It’s been a busy time here at Zeno Towers, what with the recent Worldcon in Reno, the upcoming Fantasycon and World Fantasy Convention, plus one or two personal bits and bobs that JP and I have been catching up on… life, I think some people call it!
That notwithstanding, we’ve been beavering away and are delighted to announce a few deals that we’ve recently concluded…
James P. Blaylock‘s first novel length Steampunk story in twenty years has sold to Titan in a world English deal negotiated by John Berlyne. THE AYLESFORD SKULL, which features further gaslight adventures of Langdon St. Ives and his nemesis Ignatio Narbondo will be published by Titan late next year or early 2013. A limited edition is also planned. In addition to THE AYLESFORD SKULL, Titan will also be re-issueing two Blaylock steampunk classics, the 1988 Philip K Dick Award winning HOMUNCULUS and also LORD KELVIN’S MACHINE. Audio rights for all three novels went to Stacy Patton Anderson at Audible.
Titan have also acquired world English rights (excluding India) to TURBULENCE and an UNTITLED sequel by Samit Basu. Publication is set for Feb 2012.
Audible will release an audiobook edition of Ian R. MacLeod‘s WAKE UP AND DREAM along with two earlier MacLeod novels THE SUMMER ISLES and THE GREAT WHEEL.
Audible also picked up audio rights to the third novel in Michael Cobley‘s HUMANITY’S FIRE series, THE ASCENDANT STARS. German rights for this title went to Heyne via Thomas Schluck.
Sheila Gilbert at DAW Books has acquired World English rights to Kari Sperring‘s THE GRASS KING’S CONCUBINE and an UNTITLED sequel in a nice deal negotiated by John Parker.
French rights to the first three novels in Ben Aaronovitch‘s best selling RIVERS OF LONDON series went to J’ai lu via Lora Fountain. Orion have sold rights to the series in Poland, Hungary and Italy.
UK / British Commonwealth rights to a new graphic novel series by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden entitled CEMETERY GIRL went to Jo Fletcher at Jo Fletcher Books. Jo has also acquired three anthologies edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni P. Kelner.
Posting to the agency web site has been sporadic of late, entirely down to time constraints. Aside from the aftermath of Worldcon, there has been the Frankfurt Book Fair, the processing of the bi-annual royalties (a tough job, but the one of the reasons we’re here, I guess!) prep for this year’s World Fantasy Convention (in Columbus, OH) and a subsequent week of meetings in NYC and the fact that we’ve been to a number of rather nice parties! That said, here’s a little news…
Angry Robot have revealed this gorgeous David Frankland cover for Lavie Tidhar’s forthcoming novel, CAMERA OBSCURA, the follow-up to his Steampunk romp, THE BOOKMAN, due for release next May, and about which they say ‘… In this one we meet Milady de Winter, investigating some murders in, of all places, the Rue Morgue. (Why yes, that does sound strangely familiar…) As she dives deeper into Parisian society, it seems everyone knows who did it except her… and the real question is not who, but why? Her search for answers will take her to the far side of the world, and beyond.’
And THE BOOKMAN has just sold to Rani Graff at Graff Publishing in Israel.
Lavie’s CLOUD PERMUTATIONS, published by PS Publishing has been receiving some nice coverage and we’ve just done a deal with Peter Crowther at PS for a new Tidhar collection – more news on this anon.
And whilst we’re patting him on the back, congrats to Lavie for being winning the Last Drink Bird Head award for International Activism… follow that link to find out more.
And we’ve a couple of other Angry Robot covers to show off here – on the left is Colin Harvey‘s DAMAGE TIME, a seat of the pants, SF thriller from the author of WINTER’S SONG. This new one by Colin has just been released by AR and in a recent Guardian review was described thus by Eric Brown ‘The strength of the novel lies not only in the depiction of a detailed future of hardship and privation, but in the expert characterisation of [protagonist] Shah: a lone figure whose origins leave him open to prejudice within the police department, and whose problematic relationship with an intersexual courtesan reveals his own deep-seated prejudices.‘
And to the right, we’ve the cover for POINT by Thomas Blackthorn (a.k.a John Meaney), not due out until Feb 2011 and which looks rather splendid when placed next to EDGE, the first Blackthorn novel. Swapping identities and publishers for a moment, John reports he has just completed the second Ragnaroknovel for Simon Spanton at Gollancz… more on that in due course.
We’ve some delivery news too… Tim Powers handed in new novel HIDE ME AMONGST THE GRAVES (working title) to Nic Cheetham at Corvus, and Ian Sinclair delivered GHOST MILK to Simon Prosser at Hamish Hamilton.
And in deal news, we’ve been very busy indeed – highlights include recently cemented contracts for Michael Cobley, whose Humanity’s Fire books will be released by Audible next year; for Peter V. Brett (in a major deal with Voyager); for Charlaine Harris (more audio) ; numerous foreign sales of Sir Roger Penrose‘s CYCLES OF TIME; for Ian McDonald (foreign language sales); for Justina Robson (a brand new story collection forthcoming from Australian publisher Ticonderoga); a film option for Andrew Hodges; and an exciting top secret project for Ben Aaronovitch which we’ll be announcing in due course; and one or two other things too.
The £10,000 award is given annually ‘for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place‘ and this year’s ceremony will take place on May 24th in London.
The 2010 judges, Kathleen Jamie, Professor Steve Jones and Penelope Lively, commended ‘compelling, individual voices, taut narrative and impressive research in six remarkable books from across a complete range of genres’.
Hackney: That Rose-Red Empire is now available in paperback from Hamish Hamilton.
Hackney: That Rose-Red Empire, Iain Sinclair’s extraordinary exploration of the area of London in which he has lived for decades has been applauded and recommended on a number of “Best of 2009″ lists. The paperback edition is due for publication in February 2010 from Hamish Hamilton.
‘My award for the most beautifully published volume of the year goes to Hackney: That Rose-Red Empire by Iain Sinclair. Sinclair’s provocative blend of documentary and fantasy have made him the focus of a literary cult and devotees will be delighted by his latest production‘ — Erica Wagner, Literary Editor of The Times
‘Iain Sinclair is now a national treasure. Hackney: That Rose-Red Empire might just turn out to be the lasting legacy of London 2012‘ — Jonathan Bate, London Review Of Books
‘My favourite piece of non-fiction [of 2009] was Iain Sinclair’s Hackney: That Rose-Red Empire, which sprawled and meandered as much as the borough’s streets do, but with rather more beauty‘ — Alex Clark, New Statesman
Benedetto, over at Iain Sinclair’s Official Unofficial web site has dropped us a line to say that he’s now got a mailing list to keep fans (and us!) up-to-date with Iain’s events diary.
Ledbury Poetry Festival – July 4th 2009, at 19.45 : Iain Sinclair and Brian Catling will give a Live Reading at this year Ledbury Poetry Festival, at the Burgage Hall
“Iain Sinclair and Brian Catling were both connected to the British avant-garde poetry scene in the 60s and 70s and they are reunited again at Ledbury for what will be a fascinating and perspective-shifting event. Iain Sinclair’s works include Lud heat: A Book of the Dead Hamlets, Downriver, Lights out for the Territory and London Orbital. Brian Catling is a poet, sculptor, performance artist, filmmaker, academic. His work ‘Antix’, was described as, “Uncompromising, its imaginative density and sinister ire pushed the shifting relationship between performer and audience into an uneasy space” (Frieze Magazine). He is also known for his very black sense of humour. His new book of poetry Resurrecting Bobby Awl is published this year.”
Please check the festival website for more details and for changes to the schedule.
Here’s a link to a really excellent web site dedicated to Iain Sinclair and his work. Iain has given his blessing to this instructive online resource which is run and maintained by Sinclair fan extraordinaire, Benedetto.
If you want up-to-date information on Iain’s public engagements, this is the place to visit…
A well deserved pat on the back goes to Anna Ridley, the publicist at Hamish Hamilton who steered the excellent campaign behind Iain Sinclair‘s recent book Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire. Check out this recent press release…
“Congratulations to Anna Ridley who has won the Publishers Publicity Circle Quarterly Award for her campaign for Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire by Iain Sinclair at today’s PPC meeting. The prize was awarded by Alice O’Keefe of The Bookseller, who singled out Anna’s quick response in turning the potentially negative ‘Hackney library controversy‘ into a positive news story to generate new levels of coverage for the book, and the focussed work Anna did with Hackney’s independent bookshops to coordinate a diverse range of events, and maximise sales as remarkable factors. The first quarter award is for any book published in December, January or February. Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire by Iain Sinclair was published by Hamish Hamilton on February 26th, 2009.”
There’s a wonderful short film on The Guardian web site in which Ian Sinclair takes us on a fascinating short walk around Hackney.
The piece – which you’ll find by following this link – offers a real flavour of Sinclair’s new book, Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire which is now at number #13 in the hardcover charts, is ranked in the top 250 Amazon sellers and has already been reprinted twice since its Feb 26th release!
Hackney: That Rose-Red Empire
, Iain Sinclair’s extraordinary exploration of the area of London in which he has lived for decades has been applauded and recommended on a number of “Best of 2009″ lists. The paperback edition is due for publication in February 2010 from