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).

Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2026

Nov 022026
 

Cover for the novel CHILDREN OF OWL by Darcie Little Badger. Cover features a young person standing centered in front of a distant mountain. Above the person is the title, and above that is a person looking right at the viewer. To the right and left of this person are a massive pair of eyes, which almost look as if they're peering out from the inside of a pair of wings that this person may have.Book cover for MAZYWOOD by Tananarive Due. Cover features a road made of camera film stretching into the distance. The road reaches a film real into the distance and coils onto it, and atop the reel is a small cabin amongst a copse of trees. Smoke is emitting from the cabin's chimney, coalescing into words to form the book's title.

Congratulations to Darcie Little Badger and Tananarive Due as CHILDREN OF OWL and MAZYWOOD have been named among Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2026!

Children of Owl

Darcie Little Badger, illus. by Abigail Rajunov (Levine Querido)

Informed by the son of a legendary Lipan Apache being that “a terrible fate looms,” a teen attempts to save her home from forces both supernatural and benign in Little Badger and Rajunov’s stunning contemporary fantasy. Mystery and speculative elements converge across this sinuous, elaborately constructed story that balances suspenseful plotting with emotional resonance and cultural depth.

Darcie Little Badger on Heritage and Hope

Mazywood

Tananarive Due (Saga)

NAACP Image Award winner Due toggles between the 1920s—when Black aspiring actor Mazelle Washington makes a dangerous wish to become a Hollywood starlet—and the present day, when her filmmaker grandson and his family face the consequences of her actions. The result is a staggering work of horror that combines hair-raising action with sharp-toothed reflections on the politics of Black performance.

PW Talks to Tananarive Due

 November 2, 2026  Tagged with: , ,

2025 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Jun 152026
 

The 2025 Bram Stoker Award winners have been announced and we’re thrilled to see Tananarive Due on the list of winners for the following category!

Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction

  • Tananarive Due – “My Long Road to Horror” (Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction, Saga Press)
 June 15, 2026  Tagged with: ,

The GoodReads Editor’s Picks for the Past Five Years

Apr 242026
 

Congratulations to all the DMLA authors whose titles were named a GoodReads Editor’s Top Genre Pick for the past five years!

Fantasy

Horror

 April 24, 2026  Tagged with: , , , , ,

2025 Bram Stoker Award Nominees!

Mar 112026
 

The 2025 Bram Stoker Awards nominees were announced and we’re excited for our DMLA authors on the list!

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

  • Ha, Thomas — “Uncertain Sons” (Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Undertow Publications)

Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction

  • Due, Tananarive — “My Long Road to Horror” (Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction, Saga Press)
 March 11, 2026  Tagged with: , ,

Starred Review: DEATH TIMES SEVEN by Anne Perry

Feb 122026
 

Library Journal: Cementing her place in a long line of legendary British crime novelists such as Sayers, Christie, and Conan Doyle, prolific bestseller Perry (author of the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt books) puts her usual skillful historical spin on the genre in this compelling yarn, begun before she died in 2023 and later seamlessly finished by her friend and fellow author Zackheim (The Bone Weaver). The seventh installment in Perry’s Daniel Pitt series (following The Fourth Enemy) is set in pre–World War I England and features barrister Pitt, son of Thomas and Charlotte, and his brilliant pathologist wife Miriam. Readers follow Daniel as he’s thrown into two separate high-stakes murder cases: one, an ongoing sensational London murder trial; the other, the puzzling murder and assault of his law partner’s parents in rural Ipswich. The tension between the two cases drives the story as Daniel is torn between the murders, the locations, and doubts about his abilities. VERDICT Even after more than 100 books, Perry’s storytelling skills were sharp until the end. The strong storyline, intricate plotting, incisive exploration of social issues, and Perry’s trademark active prose make this one of her best. A highly recommended addition to all historical detective fiction collections.

 February 12, 2026  Tagged with: ,

2025 Sunburst Award

Sep 182025
 

Congratulations to Nalo Hopkinson for winning the 2025 Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic — making her a three-time winner of the award! Hopkinson was named the winner of this year’s prize for her novel Blackheart Man (Saga Press/Simon & Schuster)!

 September 18, 2025  Tagged with: ,

August Translation Deals

Aug 312025
 

Brazilian rights to Robert Jackson Bennett’s CITY OF STAIRS, to Alta, by Cristina Purchio at IECOBRAZIL, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

French renewal rights to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s VISION IN SILVER, the third book in the Others series, to Bragelonne, by Sarah Dray at Anna Jarota Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

French renewal rights to New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher’s CURSOR’S FURY and CAPTAIN’S FURY, books 3 and 4 in the Codex Alera series, to Bragelonne, by Sarah Dray at Anna Jarota Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

French rights to Nalo Hopkinson’s MIDNIGHT ROBBER, to La Volte, by Sarah Dray at Anna Jarota Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.

Hebrew rights to New York Times bestselling author Martha Wells’ ROGUE PROTOCOL and EXIT STRATEGY, the third and fourth installments in the Murderbot Diaries series, to Modan, by Beverley Levit at The Israeli Association Of Book Publishers Ltd in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

 August 31, 2025  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

June Translation Deals

Jun 302025
 

Chinese rights to Brent Weeks’s THE BURNING WHITE, to Gaea (Taiwan), by Alyssa Wu at The Grayhawk Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.

Croatian rights to LJ Andrews’ THE EVER KING and THE EVER QUEEN, to Lumen, by Momčilo Mišković at Prava I Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

French audio rights to LJ Andrews’s THE EVER QUEEN and THE MIST THIEF, to Noa Rosen at Theleme, by Sarah Dray at Anna Jarota Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

German rights to Gretchen Powell Fox’s Shattered Crown series, to Vajosh, in a three-book deal, by Sarah Knofius at Thomas Schlueck Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Italian audio rights to LJ Andrews’ CURSE OF SHADOWS AND THORNS, to Egmont Saga, for audio rights, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Spanish rights to Gretchen Powell Fox’s Shattered Crown series, to Ediciones SM, in a preempt, in a three-book deal, by Elena Rodriguez at International Editors & Yanez, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier.

Ukrainian rights to Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Founders Trilogy, to Apriori, in a three-book deal, by Milena Kaplarevic at Prava I Prevodi, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

Ukrainian rights to Eden Robins’ REMEMBER YOU WILL DIE, to Lobster, by Nada Popovic at Prava i Prevodi on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

 June 30, 2025  Tagged with: , , , ,

2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction finalists!

Jun 262025
 

Ursula K Le Guin Prize for Fiction logoDMLA is proud to congratulate the following clients on the recognition of their talent as nominees of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction :

* Vajra Chandrasekera for RAKESFALL
* Nalo Hopkinson for BLACKHEART MAN
* Eden Robins for REMEMBER YOU WILL DIE

This award is intended to recognize those writers Ursula spoke of in her 2014 National Book Awards speech—realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now.

This year, eight shortlisted books were chosen by the Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation following a public nomination process.

 June 26, 2025  Tagged with: , , ,

2025 Ignyte Awards!

Jun 112025
 

Amazing to see so many of our DMLA authors listed as Finalists for the 2025 Fiyah Magazine’s Ignyte Awards! Heartfelt congratulations to everyone!

Outstanding Novel: Adult
METAL FROM HEAVEN – august clarke
BLACKHEART MAN – Nalo Hopkinson

Outstanding Novel: Young Adult
SHEINE LENDE – Darcie Little Badger

Outstanding Novel: Middle Grade
BENNY RAMÍREZ AND THE NEARLY DEPARTED – Jose Pable Iriarte

Outstanding Novella
THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST – Premee Mohamed

Outstanding Novelette
A STRANGRER KNOCKS – Tananarive Due

Best Creative Nonfiction
“All Insurrections are Not Created Equal” – Micaiah Johnson

 June 11, 2025  Tagged with: , , , ,
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