Karen Fox - Market News

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Last Updated on June 24, 2008

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5/23/2008: From Publisher's Weekly - Harlequin veterans Randall Toye and Dianne Moggy have been named vp, series and vp overseas editorial strategy and development respectively. Stepping into Moggy's former role of editorial director, single titles is Margaret Marbury. Valerie Gray has been promoted to executive editor, Mira Books, and Reka Rubin has joined the company as manager, global subsidiary rights. She was at Quirk Books.

5/11/2008: Agent Lucienne Diver has joined The Knight Agency after fifteen years at Spectrum Literary Agency, where she specialized in fantasy, science fiction, romance, mystery and suspense.

4/27/2008: Are you a NASCAR fan? Do you love romance? Harlequin Executive Editor Marsha Zinberg, in this blog, http://isabelswift.blogspot.com/ shares that she's "always on the lookout for authors with particular knowledge of the NASCAR world and the ability to craft a romance that fits comfortably in that world. At present, we are producing NASCAR stories that are shaped by a bible, but authors able and willing to write this specific type of story are people I would be happy to be in contact with." Contact Marsha at Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd., 225 Duncan Mill Rd, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9 (Courtesy of Cynthia Sterling Market News)

3/26/2008: RWA has announced the 2007 Golden Heart and RITA finalists. Visit their website for details.

2/27/2008: Predators and Editors, that wonderful site that helps separate the good from the bad in the world of publishing is being sued by Barbara Bauer and by Victor E. Cretella, III, Esq. for libel. You can read more here and donate to P&E's defense fund.

2/1/2008: (from Publisher's Lunch)
Harlequin Features Editors in New Podcasts
Harlequin has started posting 20-minute Meet the Editors podcasts, adding new episodes every two weeks. The first features Melissa Jeglinski and Diana Ventimiglia. The company says in the release they are "designed to demystify the concept of the editor as an inaccessible resource for aspiring authors. Meet the Editors brings the personalities of the various Harlequin Enterprises editors to the fore and offers listeners the opportunity to get to know the people that shape the books they love to read." Read more here.

2/21/2008: (from Publisher's Lunch) Kensington Buys Street Lit List
Kensington announced the acquisition of the publishing assets of Holloway House, "the pioneers of original street lit fiction." Kensington will publisher the company's backlist as a new imprint, Holloway House Classics, and will distribute the Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck books. They add that they will be "reissuing and distributing existing Holloway House titles in mass market and new trade formats as well as looking for new urban fiction which complements their publishing program." Those efforts will not affect Kensington's Dafina Books imprint, which continues as a separate unit.

2/15/2008: (from Cynthia Sterling's Market News) Mills and Boon, Harlequin Enterpises' venerable British subsidiary, will launch Black Star Crime in August -- a new series featuring thrillers and crime fiction. After one hundred years of publishing romance, Mills and Boon plans to release five crime and thriller titles every two months. Following its successful category romance model, Black Star Crime will be heavily branded and priced at 3.99 British pounds each (the same price as Mills and Boon Historical Romance). The books will be racked together in stores -- away from romance titles. Mills and Boon expects the series to sell 250,000 to 500,000 units a year (no word on whether that is world-wide or solely in the UK.) Black Star Crime will feature a wide range of stories, from cozy mysteries to thrillers. Editors will be working with both new and established authors. No word on names of acquiring editors, but the address for the Mills and Boon offices is Harlequin Mills & Boon Ltd, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1SR

2/13/2008: Another publisher is closing it's doors...Here is the Press Release:

Aphrodite's Apples is closing, effective February 13, 2008. It was a difficult decision to make on our part, but we feel it will be best for all parties involved. We are not having financial issues, and final royalties shall be calculated and paid out in a timely fashion. Please contact [email address omitted] to obtain your release of rights. We appreciate all the time you've spent on this company, and consider it a privilege to publish your work. Thank you,

H.S. Kinn
President, Aphrodite's Apples Press
http://www.aphroditesapples.com

1/17/2008: Editor Erin Numiata is leaving Avalon books as of February 29, 2008. She will concentrate on her duties as a literary agent with Folio.

11/7/2007: From Publisher's Lunch:
Writers Guild Strike: But What About Us?
The impact of the Writers Guild strike is already being felt in the expected ways: Optioning of film rights to books may dry up except for the biggest properties, and agents are already receiving force majeure letters from studios invoking their right to extend existing options. And out of work screenwriters are expected to start dusting off their book proposals.

Meanwhile, the big Hollywood agencies are also scrambling, since Variety expects that as much as 75 percent of their income comes from film and tv work, "most of it derived from the scripted projects now in jeopardy." Variety adds, "agents who sell books say they are unsure whether studios will buy them when they are unable to attach writers." Plus, "Of the majors, CAA is surprisingly listed as most vulnerable because of its sheer size, and the costs of its new headquarters and sports business."

If you're a big Joss Whedon fan like I am, check out his blog entries on the strike and help support the striking writers along with the Los Angeles gang in bringing pizza to the picket line.

Plus keep checking back for how you as a reader and/or writer can let the networks know you support these writers who are blazing trails for all of us authors.

10/30/2007: Meredith McGuire's THE SHADOW'S KISS and runner-up Starr Toth's TRUST ME will be published through a Simon & Schuster imprint as a result of the First Chapters Romance Writing Competition at Gather.com, also sponsored by Borders. Read more.

10/26/07: Kate Collins has joined Ballantine Books as a senior editor, reporting to editorial director Linda Marrow. She was at Pocket, focusing on women's fiction, historical romance and romantic suspense. From Publisher's Lunch.

10/3/2007: Harlequin announced the discontinuation of their Everlasting and NEXT lines effective February 2008.

8/23/2007: From Publisher's Marketplace. Next month Avon will sell an original e-book by Victoria Alexander (for $3.99), LADY AMELIA'S SECRET LOVER, that includes an embedded author video original.

8/7/2007: At the Prospect Agency, Rachel Orr has joined the team along with Emily Sylvan Kim as an agent. She has been at Harpers Children's for the past nine years, most recently as an editor. Also, Becca Stumpf has been promoted to junior agent. From Publisher's Marketplace.

8/1/2007: Torstar Corporation Reports 2007 Second Quarter Results

7/20/2007: One interesting note from many publishers at the RWA National Conference just finished in Dallas, TX. In addition to asking for the "good book," editors mention a unique, strong voice as a determining feature in purchasing a book.

7/15/07: RITA and Golden Heart winners are announced on the new RWA National website. Congratulations, all!!

7/7/07: Condolences to the family of Kathleen Woodiwiss who passed away on Friday, July 6, 2007. I consider her the mother of modern romance and I still have THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER and THE WOLF AND THE DOVE on my keeper shelf. She was working on a new book called EVERLASTING to be released by Avon in October 2007. She will be very much missed.

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Romance Deals

Seanan McGuire's ROSEMARY AND RUE, the first book in a new urban fantasy series featuring a half-human, half-fae private investigator, to Sheila Gilbert at Daw, in a three-book deal, by Diana Fox at Fox Literary (world). - Publisher's Lunch 6/21/2008

Renee Ryan's DEADLY ALLIANCE, in which a jaded double agent and an exiled Russian princess work together to stop a Nazi secret weapon that is systematically cutting off England's supply routes from the rest of the world, to Melissa Endlich at Steeple Hill, by Caren Johnson Estesen at Caren Johnson Literary Agency (World). - Publisher's Lunch 6/21/2008

Jessica Davidson's SEDUCED BY SHADOWS, in which immortal warrior lovers search for the missing pieces of their souls - all the while facing demonic possession, Armageddon and the awkwardness of waking up next to someone who knows just how wicked you really are, to Kerry Donovan at NAL, in a nice deal ($1, - $49000), in a two-book deal, for publication in November 2009, by Becca Stumpf at Prospect Agency (World English). - Publisher's Lunch 6/19/2008

RITA award winner Deborah Raney's FOREVER trilogy, in which five widows - and one widower - of the heroic firefighters who died in a flash fire at a historic downtown office complex band together to cope with the tragedy and try to make sense of the broken pieces of their lives, and THE FACE OF THE EARTH, exploring the lives of those who go on with life after being marked by disaster, to Dave Lambert at Howard Books, in a good deal ($100,000 - $250,000), for publication in Spring 2010, by Steve Laube at the Steve Laube Agency (world). - Publisher's Lunch 6/16/2008

NYT bestselling author Celeste Bradley's THREE LORDS AND A BABY, a trilogy about three rakes, one of whom may be the father of an irresistible toddler, to Monique Patterson at St. Martin's, by Irene Goodman (world). - Publisher's Lunch 6/16/2008

Glynnis Campbell's two untitled historical romances, set along the border of Scotland in the time of Mary Queen of Scots, to Frances Jalet-Miller and Amy Pierpont at Grand Central, by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary (NA).
hb@cornerstoneliterary.com - Publisher's Lunch 6/13/2008

Essence bestselling author Kayla Perrin's untitled suspense, in which a female college student disappears during a night partying with her friends on a Caribbean Island, to Jennifer Enderlin at St. Martin's, by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary (World).
hb@cornerstoneliterary.com - Publisher's Lunch 6/13/2008

Darlene Franklin's BEACON OF LOVE, in which the daughter of a Rhode Island lighthouse keeper and a doctor find love and courage as they battle the Great Gale of 1815, which was the first hurricane to strike New England in 180 years, landing ashore at Long Island and continuing into New Hampshire, destroying 500 homes in Narragansett Bay and flooding the city of Providence, again to JoAnne Simmons at Barbour, by Tamela Hancock Murray at Hartline Literary Agency. - Publisher's Lunch 6/12/2008

Diana Lesire Brandmeyer's HEARTS ON THE ROAD, criss-crossing Wyoming in an eighteen-wheeler, a couple discovers love in the zany, dangerous, and caring trucking community, to JoAnne Simmons at Barbour, for publication in January 2009, by Tamela Hancock Murray at Hartline Literary Agency. - Publisher's Lunch 6/12/2008

Melissa Senate's THE LOVE BUS, the warm, witty story of a New Yorker's quest to establish family bonds with the half-sister she never knew existed, a singles tour-bus operator in Maine who half-heartedly welcomes her to small-town life complete with quirky, loveable characters, and a sexy carpenter, to Jennifer Heddle at Pocket, in a very nice deal ($50,000 - $99,000), in a two-book deal, by Kim Witherspoon and Alexis Hurley at Inkwell Management. - Publisher's Lunch 6/12/2008

NYT bestselling author Julie Leto's KISS OF THE PHANTOM, the third in the Phantom series, in which a sexy gypsy trapped by a curse inside a rare and priceless stone shows a treasure hunting pilot on the run just how dark magic can work to her advantage, to Laura Cifelli at NAL, in a nice deal ($1 - $49,000), by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary (World). - Publisher's Lunch 6/11/2008

Cameo Brown's SECOND NATURE, about a nature spirit determined to convince his long-lost mate to return him and the forest they both love before it's too late, no matter what he has to sacrifice, to Red Sage, in a nice deal ($1 - $49,000), for publication in June 2008, by Sharene Martin-Brown at Wylie-Merrick Literary Agency.
rights@wylie-merrick.com - Publisher's Lunch 6/11/2008

Lavinia Klein's untitled Regency historical, in which a thrice-widowed young woman is content, rich and sought-after, until she meets the man she doesn't want to wed but can't live without, to Lyssa Keusch at Avon, in a nice deal ($1 - $49,000), in a two-book deal, by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary (World). - Publisher's Lunch 6/10/2008

Anitra Lynn McLeod's VIRGIN HARVEST, about a world of ritualized sex where a forbidden relationship changes the barbaric system forever, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, in a three-book deal, by Roberta Brown of the Brown Literary Agency. - Publisher's Lunch 6/10/2008

NYT bestselling author Gena Showalter's INTERTWINED, to Tracy Farrell at Harlequin, to launch their upcoming young adult line, as well as more HQN romances, in a seven-figure deal, by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency (world). Deidre.Knight@knightagency.net - Publisher's Lunch 6/9/2008

Lisa Ruff's untitled romance, to Johanna Raisenen at Harlequin American, by Mary Sue Seymour at The Seymour Agency. - Publisher's Lunch 6/9/2008

Bobbie O'Keefe's SECOND CHANCES, a romantic suspense, to John Helfers at Five Star, by Mary Sue Seymour at The Seymour Agency. - Publisher's Lunch 6/9/2008

USA Today bestselling author Julie Kenner's final book in the demon-hunting soccer mom series, to Ginjer Buchanan at Berkley, by Kimberly Whalen at Trident Media Group (NA). - Publisher's Lunch 6/7/2008

Anne DeGrace's WIND TAILS, the lyrical story of day in the intersecting lives of strangers passing through a roadside diner, to Emily Krump at Avon, by Maya Rock at Writers House, on behalf of Morty Mint of the Morty Mint Agency (US). - Publisher's Lunch 6/6/2008

Ingrid Weaver's EAGLE SQUADRON: Countdown, three new stories continuing the author's romantic suspense miniseries Eagle Squadron, featuring a group of Delta Force commandos whose missions involve hostage rescue, bodyguard duty, and high level ransom exchanges, to Natashya Wilson at Silhouette Romantic Suspense. - Publisher's Lunch 6/6/2008

Zoe Archer's paranormal Victorian-era adventure romance series, in which rival groups secretly battle for possession of supernatural objects, known as Sources that are scattered throughout the world -- and one group, known as the Blades of the Rose, who are sworn to protect these Sources from those that would use them for evil purposes, to Megan Records at Kensington, for publication in 2010, by Kevan Lyon at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency (world).
kevan@dijkstraagency.com - Publisher's Lunch 6/5/2008

Lynne Hinton's next two novels in the Hope Springs series (Friendship Cake and others), following Charlotte and friends through a Christmas in CHRISTMAS CAKE, for publication in 2009, and a wedding in WEDDING CAKE, for publication in 2010, to Carolyn Marino at Harper, by Sally Hill McMillan (NA).
mcmagency@aol.com- Publisher's Lunch 6/5/2008

Judy Baer's three untitled inspirational romance works, to Joan Marlow Golan at Steeple Hill Love Inspired, in a nice deal ($1 - $49,000), by Karen Solem at Spencerhill Associates (world). - Publisher's Lunch 6/5/2008

Tracy Wolff's HER BEST FRIEND'S BABY, a poignant romance spotlighting surrogate motherhood, and TO SAVE A BOY, about a San Francisco lawyer risking everything to save her teenage client, to Wanda Ottewell at Harlequin, by Emily Sylvan Kim at Prospect Agency. - Publisher's Lunch 6/5/2008

Mae Nunn's untitled romance, about when a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo journalist reconnects with a Texas Ranger and their teen daughter, she discovers that accepting forgiveness from the family ties she's fled is as life changing as accepting the unconditional love of God, to Melissa Endlich at Harlequin, in a nice deal ($1 - $49,000), by Pamela Harty at The Knight Agency.
Pamela.Harty@knightagency.net - Publisher's Lunch 6/2/2008

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