Latest acquisitions: Fiction
Among the new fiction signed by Australian publishers this year are books by several authors trying something new.
Echo has acquired world rights to Katrina Kell’s first novel for adults, via Fiona Smith at Beyond Words Literary Agency. The book is inspired by the French nude portrait Chloé, which has been displayed on the wall of Melbourne’s Young and Jackson Hotel since 1909. Echo will publish the novel in May 2024.
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to Cherrywood by Jock Serong in an auction brokered by Melanie Ostell of Melanie Ostell Literary. The ‘darkly playful, intriguing and deeply meaningful story of history, community, wonder, love and reinvention’ is, according to publisher Catherine Milne, ‘worlds away from what Jock has written before’. Cherrywood will be published under the Fourth Estate imprint in September 2024.
Puncher & Wattmann has acquired ANZ rights to debut short story collection The Mother Must Die by poet Koraly Dimitriadis via the author. The stories ‘attempt to capture the southern-European, working-class, migrant experience from a feminist perspective, depicting troubled characters of various ages and genders struggling with some aspect of Australian life’ and will be published in mid-2024.
And, in a case of a publisher trying something new, children’s publisher Larrikin House has branched out into adult fiction, with The Bogan Book Club by John Larkin. Described by the publisher as a fun and heartfelt story about being an outsider, it features a protagonist who, upon being released from prison, is taken to a book club by his brother—a book club that turns out to be ‘a group of other misfits’. The Bogan Book Club will be released in late 2024.
Familiar names
After Shankari Chandran’s novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens won this year’s Miles Franklin award, Ultimo has announced it has acquired ANZ rights to Chandran’s follow-up, Safe Haven, via Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown Australia. The publisher said Safe Haven was ‘about displacement, and seeking refuge—but ultimately it is a story about finding home—and the lengths you’ll go to find safety and love’. Ultimo will publish Safe Haven in May 2024.
Affirm has acquired ANZ rights to thriller Red River Road, the third novel from Anna Downes, via Tara Wynne of Curtis Brown. Affirm publishing director Martin Hughes said: ‘Anna is brilliant at creating tension and drawing strong, complex female characters and Red River Road is a full-throttle twist on outback noir.’ Affirm plans to publish the book in the second half of 2024.
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Patrick Holland’s fifth novel, Oblivion. Holland said: ‘The novel is the product of my fascination with non-places such as airports, luxury chain hotels etc. and an exploration of belonging in an increasingly globalised world. I wondered what rituals might be retrieved from this secular dark horizon we are hurtling towards, so as to reinvest our lives with meaning.’ Oblivion will be published in July 2024.
University of Queensland Press has acquired world rights to Siang Lu’s second novel, Ghost Cities, via Brendan Fredericks of BFredericksPR. Publisher Aviva Tuffield said: ‘As with The Whitewash, his new novel is epic in scope, razor-sharp in its skewering of institutional power, and expansive in terms of its imaginative range. And, yet again, this novel is often laugh-out-loud funny.’ Ghost Cities will be published in May 2024.
Debuts
In debut fiction, Affirm Press has acquired world rights to Birds of a Feather by Rhianna King, for publication in April 2024. The novel was acquired via Alex Adsett Literary agent Rochelle Fernandez, who described it as ‘a gorgeously written, funny story about family and love and finding your place in the world’.
Hachette has acquired world rights to a debut short story collection from Australian actor Zoe Terakes, to be titled Eros: Queer myths for lovers. The collection, which will feature short stories that each recount a different queer Greek myth, is described by Terakes as ‘glimpses into moments between ancient lovers’.
Pantera has acquired ANZ rights to debut novel Together We Fall Apart by Sophie Matthiesson from Clare Forster at Curtis Brown. The publisher described the debut as ‘a compelling exploration of love, family and addiction’ perfect for fans of Peggy Frew, Victoria Hannan and Meg Mason. Together We Fall Apart will be published in July 2024.
Transit Lounge has also acquired world rights to Belinda Cranston’s debut novel Not Like Mr Benn. The author ‘beautifully captures the pluck and longing as well as the sadness and bewilderment of her young adventurer: she knows so little about the world and dares to want so much,’ said Transit Lounge publisher Barry Scott. Transit Lounge will publish Not Like Mr Benn in June 2024.
Ultimo Press has acquired world rights to debut novel Audrey’s Gone AWOL (Annie de Monchaux) via Sarah McKenzie at Sarah McKenzie literary management, which it describes as ‘a charming story about second chances, reinvention and ageing on your own terms’. The publisher writes, ‘Audrey and her husband are empty nesters, and as she nears 60 years old, she is feeling invisible to her family, society, and disturbingly, even herself. When she discovers her husband is contemplating an affair, she flees to her aged aunt’s place in France. There begins Audrey’s journey to finding the courage to live on her own terms.’ Audrey’s Gone AWOL will be published in April 2024.
Ultimo has also acquired world rights to Melissa Goode’s debut novel Ordinary Human Love. Ultimo publisher Alex Craig said ‘Ordinary Human Love delves into the secrets at the heart of marriage, between lovers, parents and children, and within ourselves’. Ultimo will publish Ordinary Human Love in May 2024.
UQP has acquired world rights to debut novel Hailstones Fell Without Rain (Natalia Figueroa Barroso), a semi-autobiographical novel that focuses on the experiences of three generations of women from one family, who are all distant or estranged from one another at the start. UQP will publish the book in early 2025.
University of Western Australia Publishing has acquired world rights to Emily Tsokos Purtill’s debut novel Matia, a multi-generational story of Greek-Australian women and their daughters across continents and time, for publication in the second half of 2024.
Two-book deals
Among several two-book deals, Echo Publishing has acquired world rights to Paul Thomas’s debut murder mystery The Beacon, via Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary. The Beacon is scheduled for a mid-2024 release, with a yet-to-be-titled crime novel due to follow in two or three years’ time.
Pantera Press has acquired world rights for Susannah Glenn’s debut Between Husbands and Wives, a ‘gripping’ domestic thriller set in Far North Queensland, in a two-book deal. Said Glenn: ‘Dark, page-turning domestic noir and its deep dive into the human condition is the storytelling that both informs my reading and inspires my writing.’ Between Husbands and Wives will be published in July 2024. The second book acquired in the deal will be a standalone novel, scheduled for release in mid-2025.
Hachette Australia has acquired ANZ and US rights to Out of the Blue by Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion in a two-book deal between the authors and Hachette’s head of fiction Rebecca Saunders. According to the publisher, Out of the Blue is the first novel in ‘an unputdownable medical drama series’ set in an acute psychiatric ward. Co-written by Buist, a pracising psychiatrist, and Simsion, bestselling author of The Rosie Project, it follows a trainee psychiatrist ‘as she learns on the job, meeting new patients every day as they both navigate issues such as depression, bipolar, anxiety and postpartum psychosis’. Out of the Blue will be published in April 2024.
Hachette has also acquired ANZ rights to two books by historical fiction novelist Natasha Lester, as part of an ANZ and UK deal made in conjunction with Little, Brown Book Group, via Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. The first novel, The Secret Life of Marie Madeleine, begins in Morocco in 1928 and ends in France in 1945, and is based on the true life of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, a chic Parisienne woman and mother who became the only female leader of a WWII Resistance network. The Secret Life of Marie Madeleine will be published in 2024 with the second book to follow in 2025.
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to the novel Hollywood Night by Pip Drysdale in a two-book deal brokered by publisher Roberta Ivers with Mollie Glick at Creative Artists Agency. Set in Hollywood, the novel is a ‘dark and thrilling ride’ that follows failed novelist Zoe Ann Weiss. Hollywood Night will be published in November 2024, with a second novel to follow in 2025.
Pre-empts
Allen & Unwin has acquired ANZ rights to All the Words We Know (2024) by Bruce Nash, with Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books acquiring North American rights to the title in a pre-emptive deal negotiated by Bold Type Agency on behalf of Melanie Ostell Literary and Nash. All the Words We Know is ‘a unique novel about a woman with dementia bent on solving the mystery of her friend’s death at an aged care home’, said Bold Type.
Ultimo has acquired ANZ rights to The Ones We Love by Anna Snoekstra, after rights were pre-empted in the US and the UK by Dutton, a division of Penguin Random House, in a deal brokered by Anna Carmichael at Abner Stein. The Ones We Love will be published by Ultimo in 2025.
Pictured: Shankari Chandran.
Category: Think Australian rights
