Recent deals posted on Publisher's Marketplace

Mystery/Crime
Bill Cameron's DAY ONE, the third novel to feature former cop Skin Kadash, this time in a multi-skeined story about a troublesome unsolved murder that gathers to a bloody standoff in Portland's Mt. Tabor Park, to Ben Leroy at Tyrus Books, in a nice deal, for publication in Summer 2010







Fiction: Thriller
Dana Haynes's CRASHERS, in which a jetliner crashes in the lush lovely Willamette Valley of Oregon, triggering a response from the NTSB team of "crashers"-the investigators; usually they have months to find the cause of the crash; this time it's 70 hours, to Keith Kahla at Minotaur, in a good deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2010

Initial contact: query letter in the mail






Non-fiction: Narrative
Warren Richey's SHARKCHOW, the action adventure love story of the Ultimate Florida Challenge -- a grueling 1,200 mile one-man boat race around Florida -- that explores the inevitable question of why would anyone want to do that and what happens when you do, to Matt Martz at St. Martin's, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010

Initial contact: query letter










Mystery/Crime
Former Yorkshire policeman Colin Campbell's BLUE KNIGHT, WHITE CROSS, featuring two sergeants who are the "blunt force instrument of modern policing," and NORTHERN EX, to Amanda Stewart at Severn House, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2009, by Janet Reid at FinePrint Literary Management.

Initial contact: referral





Fiction: Debut
Robin Becker's BRAINS: a zombie memoir, the first-person account of a college professor-turned-zombie who retains his sentience and recruits others like him on a heroic quest to fend off the living while searching for the meaning of un-life, to Gabe Robinson at Harper, in a nice deal, for publication in Summer 2010.

Initial contact: query letter






Fiction:
Sean Ferrell's NUMB, a literary action/adventure novel about a man who wanders into a circus, and discovers he feels no pain and has no memory of how he got that way; and is then discovered by fame, fortune, and a New York talent agent, to Gabe Robinson at Harper, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010.


Initial contact: query letter













NonFiction
Evan Mandery's THE KILLING COURT, the story of two landmark Supreme Court cases: Furman v Georgia in 1972 that abolished the death penalty and Gregg v Georgia that reinstated it a mere four years later, focusing on the people involved: the justices themselves, the lawyers and the plaintiffs; and, what happened in those four years that made the Court "change its mind.," to Christopher Lehmann-Haupt at Delphinium, in a nice deal, for publication in 2011.

Initial contact: referral


Mystery/Crime
Gary Corby's THE EPHIALTES AFFAIR, set in Periclean Athens, to Keith Kahla at Minotaur, with Kathleen Conn editing, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010.


Initial contact: query letter in the incoming mail (and a lot of help from the blog readers)



Memoir:
Alysia Sofios's WHERE HOPE BEGINS, a memoir of the author's investigation of the 2004 Wesson Murders in Fresno, California in which she risked her reporting career and safety to help free the remaining members of the Wesson family from the psychological clutches of their murderous father and husband, to Abby Zidle at Pocket, in a significant deal, for publication in September 2009.


Initial contact: 2008 Writers Digest Pitch Slam at BEA



























SF:
Electric Church and Digital Plague author Jeff Somers's fourth and fifth books in the Avery Cates, post-apocalyptic thriller series, to Devi Pillai at Orbit, in a nice deal, for publication in 2010.

Initial contact: query letter










Fiction:
Dreaming of Gwen Stefani author Evan Mandery's FIRST CONTACT, about love, aliens and politics that owes a debt of gratitude to Kurt Vonnegut, Woody Allen and Thomas Pynchon, to Carl Lennertz at Harper, in a nice deal, for publication in February 2010.

Initial contact: referral










Memoir:
Dr. Lucy Hornstein's DECLARATIONS OF A DINOSAUR: 10 Laws I’ve Learned as a Family Doctor (originally called 10 LAWS OF THE DINOSAUR) in which a family practitioner tells stories of her experiences and lessons learned over her career in a shrinking field, to Michael Sprague at Kaplan, in a nice deal, for publication in 2009.

Initial contact: referral




Pop Culture:
Dawn Rae Downton's THE LITTLE BOOK OF CURSES AND MALEDICTIONS FOR EVERYDAY USE, the modern day guide to exacting stylish revenge using spells, incantations, hexes, imprecations, and execrations for the worst messes (and people) in your life, to Ann Treistman at Skyhorse, in a nice deal, for publication in October 2009.

Initial contact: query to Stephany Evans at FinePrint






Non-fiction:
Adam Eisenberg's A DIFFERENT SHADE OF BLUE, the first on-the-record, in-their-own-name look at what it's like to be a female cop told by officers in the Seattle Police Department, and focusing on The First Nine female beat officers, to Lynn Price at Behler, in a nice deal, for publication in July 2009.

Initial contact: query letter




Debut Novel:
Kennedy Foster's ALL ROADS LEAD ME BACK TO YOU in which a rancher and a ranch hand come to love each other in the austere terrain of Eastern Washington; overcoming cultural misunderstandings, the threat of deportation, the looming menace of a lien holder, and the problems of a loving family, to Abby Zidle at Pocket, in a nice deal, for publication in July 2009.


Initial contact: query letter with referral



Mystery/Crime:
Lost Dog author Bill Cameron's CHASING SMOKE, in which the hero finds himself investigating four suspicious 'suicides' of men linked only by their doctor, who is also the hero's doctor while he struggles to recover from cancer, to Ben Leroy at Bleak House, in a nice deal, for publication in September 2008.

Initial contact: query letter



Mystery/Crime:
Eric Stone's FLIGHT OF THE HORNBILL, the third book in the series draws the hero into a goldmine scam in Indonesia, drawn from a real case Eric Stone covered during his years as a journalist in Asia, and SHANGHAIED, to Ben LeRoy at Bleak House, in a nice deal, for publication in September 2008.

Initial contact: referral





Debut Thriller:
Younger brother of Lee Child, Andrew Grant's debut EVEN, introducing David Trevallyan, described as Jack Reacher's younger brother if Reacher had a brother who'd joined the British Navy, and taken James Bond's career path, to Peter Wolverton at Thomas Dunne Books, in a significant deal, in a pre-empt, for publication in June 2009.

Initial contact: query letter






Memoir:
Poet, Oregon Arts fellow, and PW book reviewer Amy Minato's chronology of her "unplugged year wriggling free from a consumer life" on SIESTA LANE with seven people, eight acres, one telephone, three cars, seven unheated cabins, one main house and fifteen miles to the nearest town, to Ann Treistman at Skyhorse, in a nice deal, for publication in April 2009.

Initial contact: Query letter in the incoming mail





Debut Thriller:
Patrick Lee's THE BREACH, starring an ex-convict who's a combination of Jack Bauer and Jack Reacher, with supernatural suspense reminiscent of Dean Koontz and James Rollins, to Sarah Durand at William Morrow, in a pre-empt.

Initial contact: query letter