Dear writers: Please be aware of ongoing scams by agent impersonators. Use extra caution with any unsolicited offers from agents. Reputable agents will not ask for upfront fees of any kind. For more information, look at sites such as Writer Beware (https://writerbeware.blog/). Please always check email addresses/spellings. All official emails from Donald Maass Literary Agency will come from an address that ends in @maassagency.com (2 A's, 2 S's in MAASS).

October Translation Deals

Oct 312020
 

French rights to Nnedi Okorafor’s THE GIRL WITH THE MAGIC HANDS, for a graphic novel, and French rights to THE BOOK OF PHOENIX to Actu SF, by Robin Batet at Anna Jarota Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.

German rights to Annika Martin’s RETURN BILLIONAIRE TO SENDER, to Lyx, by Sarah Knofius at Thomas Schlueck Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Hungarian rights to New York Times bestselling author Tamsyn Muir’s HARROW THE NINTH, the second book in the Locked Tomb trilogy, to Fumax, by Milena Kaplarević at Prava i prevodi in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Italian rights to Robert McCammon’s BOY’S LIFE and SWAN SONG, to Fanucci, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

Serbian rights to New York Times bestselling author Tamsyn Muir’s The Locked Tomb trilogy (GIDEON THE NINTH, HARROW THE NINTH, ALECTO THE NINTH), to Urban Reads, by Milena Kaplarević at Prava i prevodi in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Deal: Ronald Malfi

Oct 302020
 

Ronald MalfiBram Stoker Finalist for FLOATING STAIRCASE, named as one of the 50 scariest novels by the New York Times, Ronald Malfi’s COME WITH ME, psychological suspense in the vein of Lauren Beukes and Paul Tremblay, about a man who after the sudden death of his wife learns that she had been secretly tracking a killer and vows to complete her work, even as every step forward takes him further away from the woman he thought he knew, to Sophie Robinson at Titan Books, in a two-book deal, for publication in July 2021, by Cameron McClure (world English).

Review: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Sep 242020
 

Locus: The Space Between Worlds is fascinating, complicated, compelling, and far too aware of the costs of precarity to be able to end on a triumphant note. But its quiet, personal, hopeful conclusion is more satisfying, in a deep-rooted way, than any conclusion that turns on revolution. This is a jewel of a novel, all the more impressive for being Johnson’s debut.

Review: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Sep 102020
 

New York Times: THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS is Micaiah Johnson’s debut, but that word is utterly insufficient for the blazing, relentless power of this book, suggesting ballroom manners where it should conjure comet tails.

The multiverse is real, and Adam Bosch has figured out how to move people among 382 versions of Earth; his company, Eldridge, extracts information and resources from those worlds. The only catch: You can’t travel to an Earth on which a version of you is still alive. The only people who can become “traversers,” then, are those whose existence is so precarious that they’ve survived in just a few worlds. “They needed trash people,” says Cara, our protagonist, gripping my heart and squeezing. In all the hundreds of Earths Eldridge can access, Cara’s alive in only eight.

Cara is a resident of Wiley City, a walled compound in a postapocalyptic world ground down by numerous wars. In the comfort of its controlled atmosphere and artificial sunlight, citizens and residents enjoy the benefits of a robust social contract, have access to housing and medicine, and enjoy a prosperity bolstered by resources stolen from alternate worlds. Cara’s originally from Ashtown, beyond Wiley City’s gates: a loosely knit community of laborers, scavengers, religious commune members and sex workers, leading hardscrabble lives in an unforgiving desert ruled by an onyx-toothed Blood Emperor and his runners. It takes 10 years of residency in Wiley City before one can apply for citizenship; Cara’s been there for six. But once Eldridge develops the technology to extract information across worlds remotely, traversers will be obsolete and Cara will be banished back to Ashtown. Unless she can make herself indispensable first.

As a metaphor for neoliberal imperialism, this tale is profoundly satisfying; as a work of art, it’s even better. Cara is so mesmerizing a character that I was helpless before every twist and turn of plot, riveted by her pain, love and secrets. The book remained two steps ahead of my imagination, rattling it out of complacency and flooding it with color and heat.

Everything is hard. The news vacillates between horror novel and undisciplined television drama from one hour to the next. But “The Space Between Worlds” and “Dance on Saturday” make me feel profoundly grateful to exist in the same world and at the same time as their authors — to bear witness to the furious compassion and generosity of their power.

August Translation Rights Deals

Sep 012020
 

Israeli rights to Annika Martin’s Dangerous Royals Series, to Sifrut Shenogaat, in a three-book deal, by Beverley Levit at The Israeli Association Of Book Publishers Ltd., on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Slovak rights to Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka’s ALWAYS NEVER YOURS and TIME OF OUR LIVES, to Albatros Media, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava i Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Aug 042020
 

An outsider who can travel between worlds discovers a secret that threatens the very fabric of the multiverse in this stunning debut, a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging.

“Gorgeous writing, mind-bending world-building, razor-sharp social commentary, and a main character who demands your attention—and your allegiance.”—Rob Hart, author of The Warehouse

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.

On this dystopian Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now what once made her marginalized has finally become an unexpected source of power. She has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security.

But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world, but the entire multiverse.

July Subsidiary Rights Deals

Jul 312020
 

a pair of black ear budsAudio rights to Ada Palmer’s TOO LIKE THE LIGHTNING and SEVEN SURRENDERS, Book 1 and 2 of Terra Ignota series, to Anji Cornette at Graphic Audio, LLC, a Division of RB Media, by Katie Shea Boutillier, on behalf of Cameron McClure.

Audio rights to NAACP Image Award-winner Tananarive Due’s GHOST SUMMER: STORIES, her debut collection of short fiction featuring an award-winning novella and fifteen stories, at auction, to Haila Williams at Blackstone Audio, by Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson on behalf of Prime Books.

July Translation Rights Deals

Jul 312020
 

German rights to Ada Palmer’s TOO LIKE THE LIGHTNING, SEVEN SURRENDERS, and THE WILL TO BATTLE, Books 1-3 of the Terra Ignota series, to Panini Germany, by Sarah Knofius at Thomas Schlueck Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

Italian rights to Molly Tanzer’s VERMILLION, to Moscabianca, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

Japanese rights to Martha Wells’ NETWORK EFFECT, the first full-length novel in the New York Times bestselling Murderbot Diaries series, plus FUGITIVE TELEMETRY and “Compulsory,” to Tokyo Sogen, by Kohei Hattori at the English Agency (Japan) Ltd. in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Korean rights to John Shirley’s GURDJIEFF, to Inner World Publishing, by Jackie Yang at Eric Yang Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Jennie Goloboy.

Russian rights to USA Today bestselling author Tamsyn Muir’s HARROW THE NINTH, the second book in the Locked Tomb trilogy, to Eksmo, by Igor Korzhenevski at Alexander Korzhenevski Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

Turkish rights to Robert McCammon’s SWAN SONG and BOY’S LIFE, to Ithaki by Merve Ongen at ONK Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

Turkish rights to Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka’s IF I’M BEING HONEST, to Yabanci, by Merve Ongen at ONK Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Review: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Jul 072020
 

Kirkus: Johnson’s world-hopping debut uses science fictional tools and an exciting plot to address urgent questions of privilege and position. Johnson employs Cara’s situation to forthrightly examine questions of privilege, trauma, assimilation, colonialism, and upbringing. The characters, voice, and twists all demand the reader’s attention. A compelling stand-alone debut that will leave readers thrilled, thoughtful, and anticipating the author’s next book.

 Older Entries  Newer Entries