waxman leavell literary agency adult rights list spring 2015

443 Park Avenue South Suite 1004 New York, NY 10016
Telephone (212) 675 5556
www.waxmanleavell.com
WAXMAN LEAVELL LITERARY AGENCY ADULT RIGHTS LIST
SPRING 2015
Scott Waxman: [email protected]
Byrd Leavell: [email protected]
Rachel Vogel: [email protected]
Larry Kirshbaum: [email protected]
Julie Stevenson: [email protected]
Cassie Hanjian: [email protected]
Kirsten Carleton: [email protected]
GENERAL NONFICTION & MEMOIR:
Deborah
Deborah Davis
THE TRIP: Andy Warhol’s Plastic Fantastic Cross-Country Adventure (Atria)
NA; Atria, UK: Abner Stein, Translation: WLLA (Taiwan/Business Weekly)
MS is available, publishing Fall 2015
In 1963, the pop art king Andy Warhol took a road trip from New York to LA through a country in the
midst of dramatic cultural change and as an artist on the brink of stardom. Through this episode we
witness many of the things that made him an icon in an era like no other. This was his first time in LA
and he was welcomed like a hero by its art scene, by people like Dennis Hopper, who became a life-long
friend, as well as Peter Fonda, Marcel Duchamp, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and
other luminaries from the worlds of movies and art. He blended in perfectly and solidified his image as
a visionary for a time in which people began to look at art in an entirely different way and many old
perceptions of what art was were upended. This is narrative non-fiction at its best: an overlooked
historical moment, major figures, unlimited storylines, engaging, enlightening, and enjoyable to read.
Deborah Davis is the author of six narrative non-fiction books, including The Oprah Winfrey Show:
Reflections on an American Legacy, the authorized history of the landmark television show and its legendary
host (Abrams, 2011). Her other works include Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X
(Tarcher/Putnam, 2003), the story behind the legendary John Singer Sargent painting that propelled the
artist to international renown but condemned his subject to a life of public ridicule; Party of the Century:
The Fabulous Story of Truman Capote and His Black and White Ball (Wiley, 2006), which transports readers to
the Oz-like splendor of New York in 1966, where Capote, at the pinnacle of his fame, threw himself the
party to end all parties. She has also written for the New York Times and the Washington Post.
US AGENT: Scott Waxman
STRAPLESS was licensed to: UK: Sutton, Korea: Maronie Books, Poland: Twoj Styl
Joseph Kim, with Stephan Talty
UNDER THE SAME SKY: A Memoir of Survival, Hope, and Faith (HMH)
NA: HMH, UK: Abner Stein, Translation: WLLA (Poland/Proszynski Media)
Manuscript is available, publishing June 2015
A searing story of starvation and survival in North Korea, followed by a dramatic escape, rescue by activists and Christian
missionaries, and success in the United States thanks to newfound faith and courage. Inside the hidden and mysterious world of
North Korea, Joseph Kim lived a young boy’s normal life until he was five. Then disaster struck: the first wave of the Great Famine,
a long, terrible ordeal that killed millions, including his father, and sent others, like his mother and only sister, on desperate escape
routes into China. Alone on the streets, Joseph learned to beg and steal. He had nothing but a street-hardened survival instinct.
Finally, in desperation, he too crossed a frozen river to escape to China. There a kindly Christian woman took him in, kept him
hidden from the authorities, and gave him hope. Soon, through an underground network of activists, he was spirited to the
American consulate, and became one of just a handful of North Koreans to be brought to the U.S. as refugees. Joseph knew no
English and had never been a good student. Yet the kindness of his foster family changed his life. He turned a new leaf, became a
dedicated student, mastered English, and made it to college, where he is now thriving thanks to his faith and inner strength. Under
the Same Sky is an unforgettable story of suffering and redemption.
JOSEPH KIM was born in North Korea in 1990. In 2007 he came to the United States where he completed high school. He is
currently a college student in New York City. Joseph Kim’s extraordinary TED talk has been viewed over 1.2 million times.
STEPHAN TALTY is a widely published journalist who has contributed to the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Men’s Journal, Time
Out New York, Details, and many other publications. He is the author of Escape from the Land of Snows, the best-selling Empire of Blue
Water, The Illustrious Dead, and Mulatto America. Talty's work as a ghostwriter resulted most recently in the New York Times bestseller
A Captain’s Duty - called "fascinating" and "suspenseful" by PW in a starred review - which has been made into a Columbia Pictures
film, “Captain Phillips”, starring Tom Hanks. US AGENT: Scott Waxman
John LeFevre
STRAIGHT TO HELL: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals
(Grove/Atlantic)
NA & UK: Grove/Atlantic, Translation: WLLA (China/Citic, Poland/Bukowy Las, Taiwan/Briefing
Press)
Manuscript available, publishing July 2015
From the infamous Twitter account, true stories from the wild world of international finance:
Over the past three years, the notorious @GSElevator Twitter feed has offered a hilarious,
shamelessly voyeuristic look into the real world of international finance. Hundreds of thousands
followed the account, Goldman Sachs launched an internal investigation, and when the true identity of
the man behind it all was revealed in February, it created a national media sensation—but that’s only
part of the story. Where @GSElevator captured the essence of the banking elite with curated jokes
and submissions overheard by readers, STRAIGHT TO HELL adds John LeFevre’s own story—an
unapologetic and darkly funny account of a career as a globe-conquering investment banker spanning
New York, London, and Hong Kong. This book pulls back the curtain on a world that is both hated and envied, taking readers
from trading floors and roadshows to private planes and after-hours overindulgence. Full of shocking lawlessness and win-atall-costs antics, this is the definitive take on the deviant, dysfunctional, and absolutely excessive world of finance. JOHN
LEFEVRE has enjoyed a distinguished career in international finance. He joined Salomon Brothers immediately out of college
and worked for Citigroup in New York, London, and Hong Kong. In 2010 he was hired by Goldman Sachs to be its head of
Asia Debt Syndicate, a position that eventually he did not take due to a contractual issue. US AGENT: Byrd Leavell
John Maclean, with Mark Tabb
HOW FAR CAN YOU GO?: The 25-Year Journey of an Elite Wheelchair Athlete Who Learned to Walk Again
NA: Hachette Books, ANZ: Simon & Schuster, UK: Abner Stein, Translation: WLLA
Proposal is available, MS due June 2015, publishing May 2016
Twenty-five years ago, John, a native Australian, was hit by a truck while he was training for the Nepean Triathlon. Though left with
at most 25% function in his left leg, none in his right, and excruciating hypersensitivity in both legs, he insisted that he’d be able to
walk again. But after two years of intense therapy, it was obvious that his wheelchair would be his constant companion. So he
proceeded to make the most of what his body could do. Breaking record after record, he became one of the most accomplished
wheelchair athletes in the world: He was the first paraplegic to swim the English Channel and the first athlete ever to both complete
the Hawaii Ironman and swim the Channel. He competed in the first Olympic wheelchair race in Sydney in 2000, and in two
Paralympic Games in two completely different disciplines, winning silver in 2008. Through all of this, he never let go of the idea that
he would be able to walk one day. And then, astoundingly, he did. Simply put, John has become the first medically defined paraplegic
to ever walk again unassisted. Through a therapy called tremor methodology, John is able to work his muscles through intense focus
and determination. For most people, being able to carry their child down the street would have been enough. But for John, the next
question is “how far can I go?” HOW FAR CAN YOU GO delves into not just the physical aspects of John’s journey, but the
psychological ones: what it means to no longer be a “wheelie,” yet still be severely disabled; what it feels like to walk on the beach for
the first time and hold his wife’s hand; and ultimately, what it means to push through the impossible.
John Maclean is the author of two previous books, Sucking The Marrow Out of Life and Full Circle. Mark Tabb has authored/coauthored twenty-six books, including Running For My Life, with former Lost Boy of Sudan and U.S Olympian Lopez Lomong.
US AGENT: Rachel Vogel
Cat Marnell
HOW TO MURDER YOUR LIFE (S&S)
NA: S&S, UK: Ebury, Translation: WLLA (Brazil/Planeta, Germany/Rowohlt, Holland/Atlas Contact, Italy/Mondadori, Sweden/Norstedt)
Proposal is available, MS due May 2015, publishing Spring 2016
Cat Marnell is beautiful, frighteningly self-destructive, and an extraordinary writer. Her remarkably candid writing has captivated
readers and writers alike. Journalists have all found their own colorful ways to describe her: "arguably the Internet’s most divisive
writer," “a gifted memoirist,” “New York's enfant terrible,” “angel dust aficionado,” “the site's most read and most commented-on
writer,” “Internet anti-hero,” “amphetamine-addicted and uncomfortably honest former beauty writer,” or simply “fascinating and a
little bit scary.” Most of the longer profiles follow the same script that much of her memoir HOW TO MURDER YOUR LIFE will
cover: her childhood in DC with her psychiatrist and psychotherapist parents, boarding school, the ADD and ADHD medication
she’s been hooked on since she was 15, her time at Condé Nast, her meteoric rise to fame as xojane's beauty editor, her honesty
about her drug use, the comment sections below her posts that often approach 1,000 responses, her move to Vice, and her
continuing life as a rules-breaking poet of the 21st century demimonde. HOW TO MURDER YOUR LIFE has the rare alchemy of
ingredients to become a book that people later use as a demarcation point for the form. Cat is committed to creating something that
validates the comparisons that are made between Brett Easton Ellis, Charles Bukowski, and Jim Carroll. But her own description of
her book is much more fun: "I used to say ‘Devil Wears Prada’ meets ‘Basketball Diaries,’ but now I think ‘Bergdorf Blondes’ on
PCP is much more accurate—with a touch of ‘American Psycho.’” US AGENT: Byrd Leavell
Dr. Charlotte Peterson
THE MINDFUL PARENT: Strategies from Peaceful Cultures to Raise Compassionate, Well-Balanced Kids
(Skyhorse)
NA: Skyhorse, UK: Abner Stein, Translation: WLLA
Proposal is available, MS due: July 2015, publishing Fall 2015
The first parenting book that integrates practices from peaceful cultures and countries that have strong commitments to
peace. For the last 35 years, Dr. Charlotte Peterson has spent six months at a time living in 60-plus countries, with a focus on
cultures that are deemed truly peaceful: Bhutan, Tibet, Bali, and the Aztecan, Incan and Mayan people, among others. There,
Peterson has seen that children are strikingly different from Western children. “The terrible twos” is not a term in these places,
and teenagers are never withdrawn. Rather, Peterson has observed that infants and children cry less, boys are markedly less
hyperactive and aggressive, and older children are regularly seen caring for younger ones. On the world stage, these countries
are without a doubt models of peace and prosperity: the Dalai Lama hails from the Tibetan culture, and Bhutan’s former King
Jigme Singye Wangchuck introduced the concept of “gross national happiness.” GROWING KIND KIDS gathers together
Peterson’s own research as a psychologist while living in these places—as well as in Japan, Thailand, Nepal, Fiji and
elsewhere—and introduces a childrearing practice called Mindful Parenting, which is based on these cultures’ prevailing belief
that all children have a desire to be cooperative. Using various cultural rituals from pre-conception to coming-of-age as the
foundation of her argument, GROWING KIND KIDS lays out the importance of attachment, relational parenting, and
‘listening inside,’ which encourages your child to become emotionally self-aware. Having revisited the places that best
exemplify these practices and observing how these children grow into adults, Peterson guarantees that following these
techniques—which she’s made achievable for a modern Western family—will result in kind and happy children. Charlotte
Peterson, Ph.D. has been a psychologist in private practice for over 34 years. Prior to receiving her doctorate, she taught at the
University of Oregon as Senior Clinical Supervisor of School Psychology. Articles by Dr. Peterson have appeared in Child
Magazine and elsewhere. US AGENT: Rachel Vogel
Joanne Ruthsatz, Ph.D. and Kimberly Stephens, J.D.
THE PRODIGY’S COUSIN: One Psychologist’s Amazing Discovery of the Hidden Link Between Genius and Autism
(Current)
Proposal is available, EMS due April 2015, publishing November 2015
NA: Current, UK: Abner Stein, Translation: WLLA
Ruthsatz, a cognitive psychologist, has been studying child prodigies for 15 years. With her daughter, Kimberly Stephens, THE
PRODIGY’S COUSIN breaks down the roots of genius itself, raising powerful questions about how we have perceived it for
centuries. At the same time, it reframes the way we think about autism, one of the biggest hot-button issues of the past two decades.
Professor and cognitive psychologist Joanne Ruthsatz and her daughter Kimberly Stephens bring us on a ground-breaking journey
through a decade and a half of studying child prodigies. In 1998, Ruthsatz met her first child prodigy and shortly thereafter met his
cousin, who was autistic. The children seemed to be two sides of the same coin. Do prodigy and autism go hand in hand? This idea
set in motion Joanne’s quest to discover the true nature of genius, one that would dominate her life for 15 years. And discover it she
did: together with Ohio State University’s lab, Ruthsatz identified the prodigy gene. The findings: the talent element of autism is
where genius lies. THE PRODIGY’S COUSIN is the first book that examines genius from all angles. Ruthsatz and Stephens tell the
tales of children capable of extraordinary things while weaving in the new science behind why autistic traits are the key to making this
possible. Throughout her journey to understand where genius fundamentally lies, Ruthsatz forces us to rethink everything we thought
we knew about prodigies and the autistic. Can an autistic person ‘grow out’ of the disorder? Will we be able to create prodigies? Will
we be able to prevent autism before a child is born? US AGENT: Rachel Vogel
Mishka Shubaly
RUNNING THROUGH HELL (PublicAffairs)
NA + UK: PublicAffairs, Translation: WLLA
Proposal is available, MS due April 2015, publishing Summer 2016
Mishka Shubaly began drinking at 13 and college at 15. At 22, he received the Dean's Fellowship from the Master's Program at
Columbia University. And his account of going from being a committed drug addict to an ultra runner who knocks out 50 miles
before lunch was released in late 2011 as a Kindle Single called THE LONG RUN. To date it has sold over 80,000 copies and is one
of the most successful Singles ever. The reasons for THE LONG RUN'S remarkable popularity are clear: Shubaly is a natural writer
with a knack for reaching a mainline of readers looking for terrific, inspirational running narratives. But it is also missing entire
themes and chapters that he had to cut to fit Amazon’s strict length restrictions. Nothing reflects this more than the flood of emails
he receives asking for more details about how he did it. RUNNING THROUGH HELL will be the book that THE LONG RUN so
clearly needs to be. Shubaly has the talent to create a book capable of carving out a space between Augusten Burroughs’ Dry and
Christopher McDougall’s epic success Born to Run. He lives in Brooklyn, where he writes music and plays bass for Freshkills. US
AGENT: Byrd Leavell
Adam Skolnick
ONE BREATH
NA: Crown, UK: Abner Stein, Australia: Penguin Australia, Translation: WLLA
Proposal is available, MS due: April 2015, publishing: September 2015
Part INTO THE WILD, part SHADOW DIVERS, ONE BREATH reveals the world of daredevil free divers addicted to the buzz
that comes from tempting their own fate, and diving as deep as they can on a single breath. Their quest is both spiritual and athletic,
but the deeper these athletes go, the more obsessed they become. All of its competitors walk a thin line, which became devastatingly
apparent in 2013 when rising star Nicholas Mevoli was pronounced dead after an attempt to break his own personal best and achieve
a second American record. Adam Skolnick was present that day, covering the competition for the New York Times, and ONE
BREATH begins with the story of Nicholas Mevoli’s last dive. Part season in a bottle, part historical and scientific exploration,
Skolnick will take readers from sponge divers in Ancient Greece into the 20th century, where scientific perceptions have shifted over
the course of the last five decades as divers continue to find ways to defy what medical science deems impossible. He will visit with
the best divers in the world and watch them train and compete at home and abroad in places like the Bahamas, Indonesia, Japan,
Russia, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Honduras, Hawaii, and New York City. What emerges is a story filled with quirky characters,
evocative history, unsolved mysteries of science, and determined athletes competing for a world title. It will take the reader to some
of the most beautiful places on earth and down into the depth of the sea where there exists a poetry and beauty few will ever
experience.
ADAM SKOLNICK has written for the New York Times, Outside, ESPN.com, BBC.com, Salon.com, Men’s Health, Wired, and
Travel + Leisure, among others. As an international journalist, he has visited 45 countries and authored or co-authored 25 Lonely
Planet guidebooks. His coverage of Nicholas Mevoli’s death at Vertical Blue earned two APSE awards.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/18/sports/deep-water-diver-from-brooklyn-dies-after-trying-for-a-record.html
US AGENT: Byrd Leavell
Abigail Tucker
THE LION IN THE LIVING ROOM: THE CURIOUS SCIENCE OF HOUSE CATS AND THEIR KEEPERS (S&S)
NA & UK: S&S, Translation: WLLA
Manuscript available, publishing November 2015
Tucker, an award-winning science writer on staff at Smithsonian, investigates how house cats and human civilization shaped, and
continue to shape, each other. She addresses the downfall of the great cats that hunted humans as food for much of prehistory,
theories of the origin of cat domestication and Egypt's famous cat culture, including the cat mummies which scientists continue to
use for genetic studies. Chapters will cover health and disease, from how cats helped save humans from the Black Death to modern
work on toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease spread by cats that some researchers now think is responsible for conditions like
schizophrenia. The book will address ecological issues: house cats are a devastatingly invasive species, responsible for some 14
percent of all modern bird and mammal extinctions. It will discuss the psychology of cat ownership -- why some people prefer cats to
dogs and vice versa, which countries love cats and why others don't, how culture and gender affects our fondness for cats (or lack
thereof), and more. It will discuss modern cat breeders (some of whom have a Frankenstein-like quality), modern cat skeptics
(including the bird people who have come to view sparrow-devouring house cats as mortal foes), and end with a discussion of how
cats colonized the internet, with the smashing success of LOL Cats and more. A book for cat people, people who know and love cat
people, dog people, and anyone who wants to pause and admire the charms of the cold-blooded apex predator that millions of us
cuddle every night. US AGENT: Scott Waxman
Robert Evans
A BRIEF HISTORY OF VICE (Plume)
NA: Plume, UK: Abner Stein, Translation: WLLA
Proposal available, MS due: September 2015, publishing Spring 2016
Robert Evans was a struggling freelancer when he convinced the editors at Cracked.com to let him start interviewing people
with unique lives and crazy jobs. After the articles began generating a huge response, he started weaving in his personal
experiences, and they quickly became Cracked’s most popular content. In the last year, his articles have racked up more than
64 million views—64 million. He gets an average of five or six million views a month. Over the course of his career his articles
have been read more than 141 million times.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF VICE is going to build on the most popular articles that have driven this huge response. It is going
to be the first thorough, readable, funny history of human vice and debauchery, complete with guides so the reader can
experience that history personally. Readers won’t just learn about the beer that destroyed South America’s first empire; they’ll
learn how to make it. Coffee and its Islamic origins…Ephedra and Mormons…Psilocybin mushrooms and the birth of
religion…music and Stonehenge…through each subject Evans will connect the dots in continuously enjoyable and
entertaining ways.
US Agent: Byrd Leavell
Mohamedou Ould Slahi
THE GUANTÁNAMO DIARY, edited by Larry Siems (Little, Brown)
NA: Little, Brown, UK: Canongate, Translation: WLLA (Arabic/ Dar al-Saqi,
Brazil/Companhia des Letras, Croatia/Profil, Czech/Jota, Denmark/People’s Press,
Finland/Like, France/ Michel Lafon, Germany/Klett Cotta, Greece/Psichogios,
Holland/de Boekerij, Indonesia/Noura Books, Italy/Piemme, Japan/Kawada Shobo
Shinsha, Norway/Cappelen Damm, Poland/Muza, Portugal/Vogais, Russia/AST,
Serbia/Laguna, Slovenia/Ciceron, Slovakia/Tatran, Spain/Agora, Sweden/Norstedt,
Turkey/Belge Yayinlari)
EMS is available, publishing: January 20, 2015
An unprecedented international publishing event: the first and only diary written by a
still-imprisoned Guantánamo detainee.
Since 2002, Mohamedou Slahi has been imprisoned at the detainee camp at Guantánamo Bay,
Cuba. In all these years, the United States has never charged him with a crime. Although he was ordered released by a federal
judge, the U.S. government fought that decision, and there is no sign that the United States plans to let him go. Three years
into his captivity Slahi began a diary, recounting his life before he disappeared into U.S. custody and daily life as a detainee. His
diary is not merely a vivid record of a miscarriage of justice, but a deeply personal memoir—terrifying, darkly humorous, and
surprisingly gracious. Published now for the first time, Guantánamo Diary is a document of immense historical importance.
Mohamedou Slahi was born in Mauritania. He left the country at the age of 18, on a scholarship to study in Germany. In the
early 1990s, he interrupted his studies and went to Afghanistan to join al-Qaeda units fighting (with American support) the
Soviet-backed government in Kabul. He returned to Germany in 1992, completing his engineering degree and living and
working first in Germany and then, for a few months, in Montreal, Canada. After his November 2001 apprehension by a
Jordanian commando team, he was held in isolation and interrogated for the next seven and a half months before the
Jordanians concluded he had had no involvement with the Millennium plot. Nevertheless, a CIA rendition team captured him
and on August 5, 2002, he was incarcerated at Guantánamo. Despite being cleared by multiple courts and foreign
governments, he remained imprisoned. He has never been charged with a crime.
Larry Siems is a writer and human rights activist, and for many years directed the Freedom to Write Program at PEN
American Center. He is the author, most recently, of The Torture Report: What the Documents Say About American's Post-9/11
Torture Program. He lives in New York.
US AGENT: Rachel Vogel
FICTION:
Kathleen Glasgow
THE TENDER KIT (Delacorte Press)
NA: Delacorte, UK: Oneworld, ANZ: HarperCollins, Translation: WLLA (Poland/Jaguar, Spain/Montena)
Manuscript available, publishing Fall 2016
Charlie Davis is a young woman on the edge of losing herself to a debilitating mental illness—she’s a cutter—and while her
young life has been one of chaos, loss, and even homelessness, the deep cuts she makes in her body with the chip of a mason
jar bring her an addicting calmness. We meet Charlie in a psychiatric care facility in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she’s been
admitted after a traumatic event on the streets. With the help of a caring doctor, nicknamed Caspar, she takes her first steps
toward healing. Unlike many of the girls in the program, however, Charlie can’t afford this sanctuary for long. When insurance
coverage ends, she’s sent back into the world to fend for herself. Her journey takes her to Tucson, Arizona, where, armed with
Caspar’s advice, she meets an eccentric cast of outsiders and artists, who teach her how to live a life she never dreamed
possible. A spellbinding story of survival, growth, art, and change, THE TENDER KIT is a novel with beauty to burn. It is a
GIRL, INTERRUPTED for a new generation.
“Charlie Davis's voice is diamond-beautiful and diamond-sharp which, when strung together by a delicious story and
memorable characters, creates a rare and powerful read. Kathleen Glasgow's THE TENDER KIT is a treasure of a novel.” -Swati Avasthi, author of SPLIT and CHASING SHADOWS
US AGENT: Julie Stevenson
Sharma Shields
THE SASQUATCH HUNTER’S ALMANAC (Holt)
NA: Holt, UK: Abner Stein, Translation: WLLA (excl. France and Germany)
Published January 2015
Eli Roebuck was nine years old when his mother walked off into the woods with “Mr. Krantz,” a large,
strange, hairy man who may or may not have been a sasquatch. What Eli knows for certain is that his
mother went willingly, leaving her only son behind. For the rest of his life, Eli is obsessed with the hunt
for the bizarre creature his mother chose over him, and we watch it affect every relationship he has in
his long life—with his father, with both of his wives, his children, grandchildren, and colleagues. We
follow all of the Roebuck family members, witnessing through each of them the painful, isolating effects
of Eli’s maniacal hunt, and find that each Roebuck is battling a monster of his or her own, sometimes
literally. There are often supernatural flourishes here—talking paintings and departed family members
reincarnated as family pets—but Shields’s writing is so masterfully assured that the suspension of
disbelief is immediate, unconscious. At times charming, as when young Eli meets the eccentric,
extraordinary Mr. Krantz, and downright horrifying at others. THE SASQUATCH HUNTER'S
ALMANAC is boldly imaginative throughout, and proves to be a devastatingly real portrait of the
demons that we as human beings all face.
US AGENT: Julie Stevenson
Lindsey Emory
SISTERHOOD IS DEADLY -- Book 1 in the Margot Blythe mystery series (Witness Impulse)
NA: Witness Impulse, UK: Abner Stein, Translation: WLLA
MS is available, publishing July 2015
Margot Blythe is a 27-year-old professional sorority girl. As a Sisterhood Mentor for Delta Beta sorority, she travels around North
America advising Delta Beta chapters on Very Serious Sorority Issues™. While Margot is visiting her alma mater, the Delta Beta
chapter advisor drops dead during a chapter meeting, sending shock waves throughout sorority row and around the ivy-draped
campus of Sutton College. Margot is appointed the honor of serving as chapter advisor pro tem and must manage the normal drama
of fifty frazzled sorority women, protect the house from the annual fraternity pledge pranks, and combat the maybe-false rumors
planted by a competing sorority about a Delta Beta phone sex ring. Oh, and there’s the matter of keeping local police cutie Ty
Hatfield off her back while she attempts to solve the mystery of whether a sister could have committed the second worst sin: murder.
(The worst sin, of course, is shoe theft.) A little bit Sophie Kinsella, a little bit Agatha Christie, and a whole lot of Elle Woods,
SISTERHOOD IS DEADLY plays to traditional mystery tropes while infusing modern wit, drama, and fashion sense.
LINDSEY EMORY is the pen name of native Texan and recovering sorority girl Sara Koehn. She is also the author of the
contemporary romance trilogy Love & War in Dallas. Book two in the Margot Blythe mystery series, RUSHING TO DIE, is
forthcoming in Fall 2015. US AGENT: Cassie Hanjian
HUMOR AND LIFESTYLE:
Sophie Gamand
WET DOG (Grand Central)
NA: Grand Central, UK: Aurum, Translation: WLLA (France/Livre de Poche, Germany/Riva)
Manuscript available, publishing Fall 2015
Sophie Gamand is a French photographer who has lived and worked in New York since 2010. She posted her hilarious photos
of dogs during their bath times at a local pet grooming salon in November. They immediately went viral, receiving hundreds
of thousands of hits and Facebook shares on Yahoo, Buzzfeed, MSN, The Daily Mail, The Mirror, Telegraph, Guardian, The
Week, Laughing Squid, The Dish, Daily Candy, and dozens of other sites. The profound reaction her photos have generated,
and how entertaining she is able to make each image, speaks to her ability as a photographer. Something happens when the
dogs are caught in such a vulnerable state. Each image offers a rare glimpse of their personality, and with its lush images,
humorous approach, and tremendous following, WET DOG is ideally suited to be the next title to follow in the bestselling
footsteps of SHAKE and UNDERWATER DOGS. Sophie’s whimsical and humorous work has been internationally
recognized. In January 2014, shortly after “Wet Dog” received worldwide attention, her series “Dog Vogue” went viral as well.
You can see more of her work here.
US AGENT: Byrd Leavell
Matt Andrews
TEXTASTROPHE: (TEXT•TAS•TRO•PHE)
NA: St. Martin's, UK: Ebury, Translation: WLLA (Germany/Piper)
Final MS is available, published February 2015
Once upon a time, prank phone calls were the best way to procrastinate, but in 2015,
they’re so passé. Instead, Matt Andrews has mastered the art of prank texting. What
happens when you offer to barter two sub-sandwiches for a used motorcycle? Who do
you call when you want to build a mysterious man cave in your basement? What do
you do if you need a knight in shining armor to deliver you to your high school
reunion? If you've ever left a "contact me" pull-tab at your local grocery or posted an
ad on Craigslist and received insane and unbelievable text messages in response,
Andrews is very likely to blame. We'd be mad at him if we could stop laughing long
enough to hit "send" on the exceptionally witty come back we thought of . . . too bad
he's already moved on to his next target and deleted us from his phone, now only to be remembered in the pages of his laughout-loud funny book.
MATT ANDREWS is a reformed loser and full-time hooligan. It started during an exceptionally boring shift at the smart
phone kiosk where he used to work in the mall. With ample time to procrastinate, Matt decided to check out Craigslist. He
saw an ad requesting the reader to text a personal cell phone number for more information, and thus his prank text empire
was born. The public has taken to the blog like moths to the flame on sites including BuzzFeed, Reddit, The Huffington Post, and
others.
US AGENT: Byrd Leavell
“This is easily one of the funniest things I have ever seen on the Internet.” – Eli Langer, CNBC
“Shake-your-head enjoyable. You can't help but appreciate their mastery of that craft.” – GIZMODO
Josh Ostrovsky,
MONEY, PIZZA, RESPECT (Grand Central)
NA: Grand Central, UK: Hardie Grant, Translation: WLLA
Proposal is available, MS due: April 2015, publishing October 2015
A laugh-out-loud memoir from Josh Ostrovsky, who has attracted millions of devoted followers on his Instagram and Twitter.
Ostrovsky goes by the handle @fatjewish, and his over-the-top online persona has made him infamous. But this NY native
comes by his outrageousness honestly, he lives an offline life as provocative, profane, and over-the-top as what more than 3.5
million fans enjoy through Instagram. He was recently featured in this New York Times magazine article. In MONEY,
PIZZA, RESPECT, Josh relates one insanely hilarious story from his life after another. The book will contain plenty of the
ridiculous photos and captions that have catapulted Josh to fame—or whatever this might be called. Ostrovsky will be writing
the book with David Oliver Cohen, co-author of the national bestseller White Girl Problems. US AGENT: Byrd Leavell
Tucker Max and Geoffrey Miller
MATE (Little, Brown)
NA: Little, Brown, UK: Abner Stein, Translation: WLLA
Manuscript available, publishing Sept. 2015
Tucker Max and Geoffrey Miller's MATE will be the first book that uses the best new science to
guide young men through the confusing world of women, sex, and dating. Based on recent
breakthroughs in evolutionary psychology, human sexuality, behavior genetics, and animal
communication, Tucker and Geoff will show young men exactly what women want, why they
instinctively want it, and how to transform themselves into real men who can truly offer it.
From explaining how to cultivate attractive traits like health, humor, honesty, and confidence to
strategies for choosing colleges, careers, and cities with the best mating markets, MATE gives
young men a comprehensive, evidence-based, insightful, funny playbook for becoming more
sexually attractive and romantically successful. It’s The Game, but with real science and a moral
compass; it’s Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus for young men.
TUCKER MAX is the author of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller and has over 2 million
copies in print worldwide, and Assholes Finish First and Hilarity Ensues, which both have over one million copies in print
worldwide. GEOFFREY MILLER, Ph.D., is a tenured professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of New Mexico
and the author of The Mating Mind and Spent. US Agent: Byrd Leavell
Elina Fuhrman
#SOUPCLEANSE (Da Capo)
NA: Da Capo, UK: Abner Stein, Translation: WLLA
Proposal is available, MS due July 2015, publishing Spring 2016
“Souping” is quickly becoming the next big trend, replacing sugar-laden juice fasts with fiber-rich plant-based soups. Sharing the
much-buzzed about recipes featured in the Soupelina Soup Cleanse, journalist-turned-soup guru Elina Fuhrman guides the reader
through their own soup cleanse process by offering tips and tricks while providing the science behind the power of soup. All the
soups featured in #SoupCleanse are 100% vegan and organic, encouraging readers to reset their digestive systems and make more
conscious food choices in the process.
In 2009, Fuhrman’s world was turned upside down by a surprising diagnosis of aggressive breast cancer in the midst of a very
successful career as a journalist for CNN. Seeking an alternative to aid in her healing process, she donned her investigative reporter
hat and discovered that what we put in our bodies throughout our lifetime has a huge impact on future illnesses. Turning to a fullyvegan diet, she discovered that one type of food had the best track record for aiding in digestion while soothing a stomach disrupted
by chemotherapy treatments: soup.
Fuhrman’s soups have been featured by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, New York magazine, Self, and the Huffington Post.
#SoupCleanse is a guide to healthy and sustainable eating, one spoon at a time.
US AGENT: Cassie Hanjian
Martin Vargic
THE MAP OF EVERYTHING (Harper Design)
NA: Harper Design, UK: Penguin, Translation: WLLA
Manuscript Available, publishing October 2015
Vargic, a 16-year old artist from Slovakia, rose to international fame in early 2014 when his Map of the Internet 1.0 went viral. Using
old National Geographic maps as inspiration, he drew freehand into Photoshop the Alexa data of the most visited websites in the
world. Visually stunning, it generated hundreds of thousands of hits and Facebook shares and was subsequently featured on
Mashable, Yahoo, The Daily Mail, The Independent, Slate, Fox News, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Gizmodo and dozens
of other sites worldwide.
In subsequent months, Vargic published several other maps on his website, www.halcyonmaps.com, which immediately garnered
more Internet fame. His second work, the Map of Stereotypes, pulled together more than 1800 clichés and pop culture references
into a map based on the stereotypical westerner’s view of the world. It too received immediate media attention, and was prominently
featured on a multitude of sites such as Slate, The Huffington Post, and many others. Vargic was clearly onto something. THE MAP
OF EVERYTHING will bring Vargic's rare talent to a book that will feature all of Vargic's previously published maps, as well as a
collection unseen by the general public, such as The Music Map, The Map of Youtube and a collection of 50 hilarious world minimaps showing everything from the number of metal bands per capita to the probability of getting struck by lightning. This will be a
beautiful, four-color, hardcover edition with eight full-page spreads and about 60 one-page maps. US AGENT: Byrd Leavell
Brittni Vega
HARLOW AND SAGE (AND INDIANA): A True Story (Putnam)
NA: Putnam, UK: Abner Stein, ANZ: Penguin Australia, Translation: WLLA (Germany/Ars Edition)
Books are available, published October 2014
NYT Bestseller
HARLOW AND SAGE (AND INDIANA), the dogs who are taking Instagram by storm. ‘Obsessed’ is one word to describe
followers of Harlowandsage. And it’s easy to understand why—this Weimaraner and her two friends are instant mood-lifters, a direct
injection of Vitamin D and serotonin. The world first met Harlow (an uber-expressive pooch that brings to mind the subjects of
William Wegman’s iconic Weimaraner photos), and her small and mighty sibling Sage, in March 2013. Their owner, Brittni Vega,
perfectly captured their love for each other, and also their goofiness. Sage passed away in September, but then came Indiana, a
Dachshund puppy. That’s when the account really blew up. HarlowandSage went viral and the account now has nearly 200,000
followers and each photo or video of these two gets thousands upon thousands of likes. What sets this apart from the many trending
dog photography books is its ability to capture a truly special dynamic between animals. Like UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIPS,
HARLOW AND SAGE (AND INDIANA) is served up with a huge dose of character, quirkiness, and love.
US AGENT: Rachel Vogel
BACKLIST:
David Epstein
THE SPORTS GENE: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
(Current)
**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**
NA: Current, UK: Yellow Jersey, Translation: WLLA (Brazil/Campus, Bulgaria/45 Janet,
Croatia/Mate, Czech Republic/Albatros, France/Editions Golferone, Holland/De
Arbeiderspers, Japan/Hayakawa, Korea/Open Books, Norway/Flint Forlag,
Slovakia/Premedia Group, Spain/Urano, Russia/AST, Slovenia/UMco, Turkey/Marti
Yayinlari)
EMS and cover are available, Publishing August 2013