’s nominated story here.

We are delighted to announce  that Jeremy Lassen at Night Shade Books has  bought North American rights to E.J. Swift‘s début novel OSIRIS. The three book deal, which will also see two further books in the series published, was negotiated by John Berlyne of the Zeno Agency.

An ingenious and engaging work of dystopian fiction, the eponymous OSIRIS is a retro-futuristic metropolis reminiscent of Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD. The novel tells of an unlikely romance across social divides between a glamorous young socialite grieving for her missing twin and an idealistic activist from the wrong side of the wall.

‘I’m thrilled that Night Shade will be publishing Emma’s hugely exciting début,’ says John Berlyne.  ’Their dedication to bringing forth new talent makes them one of the most exciting publishers out there right now and Emma’s super- stylish and distinctive brand of literary SF is a perfect fit. There’s some comment in the genre at the moment about a dearth of female authors, particularly in SF. The arrival of E.J. Swift on the scene will, I’m quite sure, go some way toward redressing this perceived imbalance.’

Nightshade‘s Jeremy Lassen commented ‘I’m thrilled by E. J. Swift’s unique voice – I believe her trilogy will be well received both commercially and critically by the science fiction community and I’m excited to see her take her place on Night Shade’s science fiction list, alongside authors like Paulo Bacigalupi and Rob Ziegler. Night Shade is committed to publishing important works of 21st century science fiction and E.J. Swift’s Osiris is one of them.‘

OSIRIS will be published in hard cover in summer 2012, with books two and three following in 2013 and 2014 respectively. All other rights are with Zeno.

The French edition of Michael Cobley‘s SEEDS OF EARTH (originally published in the UK by Orbit) has been nominated in the longlist for Best Foreign Novel category for this year’s Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, the most prestigious award in the SFF field in France.

L’Ombre de la Longue Nuit, translated by Laurent Queyssi, is published by Bragelonne and will compete with ten works by contemporaries such as Dan Simmons, China Mieville and Lauren Beukes and fellow Zeno client Aliette de Bodard.

Aliette’s novel, D’Obsidienne et de Sang, translated by Laurent Philibert-Caillat, is published by Eclipse – having originally been published in English by Angry Robot as SERVANT OF THE UNDERWORLD. And yes,  the multiple ironies involved with a native French author, living in France, writing in English, being translated into French and then nominated in a category for Best Foreign Novel have not escaped our notice! Still cool, though, ain’t it!

The shortlist will be announced by the jury at the end of March and the winners will receive their prizes at a ceremony held during the Etonnants Voyageurs (Amazing Voyagers) festival at Saint-Malo (26-28 May 2012).

Congratulations and good luck to both Mike and Aliette. We’re hoping for a tie between the two of you!

Random surfing this evening brought me to a brutal and erudite post on the web site of author Chuck Wendig (not, I should add, a client, but a wise and level head nonetheless).

If you’re picking around this site looking for tips on how to approach an agent, or you’re perhaps trying to fathom whether you even need one, you could do a lot worse than checking out Wendig’s 25 Things Writers Should Know About Agents.

Amen.

Hot on the heels of our previous post, we’ve exciting news of another deal with Jo Fletcher Books to announce…

Jo has just acquired UK & British Commonwealth rights to the first three books of  Ian McDonald’s EVERNESS series, this award winning author’s first foray into YA.

The initial title, PLANESRUNNER, will be published this coming summer and has already been released in the US by Pyr to absolutely fantastic reviews (see below) with French rights going to Gallimard Jeunesse. Other translation deals are in the pipeline and we’re also currently fielding *lots* of film interest!

Jo Fletcher says, ‘I first published Ian McDonald way back when, in my early days at Gollancz, and I will never forget waiting breathlessly for the next chapters of CHAGA, and how awed I was by the sheer depth of imagination allied to such a wonderful writing style. So of course I leapt at the opportunity to bring Ian to Jo Fletcher Books, particularly with such a wildly exuberant, exciting and unforgettable series. In fact, I passed PLANESRUNNER around the office and was delighted that my JFB and Quercus colleagues were just as excited as I am. We’re going to have enormous fun publishing this, and can’t wait for a movie deal to bring this to the widest possible audience it so richly deserves.’

‘Planesrunner is chock-full of awesome. Ian McDonald’s steampunk London blazes on a vast scale with eye-popping towers, gritty streets, and larger-than-life characters who aren’t afraid to fight for each other. The kind of airship-dueling, guns-blazing fantasy that makes me wish I could pop through to the next reality over, join the Airish, and take to the skies‘ — Paolo Bacigalupi

‘Smashing adventure fiction that spans the multiverse without ever losing its cool or its sense of style. Ian McDonald is one of the greats of science fiction, and his young adult debut is everything you could hope for: romantic, action-packed, wildly imaginative, and full of heart.’ — Cory Doctorow

‘Athletic, brilliant, and always ahead of the game, Everett is too perfect, but it doesn’t detract from the book’s fun. McDonald writes with scientific and literary sophistication, as well as a wicked sense of humor. Add nonstop action, eccentric characters, and expert universe building, and this first volume of the Everness series is a winner.’ — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Jo Fletcher at Jo Fletcher Books, the recently launched genre imprint at Quercus, has acquired World rights for SEOUL SURVIVORS, a futuristic, satirical thriller and the début novel from Zeno client Naomi Foyle.

The world balances upon the edge of a knife. A meteor known as Lucifer’s Hammer is about to wreak a terrible destruction on the earth and terrorists have annihilated the City of London, covering it in a blanket of nuclear poison.

Rumours of war abound in every continent, but if the end of the world is imminent, there is only one safe place to be.

American-Korean bio-engineer Dr Kim Da Mi thinks she has found the perfect solution in the mountains above Seoul, but her methods are strange and her business partner, Johnny Sandman, is not exactly the type of person anyone would want to mix with. Sydney – a Canadian model trying to escape an unhappy past, is drawn in by their smiles and pretty promises – until she realises that the quest for perfection, comes at an impossible price…

A second untitled novel has also been acquired as part of the deal. Jo Fletcher says ‘Renowned poet and playwright Naomi Foyle’s debut novel Seoul Survivors is a dark, passionate, flamboyant cyber-thriller set tomorrow, with the world on the brink of catastrophic climate breakdown.

I was immediately captivated by Naomi’s wonderful characterisation, not just of the main protagonists, Sydney, the beautiful, ditzy Canadian model looking to reinvent herself, the brash, dangerous henchman Johnny Sandman, the disaffected Brit Damien who is desperate for a way to safety, and the glamorous Korean-American scientist Dr Kim Da Mi ­ but also Seoul City itself, a vibrant, throbbing, exotic metropolis where nothing is quite what it appears.

It’s a great start to Naomi’s new life in the genre!‘

SEOUL SURVIVOR is currently scheduled for release in Feb 2013, with the untitled second novel following in 2014.

Lavie Tidhar‘s formidable novel OSAMA is one of five books nominated for this year’s Kitschie Awards – specifically, their ‘Red Tentacle’ award!

The winner receives a £750 prize, a hand-crafted tentacular trophy and (best of all!) a bottle of the Kraken’s finest black rum. See here for more details and for the full shortlist.

‘OSAMA is exceptional. Compelling, confrontational, and surprisingly moving, it is one of the best novels yet on terror in our times.’ — World Literature Today

‘Not a writer to mess around with half measures … brings to mind Philip K Dick’s seminal science fiction novel THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE.’ –- The Guardian on OSAMA.

‘Bears comparison with the best of Philip K Dick’s paranoid, alternate-history fantasies. It’s beautifully written and undeniably powerful.’ – The Financial Times on OSAMA.

‘OSAMA is written with both an obvious affection for genre fiction and a sense of wild-eyed disbelief at the insanity of a world where people fly planes into skyscrapers. 4.5/5 stars.’ –- SFX

‘Intensely moving.‘ -– Interzone on OSAMA

Some great deal news for Michael Cobley – Orbit have acquired World English rights to WARCAGE, a brand new novel set in the world of his hugely popular Humanity’s Fire series, and they will publish in hard cover both the UK and the US in Autumn 2013. Here’s a taster…

In the Warcage war is a game, brutal, savage and sudden. In the Warcage three hundred worlds orbit a single artificial star, three hundred battlefields where different species vie for mastery and triumph. In the Warcage, all bend the knee to the Lords of Permutation or suffer indescribable agonies. In the Warcage Randal Pyke, captain and smuggler, must find a way to fight his way to freedom. Because in the Warcage the game of war is played to the death – and beyond.

…and Mike offers up a little further insight into the WARCAGE, thus -  ‘The original idea behind WARCAGE actually goes back 26 years when I came up with the idea for an immense artificial star system full of planets. I even built a plastic model of it, which was sadly lost in one of my more recent moves. Suffice to say that with scores, even hundreds of planets, and a twisted and savage background, the unfolding drama will be action-packed and resonant with meaning.‘

Anne Clarke, Editorial Director for Orbit UK, says, ‘We’re all delighted with the continuing success of Michael’s superb Humanity’s Fire series, and we’re very excited about WARCAGE and looking forward to sharing it with Mike’s fans next year. Michael Cobley is becoming an increasingly important name in science fiction, so we’re extremely happy that our colleagues in the US will be on this adventure with us too.’