---

KUZHALI MANICKAVEL is now represented by Michael Curry at Don­ald Maass Literary Agency.

KATH RICHARDS is now repre­sented by Bethany Weaver at Weaver Literary Agency. Fangs with Benefits resold to Sam Brody at Forever via Jessica Purdue at Sphere.

The Horror Writers Association will partner with Raw Dog Screaming Press to publish HWA Poetry Showcase Volume XIII and future volumes.

KATHERINE LOCKE is president of the executive board of Authors Against Book Bans as of July 1, replacing Mag­gie Tokuda-Hall after her term.

 

---

CLAIRE MCKADE sold The Bridge to Nowhere and Everywhere, set in a postapocalyptic world with a mysteri­ous skyscraper stretching into space with a televised gauntlet, and two more books to Laura Schreiber at Voyager at auction via Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

JAMIE CASS’s Starfall, first in the historical fantasy Oxford Book of Magick series, and two more titles went to Chelsea Villareal at Podium Publishing for six figures at auction via John Baker and Julie Gourinchas of Bell Lomax Moreton Agency.

TRINITY MONTOYA’s “feminist techno-thriller” Kitsune 2.0 sold to Gemma Creffield at Solstice in a pre-empt via Barbara Zitwer of Barbara Zitwer Agency.

ANTOINETTE VAN SLUYTMAN sold The Red Then to dave ring at Neon Hemlock via Julie Crisp of Julie Crisp Literary Agency.

R.A. SANDPIPER resold romantic fantasy To Touch a Silent Fury and sold an untitled sequel to Gretchen Durning at Berkley XO via Alyssa Mor­ris of Trellis Literary Management. UK rights sold to Alexa Allen-Batifoulier at Del Rey UK via Maddalena Cavaciuti of David Higham Associates on behalf of Tori Clayton and Allison Malecha of Trellis Literary Management.

REBECCA ZAHABI sold The Mon­key Queen, “a gender-flipped retell­ing following the trickster god Sun Wukong,” and another title to Toni Kirkpatrick at Diversion Books via Alice Speilburg of Speilburg Literary Agency.

CASSANDRA KHAW’s “cozy fan­tasy” Sweet Saints sold to Mika Kasuga at Union Square & Co via Michael Curry of Donald Maass Liter­ary Agency.

MICHAEL SIMON sold Dark Pas­sage, Lost Nexus, and Chosen Des­tiny in the Stellar Crossing series to Marilyn Kretzer at Blackstone Publish­ing at auction via Michelle Hauck of Storm Literary Agency.

CAMILA URIOSTE’s “speculative literary novel” Fearsick, set in a Mid­western town on the anniversary of a school shooting, went to Jim McCoy at University of Iowa Press via Veronica Goldstein of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.

JAMIE KILLEN sold The War of Hours, “an anti-capitalist time-travel novel,” and its sequel to Nidhi Pugalia at Viking at auction via Elizabeth Pratt of Trellis Literary Management.

JANNA MILLER’s contemporary fantasy Blessings from War Island sold to Darian Bianco at Apex.

ANNE BISHOP sold the third novel in the Isle of Wyrd series to Anne So­wards at Ace via Jennifer Jackson of Donald Maass Literary Agency.

ASHLEY POSTON sold Elodie and the Dark Lord, first in a fantasy duol­ogy, and another book to Amanda Bergeron at Berkley via Holly Root of Root Literary. UK rights went to Priyal Agrawal at HQ.

ELLIOT GISH’s “historical specula­tive novel” Ruby and Jude, set in an underground 1960s lesbian bar, went to Jen Sookfong Lee at ECW Press via Geffen Semach of Westwood Creative Artists.

ZANDER WOOLLEY’s How to Raise a Human, “set in a galaxy re­building after a devastating war,” sold to Peter Joseph at Crown via Sarah Scarlett of Penguin Random House UK. UK rights went to Jorgie Bain at Michael Joseph via Sam Edenborough of Greyhound Literary.

KHALIA MOREAU’s Tainted, about a cursed young woman whose attempt to defect from her militarized unit goes wrong, sold to Ashlyn Inman at Keylight via Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency.

J.D. ROBINSON sold When Tomor­rows End, about a man who is stuck in time and must ally with a fellow time-traveler to escape a temporal storm and get home, to Marilyn Brigham at 47North via Brandi Bowles and Ethan Schlatter of UTA.

JOANNA RUSS’s The Collected Stories went to Jeanne Thornton at Feminist Press via Diana Finch of Diana Finch Literary Agency.

LASHAWN M. WANAK sold col­lection The Works of Her Hands to Patrick Swenson at Fairwood Press via Kristopher O’Higgins of Scribe Agency.

WILLIAM SHUNN’s collection Scouring the Deep Skies sold to Patrick Swenson at Fairwood Press via Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary.

JAMES VAN PELT’s collection Slow Dance at the High School and Other Imaginings went to Patrick Swenson at Fairwood Press.

CALLIE ROWLAND sold Gate of Nightmares to Elizabeth Agyemang at 47North via Safae El-Ouahabi of Rogers, Coleridge & White.

CHARLEIGH FREDERICK’s Pete Versus the Heroes, following a no­torious antihero in a world where superheroes have absolute power, and two more titles went to Anna Stileski at Bow’s Bookshelf.

LEE A. EVERETT’s The Oaths that Bind Us went to Gwyn Jordan at Rogueheart Press via A.J. Van Belle of Booker Albert Agency. Chelsea Karol will edit.

PAUL CORNELL sold historical fantasy Oh Fortuna!, set in an alternate Britain, and another book to Marcus Gipps at The Broken Binding Press via Stacia Decker of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.

BASIL TALBOT sold Soulstones to Hannah Graves at Olive Press. Kelley York will edit.

KYLIE CHEUNG sold “speculative, autofictional, literary novel” Genesis to Christoph Paul at Clash.

N.E. DAVENPORT’s Immortal Empire, first in a dark romantasy duol­ogy, and a second title sold to David Pomerico at Voyager for six figures via Emily Forney of BookEnds.

BRITTNEY ARENA sold Prince of Night and another title, a romantic fantasy duology “about a chronically ill sculptor caught dreaming in a land where dreams are forbidden,” to Vi­engsamai Fetters at Erewhon at auc­tion via Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary Agency. UK rights went to Vicky Leech Mateos at Bloomsbury Archer UK for six figures; Sam Brad­bury will edit.

TIFFANY DAUNE sold Love is Dead, first in a five-title paranormal romance series with a vampire hunter, and four more books to Jasmine Callaghan at Boldwood via Kayla Bramante of Storyteller Talent Agency.

KRISTINA FOREST sold The Un­requited Love Department, “a work­place romance with a light speculative twist,” to Emilia Rhodes at Atria via Sara Crowe of Sara Crowe Literary.

BETH MERLIN and DANIELLE MODAFFERI’s A Kingdom of Sky­scrapers and Fire Escapes went to Marilyn Kretzer at Blackstone Publish­ing via Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.

CORAL VEGA’s A Dance of Fire sold to Jean Lowd at Creative James.

MILA FINCH resold previously self-published Runebreaker and sold two more books to Alessandra Roche at Bloom Books at auction via Haley Heidemann of WME. UK rights sold to Calah Singleton at Voyager UK in a pre-empt via Kimberley Atkins of WME.

RUBY RUNE’s “dark academia ro­mance” A Game of Cat and Witch and another book went to Ghjulia Romiti at Forever in a pre-empt via Angie Ojeda Hazen of Lunar Literary Agency.

TASHA SOLOMONS’s Blood God­dess, first in a dark academia roman­tasy duology, went to Sydney Collins at Delacorte Press in a pre-empt via Ariele Fredman and Kelly Karczewski of UTA on behalf of Sue Armstrong at C+W.

JENNY L. HOWE, writing as LUCY HELEN HOWELL, sold A Frenzy of Fae and Feelings and Kaiju and Kisses to Elora Hartway at Titan Books via Katelyn Detweiler of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

SOFIA AVES’s That Time I Fell for a Sea Monster and at least one other book went to Emma Grundy Haigh at Boldwood via Nicky Lovick of WGM Atlantic Group.

LILY X’s “sapphic time-slip rom-com” Loched in Time and another book sold to Junessa Viloria at Forever at auction via Patrice Caldwell of The Caldwell Agency.

ALEXANDRA KENNINGTON, writ­ing as A.A. KENNINGTON, sold “sapphic horromance” The Minotaur Project to Gabrielle Pachon at Ace via Bethany Hendrix of Spencerhill Associates.

LORA SENF sold Death No. 114 to Ardyce Alspach at Union Square & Co via Ali Herring of Spencerhill Associates.

KEALAN PATRICK BURKE’s Night­lights for Eyes, set against the Satanic Panic and following a group of teenag­ers who “mess with the occult in the ruins of an abandoned church,” sold to Alan Lastufka at Shortwave.

GABE CONVERSE sold The Body Remembers, “in which a trans man’s pre-transition body washes up on the beach in his hometown and is coaxed back to life by his transphobic family,” to Rebecca Brewer at Bloomsbury Archer via Mara Hollander of Azantian Literary Agency.

RUDY RUIZ’s “Southern gothic horror” Diablo Creek went to Marilyn Kretzer at Blackstone Publishing via Laura Strachan of Strachan Literary Agency.

TR ROWE sold “queer horror ro­mance” Backsliders to Katie McGuire at Crooked Lane via Dorian Maffei of Kimberley Cameron & Associates.

SARAH UNDERWOOD’s The Changeling Rule and another book went to Kristin Daly Rens at Storytide for six figures via Catherine Cho of Paper Literary. UK rights to both books and a third went to Sarah Levison at Electric Monkey, also for six figures.

BRIDGETTE WAY sold How to Seduce a Dark Lord, “about a famous necromancer hell-bent on becoming the trophy husband to the most dan­gerous man in New York,” and another title to Esi Sogah at Berkley and to Stephanie Alleyne at Random House Canada on behalf of Amanda Ferreira at auction via Cheyenne Faircloth and Courtney Miller-Callihan of Handspun Literary. UK rights went to Elora Hartway at Titan Books via Tawanna Sullivan at Berkley.

TESSA STONE sold “paranormal suspense” book Strange Neighbors and at least one other title to Kreceda Tyler at Black Odyssey Media in a pre-empt.

JOE KOCH sold “cosmic-erotic slasher and queer anti-murder mys­tery” Dead Boys Don’t Cry to Chris­toph Paul at Clash.

NEAL SHUSTERMAN’s second and third books in the First Blades series sold to Justin Chanda at Simon & Schuster Children’s via Andrea Brown of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

ANN LIANG sold speculative novel The Lost Life of Sylvia Song to Claire Stetzer at Harper Children’s via Kath­leen Rushall of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Sara Schonfeld will edit.

SASHA PEYTON SMITH sold The Fox Bride and another title to Erica Sussman at Harper Children’s via Hill­ary Jacobson of CAA. UK rights sold to Sarah Levison at Farshore via Sarah Mitchell of CAA.

R.M. GRAY sold The Bloodwolf Tri­als, “pitched as Spirited Away meets Wednesday,” and another book to Alexandra Hightower at Little, Brown Children’s via Gwen Beal and Peter Steinberg of UTA.

ROZ MACLAREN’s Burning Skye, second in the fantasy trilogy Ruined Skye, went to Sofia Aves at Evernight Teen.

S.M. DAVIS’s Disconnected, set in a future of shared knowledge through neural implants when a teenager finds his connection is failing, went to Sofia Aves at Evernight Teen.

SADIE SUKSIRI’s The Undoing, in which girls are born with a magical gift they must give up in adolescence, sold to Katherine Harrison at Knopf Chil­dren’s at auction via Molly Ker Hawn of David Higham Associates.

MARISA URGO sold The Midnight Coven, involving a celestial curse at a haunted boarding school, to Afua Antwi at Puffin UK via Moe Ferrara of TriadaUS Literary Agency.

S.G. PRINCE’s YA fantasy No Glory for Thieves went to Kortney Nash at Godwin Books via Haley Casey of Creative Media Agency.

MARIANNA SHEK’s “time-traveling dystopian adventure” The Wrangler’s Daughter sold to Shalu Vallepur at Chicken House.

GABRIELA MARTINS’s Love at First Bite sold to Carolina Mancheno Ortiz at Avon A.

DANA GRICKEN sold paranormal fantasy Ghost Game and mystery The Lost Pharaoh to Sofia Aves at Evernight Teen.

SASHA HIBBS and CHRISTINA HOOKER sold paranormal romance The Wicked Door to Sofia Aves at Evernight Teen.

VICKIE LAN’s debut But First Take Off Your Shoes, “in which a biracial daughter and her estranged Vietnamese mother try to reconcile as cities crumble, green laser beams rain down, and old grudges reemerge,” and another title went to Ardyce Alspach at Union Square & Co in a pre-empt via Ali Herring of Spencerhill Associates.

KIRSTEN GARRISON’s The God­bound King, debut and first in a “dark quest fantasy duology,” and another title sold to Jela Lewter at Saga Press via Jane Chun of Transatlantic Literary Agency.

DANI RAANAN’s debut fantasy novel The Crafter’s Wife sold to Ian Whates at Newcon Press via John Jarrold of John Jarrold Literary Agency.

HELENA BAILACH ADSUARA’s debut Monstrous Alchemy, a “dark academia fantasy,” went to Kirsiah Depp at Grand Central at auction via Hayley Steed of Janklow & Nesbit UK. UK rights went to Sania Riaz at Harvill Secker via Steed.

SALLY HAMILTON sold debut fan­tasy The Greenglass Guide to Magi­cal Antiques to Brianna Fairman at Putnam in a pre-empt via Sara Crowe of Sara Crowe Literary.

AUGUST PONTHIER’s debut Ev­erywhere Isn’t Texas, “blending speculative, horror, sci-fi, and Western elements,” sold to Pilar Garcia-Brown at Dutton in a pre-empt via Julie Fla­nagan of CAA.

SHANNON RAMPE sold debut Gods of Sky and Dust, pitched as Empire of Silence meets Final Fantasy, and another title to Toni Kirkpatrick at Diversion Books via Susan Velazquez Colmant of JABberwocky Literary Agency.

CARRIE KWIATKOWSKI’s debut, historical fantasy The Bindery Guild went to Stephanie Stein at Wildthorn at auction via Alexandra Machinist of CAA. UK rights sold to Gillian Green at Wildthorn UK via Daisy Arendell of CAA.

SADIE NICOLE sold A Haunted House Is Not a Home, pitched as Get Out meets Practical Magic, and another book to Sam Brody at Forever via Jessica Faust and Keifer Ludwig of BookEnds.

SHAYA LIN SUSAN sold debut There’s Something Wrong with the Girls, pitched as “The Stepford Wives for the TikTok girls,” to Abby Knudsen at Gallery via Thais Afonso of Azantian Literary Agency.

CLAIRE WELLS sold debut, “apoca­lyptic rom-com” Shoot Prey Love, and another book to Maxine Shen at Alcove Press via Sandra Sawicka of Marjacq Scripts.

ALEXANDRA RENWICK’s debut Horn, “reimagining the unicorn myth,” went to Olivia Zavitson at Hyperion Avenue via Jennifer Weltz of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

KRASH MEGIDDO’s debut, SF Pax Bin Yil sold to Bloom and Nectar Books.

J.I. LOCATELLI’s debut, YA hor­ror Little Sisters, Big Lies, “about a freshman sorority pledge investigat­ing a fellow pledge’s disappearance… as she begins to literally lose parts of herself in seductive sorority bonding rituals,” went to Tyiana Combs at Pen­guin Workshop via Rebecca Matte of Bradford Literary Agency.

NICOLE CREMEANS sold debut Deities and Calamities, Conquer Your Demons, and Bound by Law to Sabine Berlin at Roan & Weatherford via Bonnie Swanson of FinePrint Liter­ary Management. Lindsay Flanagan will edit.

ZIN E. ROCKLYN delivered a novella tentatively titled Blue Plate to Claire Eddy and Oliver Dougherty at Tordot­com via Arley Sorg of kt literary. Mal Frazier will edit.

JAMES PATRICK KELLY, JOHN KESSEL & JONATHAN LETHEM sold Ninety Percent of Everything, which will contain the story of the same name, and “a separate new or rare story from each author,” to Patrick Swenson at Fairwood Press via John Silbersack of the Bent Agency.

CHESYA BURKE sold Let’s Play White, Too, “exploring the existence of Black women in America” with horror fiction and nonfiction essays to Jason Sizemore at Apex.

SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA and illustrator STEPH C. SOLIS sold a graphic novel adaptation of Mexi­can Gothic to Sebastian Girner at BOOM! Studios via Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary Agency for Moreno-Garcia and via Jane Chun of Transatlantic Literary Agency for Solis. Maya Bollinger will edit.

K-MING CHANG sold “speculative essay” Ghostworld: On Girlhood to Lizzie Davis at Transit Books via Julia Kardon of HG Literary.

 

---

KATE ASHER resold Crown of Olympus, Blood of Olympus, Blade of Olympus, and another book to Christine Ebbs at Penguin Australia via Saffron Dodd of ASH Literary.

MICHAEL SWANWICK’s fantasy book The Iron Dragon’s Daughter resold to Caroline Tew at Saga Press via Danielle Bukowski of Sterling Lord Literistic.

MARIAH MONTOYA and GRACE PEARCE resold the Guardians & Mon­sters duology to Alessandra Roche at Bloom Books via Rikki Bergman and Caitlin Mahony of WME. UK rights sold to Natasha Bardon at Voyager UK via Francesca Ali and Suzannah Ball of WME.

SHIM EUNJUNG and CHOI HYU­NYU resold The 25:00 Magic Lantern Express, translated by Gene Png, to Anne Sowards at Ace in a pre-empt via Stella Giatrakou of Bonnier Books UK.

SAM MILLER resold previously self-published SF collection Still Lost to Nidhi Pugalia at Penguin at auction via Angeline Rodriguez of WME. UK rights went to Ben Brusey at Del Rey UK via Francesca Ali of WME.

JULIANN GAREY resold Grace, Falling to Mark Doten at Soho Press via Paul Bresnick of Bresnick Weil Literary Agency.

JIM BUTCHER resold The Law to Kate Runde at Podium Publishing via Jennifer Jackson of Donald Maass Literary Agency.

 

---

KATIE DENT has been appointed commissioning editor at Orbit UK. She was previously fiction editor at Titan.

FAYE IOSOTALUNO has been appointed as president and chief op­erating officer of Entangled. She was previously CEO of Tinder.

NINA LEON has joined Hardman & Swainson as literary agent, “fo­cusing on romantasy, YA, upmarket, and contemporary romance.” Leon was previously at Pérez Literary & Entertainment.

GABRIELLE PACHON has been promoted to associate editor at Berk­ley/Ace Books.
#noinsta

The post People & Publishing Roundup, August 2026 appeared first on Locus.