Tag: Zeno Sales

New Deal for Lavie Tidhar…

Posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2013

We’re delighted to announce a new deal for Lavie Tidhar. Here’s the official announcement from the publisher…

Anne Perry has acquired World English rights to two books by Lavie Tidhar, for the ongoing speculative fiction initiative at Hodder. The deal was negotiated by Tidhar’s agent, John Berlyne at the Zeno Agency.

 

lavieTidhar recently won the 2012 World Fantasy Best Novel Award for his novel OSAMA. He is one of the rising young stars of the genre world; in addition to OSAMA (which has been shortlisted for or won numerous prizes, including the BSFA award for best novel, the John W. Campbell best novel award, and the Kitschies’ Red Tentacle), Lavie has also writtenTHE BOOKMAN HISTORIES, an historical fantasy trilogy published by Angry Robot, numerous novellas, short stories and even a comic-book.

 

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy meets Watchmen in Tidhar’s THE VIOLENT CENTURY, the thoughtful and intensely atmospheric novel about the mystery, and the love story, that determined the course of history itself. THE VIOLENT CENTURY is the sweeping drama of a time we know too well; a century of fear and war and hatred and death.  In a world where everyday heroes may become übermenschen, men and women with extraordinary powers, what does it mean to be a hero? To be a human? Would the last hundred years have been that much better if Superman were real?

 

Would they even have been all that different?

 

John Berlyne says: ‘This deal tops off what has been a most incredible 2012 for Lavie. With THE VIOLENT CENTURY, this fearless young author further establishes himself as a unique voice in modern fiction and I’m delighted that Hodder will be publishing.’

 

Anne Perry says: ‘In the last few years, Lavie has undertaken staggeringly ambitious projects – OSAMA, after all, is a novel about a world in which Osama bin Laden is the  villain in  a series of pulp novels – and made them work. With THE VIOLENT CENTURY, however, Lavie has reached a new level. The book demonstrates the maturity, the confidence, and the control of an author now really hitting his stride, and I’m beyond thrilled that Lavie has chosen to publish with Hodder & Stoughton.’

 

Hodder have set a release date of October 2013. And look out for a limited edition of THE VIOLENT CENTURY to be published by PS Publishing around the same time. Translation and film rights are represented by Zeno.

Ebury Snaps Up OSIRIS…

Posted on Friday, August 24th, 2012

We’re delighted to announce that Michael Rowley, Editorial Director at Ebury has bought UK and Commonwealth rights to E.J.Swift‘s OSIRIS, and two further titles in the series in a deal negotiated by John Berlyne of the Zeno Agency. Ebury will publish the first book next February under their newly named genre imprint Del Rey.

OSIRIS (which featured recently on io9) has already been published to excellent reviews by Night Shade in the US and the author has quickly gathered an online presence with a series of excellent guest blog posts at places such as The Night Bazaar, SF Signal and The Qwillery. She will shortly be attending her first Worldcon, Chicon7 in Chicago – see here for her schedule.

‘A vivid, exotic, turbulent world on the far, far side of our own era, populated by characters delicate and brawling, refined and coarse, timid and bold, vengeful and loving—in short, a full spectrum of humanity.’ — Paul Di Filippo, author of A PRINCESS OF THE LINEAR JUNGLE

‘At a time when writing the far future novels is harder and harder Swift does it with style, brains and heart. OSIRIS is a fine mix of mystery and apocalyptic intrigue on a human scale.’ — Richard Kadrey, author of SANDMAN SLIM

New Clients, New Deals # 2

Posted on Sunday, May 20th, 2012

Zeno welcomes the super talented South African author Charlie Human as a client with the news of an exciting deal. Charlie’s debut novel APOCALYPSE NOW NOW, plus an untitled follow-up, has sold to Jack Fogg at Century for a very healthy five-figure sum in a deal negotiated by John Berlyne of the Zeno Agency. Century will publish in the UK and Commonwealth (Ex SA) IN SUMMER 2013. South African rights sold in a separate deal to Frederik de Jager at Random House Struik.

A sharp urban fantasy with a uniquely South African twist, APOCALYPSE NOW NOW has been described by fellow SA writer Lauren Beukes (author of the Arthur C. Clarke award winning ZOO CITY) as ‘… mad and dark and irreverent and wonderfully twisted in all the right ways‘. Here’s a taste of what you can expect…

‘Baxter Zevcenko is your average sixteen-year-old-boy — if by average you mean kingpin of a schoolyard porn syndicate and possible serial killer who suffers from surreal  nightmares. Which may very well be what counts as average these days. Baxter is the first to admit that he’s not a nice guy. After all, if the guy below you falls, dragging you down into an icy abyss you have to cut him loose — even in high school.

That is until his girlfriend, Esmé, is kidnapped and Baxter is forced to confront a disturbing fact about himself — that he has a heart, and the damn thing is forcing him to abandon high-school politics and set out on a quest to find her. The clues point to supernatural forces at work and Baxter is must admit that he can’t do it alone. Enter Jackie Ronin, supernatural bounty hunter, Border War veteran, and all-round lunatic, who takes him on a chaotic tour of Cape Town’s sweaty, occult underbelly.

What do glowing men, transsexual African valkyries, and zombie-creating arachnids have to do with Esmé’s disappearance? That’s what Baxter really, really needs to find out.’

John Berlyne said ‘When this one landed in my in-box I knew immediately that it was something special. It’s sly, iconoclastic, off-the-wall and full of the kind of energy that I hunger for in my reading. It’s also extremely well written – the kind of book that reads effortlessly. I’m very pleased indeed that Century – who’ve had such a success with Ernest Cline’s superb READY PLAYER ONE – will be publishing.’

Jack Fogg said ‘APOCALYPSE NOW NOW is one of those rare, generous novels which goes to incredible lengths to entertain the reader. I haven’t laughed so hard or flat out enjoyed a ride more in a very long time. Charlie is a fantastic writer, at the forefront of the nascent speculative fiction scene in South Africa, and I feel incredibly privileged to be publishing his unique novels.’

Charlie Human is a writer from Cape Town, South Africa. His short story, The Immaculate Particle, appeared in Pandemonium: Stories of the Apocalypse, and Land of the Blind was printed in the UK version of ZOO CITY  by Lauren Beukes. He has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town.

All other rights are with Zeno.

Tidhar’s OSAMA Marches On…

Posted on Thursday, May 10th, 2012

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.

New Clients, New Deals #1…

Posted on Sunday, May 6th, 2012

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.

Emma Swift’s Début series OSIRIS Sells to Nightshade…

Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012

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.

Ian McDonald’s PLANESRUNNER Sales News…

Posted on Friday, January 20th, 2012

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 Books buys Foyle Debut…

Posted on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

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.

Cobley Sells New Novel to Orbit…

Posted on Friday, January 6th, 2012

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.’

Myke Cole’s SHADOW OPs to Headline…

Posted on Friday, December 16th, 2011

It is with great pleasure that we announce the arrival of US author Myke Cole, who  joins the Zeno client roster with the sale of his fabulous, high energy military fantasy series, SHADOW OPS, described by Peter V Brett as ‘Black Hawk Down meets the X-Men’ and ‘military fantasy like you’ve never seen it before’.

UK and Commonwealth rights have been acquired by Headline, with recently appointed commissioning editor John Wordsworth concluding a five figure, three book deal negotiated by John Berlyne of the Zeno Agency on behalf of Joshua Bilmes of JABberwocky Agency, Inc. in the US.

Headline will publish the first book in the series, CONTROL POINT in late 2012 with sequels FORTRESS FRONTIER and BREACH ZONE following in February 2013 and February 2014.

‘CONTROL POINT is an absolutely thrilling, fresh take on the military fantasy novel,’  says Wordsworth. ‘Myke has drawn from his own considerable experience, which includes three tours in Iraq, to create a world with breathtaking scope. I’m just itching to see where he takes it in the next two books. I am over the moon that the Shadow Ops series will be published by Headline.’

 

Michael Cobley Enters Orbit (US)…!

Posted on Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

Michael Cobley‘s acclaimed science fiction trilogy, Humanity’s Fire, (comprising SEEDS OF EARTH, THE ORPHANED WORLDS and THE ASCENDANT STARS) will be published in the US by Orbit next year – the books are provisionally scheduled for October, November and December 2012.

William Gibson Signs New Deal with Penguin…

Posted on Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

Penguin have bought UK and British Commonwealth rights to William Gibson‘s non-fiction collection DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR and an untitled new novel.

The deal was negotiated by John Parker on behalf of the author’s primary agent Martha Millard and Zeno is absolutely delighted to add this marquee name to our list of clients.

News on the novel is strictly under wraps for now, but this superb collection should certainly whet your appetite whilst we wait. Here’s the cover copy…

‘William Gibson was writing fiction when he predicted the internet. And as his stories bled into reality, so he became one of the first to report on the real-world consequences of cyberspace’s growth and development.

Now, with the dust settling on the first internet revolution, comes Gibson’s first collection of non-fiction essays from the technological and cultural frontiers of this new world. Covering a variety of subjects, they include:

  • Metrophagy: The Art and Science of Digesting Great Cities
  • An account of obsession in ‘the world’s attic’:eBay
  • Reasons why ‘The Net is a Waste of Time’
  • Singapore as ‘Disneyland with the Death Penalty’
  • A primer on Japan, our default setting for the future

These and many other pieces, collected for the first time in DISTRUST THAT PARTICULAR FLAVOR, are studded with revealing autobiographical fragments and map the development of Gibson’s acute perceptions about modern life.

Here, then, is a guide to the new territory we find ourselves in written by one of its discoverers.‘

Zeno Deals Round-Up…

Posted on Monday, September 5th, 2011

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.
  • German rights to Freda Warrington’s ELFLAND sold to Carl Ueberreuter Verlag GMBH via Paul & Peter Fritz AG.
  • 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.
  • Also via Lora Fountain, French rights to Ian McDonald‘s PLANESRUNNER sold to Gallimard Jeunesse.
  • The Library of America will publish the Algis Budrys‘ classic SF work WHO? as part of a reissue series to be edited by Gary K. Wolfe.
  • 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.
  • US rights to Iain Sinclair‘s GHOST MILK and AMERICAN SMOKE went to Mitzi Angel at Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.
  • UK /British  Commonwealth rights to two brand new titles in Elizabeth Moon‘s PALADIN’S LEGACY series sold to Orbit.

And there are plenty more things in the pipeline! More in due course.

Subterranean Press Buys New Blaylock Novel…

Posted on Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Zeno Literary Agency is delighted to announce our first sale to Subterranean Press, who will publish James P. Blaylock‘s YA novel, ZEUGLODON in 2012, following a deal negotiated by John Berlyne.

‘A skeletal hand clutching an iron key lies hidden within a mermaid’s wooden sarcophagus; a hand-drawn map is stolen from beneath the floorboards of an old museum; an eccentric sleeping inventor dreams of a locked passage to the centre of the hollow earth, and by dreaming of the passage, brings it into being…

Pursued by kidnappers thinking of riches and murder, Katherine Perkins and her two cousins, junior members of The Guild of St. George, must descend into the depths of the earth in order to return the Sleeper to his ancestral home on the shores of Lake Windermere.  But to awaken him would mean the end of the dream, the closing of the passage, and the three intrepid explorers marooned in a savage land forgotten by time itself…’

Subterranean have a long and fruitful relationship with Blaylock having for some years published a good deal of his work in beautiful premium, collectable editions. Bill Schafer says “We at SubPress are more than pleased to add that most Blaylockian of novels, ZEUGLODON, to our schedule next year. It’s vintage James P. Blaylock, set on the same fictional map as his classic novel, THE DIGGING LEVIATHAN, with all the mystery, charm, and whimsy one could want.“

Ian McDonald Sells Film Rights to The Dervish House…

Posted on Thursday, April 28th, 2011

Zeno Agency is delighted to announce that film and television rights to Ian McDonald‘s award winning novel THE DERVISH HOUSE have been optioned by Warp Films. The deal was negotiated by Zeno’s John Richard Parker who says, ‘As with all Ian’s books THE DERVISH HOUSE is very much cinematic as well being  an imaginative tour de force. I have always believed it has the qualities that  make it eminently suitable for film and I am sure that with Warp’s enthusiasm for the project and their fantastic track record, all the ingredients are in place to put together something very special indeed.’

Warp Films have had notable successes recently with SUBMARINE and FOUR LIONS and Executive Producer Peter Carlton says ‘We’re delighted to have the chance to adapt THE DERVISH HOUSE for the screen, set in that most iconic of cities, crossroads of east and west, past and future, Istanbul. It starts with an explosion on a tram and ends in a race to stop a terrorist plot, but in the meantime Ian somehow weaves together speculative share trading, nanotechnology and Islamic microcalligraphy, to name but a few strands in this visual feast that has a narrative sweep and ambition all too rare in contemporary fiction.‘