Hallam's War PB Rights Sold
UNBRIDLED BOOKS ANNOUNCES PAPERBACK RIGHTS FOR HALLAM’S WAR SOLD TO BERKLEY BOOKS
(July 28, 2008) Unbridled Books is pleased to announce the paperback rights for Elisabeth Payne Rosen’s debut historical novel HALLAM’S WAR have been sold to Sandra Harding at Berkley Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA).
Set in West Tennessee during the time leading up to the Civil War and through the first devastating years of its fury, HALLAM’S WAR, which Unbridled Books released in May 2008, has been called “powerful,” “richly developed,” and “remarkable,” earning high praise and critical acclaim nationwide.
Greg Michalson notes, “We’re thrilled that Berkley shares our excitement for HALLAM’S WAR. We think it’s a thoughtful, authentic, page-turning saga with something for everyone, bringing vividly to life a heart-rending drama that resonates with deep personal grief shot through with moments of beauty and joy.”
Harding said of the acquisition, “Berkley Books is thrilled to be publishing the paperback of HALLAM’S WAR. This is a stunning family saga and Elisabeth Payne Rosen is a remarkable writer who uses a keen, generous intelligence to create complicated, sympathetic characters and place them against a meticulously researched, nearly-epic Civil War backdrop. As a book that explores questions about duty, honor, love and race, it is truly a story for our time.”
Film Rights Sold for Unbridled Books Debut
Andrea Portes’ First Novel, HICK, to Be Feature Film
Unbridled Books is pleased to announce that the film rights for Andrea Portes’ debut novel, HICK, have been sold to producers Christian Taylor of Taylor Lane Productions and Steven Siebert of Lighthouse Entertainment.
HICK, which Unbridled Books released in May 2007, was a Los Angeles Times paperback bestseller, a Book Sense Pick, a Book Sense Reading Group Pick, and a Midwest Connections Pick. It earned rave reviews nationwide.
HICK is the story of Luli McMullen—feisty, precocious, and out on her own at 13. Luli is running away from Nebraska to Las Vegas, where she plans to escape her disturbing present and even less hopeful future by finding herself a sugar daddy. That Luli finds trouble on the road almost immediately is no surprise. But on her perilous journey west, she learns the truth of American rootlessness and discovers both the power and the peril of her own sexual curiosity. Raw and edgy, hilarious, hopeful and heartbreaking, the novel is at once a true-to-life portrait of an inviolable spirit threatened by drugs and alcohol, sex and crime, and a stubbornly idealistic novel about growing up in America.
Taylor said of the acquisition, “I was immediately struck by the unique voice Andrea had created in 13- year-old Luli. Films like Badlands, Paper Moon and Taxi Driver had left strong impressions on me during my own adolescence, and I was excited by the idea of bringing this kind of character to life on the big screen.”
Luli’s story is loosely based on Andrea Portes’ own childhood. She grew up outside Lincoln, Nebraska, later shuffling between Illinois, Texas, Brazil, North Dakota, and North Carolina before attending Bryn Mawr College. She received her MFA in Theater from UC San Diego and became a script reader for Paramount Pictures. She lives in Los Angeles.
Portes is in negotiations with the producers to adapt the screenplay. Learn more about Andrea Portes at http://www.myspace.com/andreaportes.
Unbridled Galloping Along
Claire Kirch of Publishers Weekly recently highlighted the good work of Unbridled Books:
Unbridled Books, headquartered in Denver and Columbio, Mo., with nine employees scattered across the country and a webmaster in Estonia, continues to buck industry trends in its business model. At a time when other small presses are holding steady in their output or even trimming their fiction offerings, Unbridled is both growing its list—a mix of literary and commercial fiction written by both debut and seasoned authors—and successfully promoting its books in both traditional and unconventional ways.
Click here to read the full article!
The Essence Literary Award...
Margaret Cezair-Thompson’s surprise fall hit, THE PIRATE’S DAUGHTER, is the winner of the first annual Essence Literary Award in Fiction. Winners were announced at a standing room only gala event in New York on February 7, 2008.
Unbridled Books Co-Publisher Greg Michalson said, “We are proud to have published THE PIRATE’S DAUGHTER, and we’re delighted that Margaret Cezair-Thompson’s wonderful novel has gotten this kind of recognition from such a significant magazine.”
The award is the latest in a string of kudos for this independent press title. THE PIRATE’S DAUGHTER was the Number One Book Sense Pick for October 2007. Also, the novel earned rave reviews from national publications such as People, The Washington Post, and USA Today and from booksellers across the country.
First Booksellers, Now Reviewers Rave for THE PIRATE'S DAUGHTER
“Cezair-Thompson has spun a book-club-ready saga with two gorgeous women at its center—Ida, a light-skinned local girl who has a tryst with Flynn, and May, the daughter of that brief union. Flynn never acknowledges paternity, leaving Ida and May to forge a place for themselves in a land where they belong to neither the wealthy class of expatriates, nor the emerging black majority…[the book has] a knockout ending that reveals treasure buried beneath sand-encrusted secrets.” — People Magazine, Critic’s Choice
“With just enough swagger left in him to set island hearts aflutter, [Flynn] embarks on an affair with a young mixed-race girl coming of age, which, set against Jamaica’s own progression toward self-governance, makes for an unabashedly frangipani-scented—and wholly satisfying—armchair holiday of a read.” — Vogue
“*The novel never stops for breath once*…[it] just buzzes along, with years flying by between chapters, and dozens of characters entering and exiting, saying interesting things and doing outrageous ones. These characters range from aristocratic Europeans to desperately poor Jamaicans, and they are constantly pairing off in the most surprising ways.” — O Magazine
“[Cezair-Thompson] explores questions about identity and racism without being heavy-handed about it. She’s best at juxtaposing Flynn’s imported glamour with the realities of Jamaica and at suggesting there’s more than one kind of buried treasure…_The Pirate’s Daughter_ offers plenty of serious passion and escape.” — USA Today
“Cezair-Thompson…brings a smart, lilting voice and a sharp, quirky perspective to a tried-and-true literary formula, the sweeping historical epic…. *unravels a surprising yarn that is rich, salty and ultimately satisfying*…[It’s her] deft evocation of the beauty and unpredictability of Jamaica, its topography and its people, that raises The Pirate’s Daughter to a level far above the bodice-ripping historic epic.” — The Washington Post
“Cezair-Thompson promises her readers a ‘tropical adventure.’ She evokes spectacular shipwrecks and deserted islands, infamous buccaneers and glamorous celebrities. And the story that follows makes good on these promises. The novel fictionalizes an episode in the life of Errol Flynn, the scandal plagued, womanizing movie star whose sailboat capsized off the coast of Jamaica during a hurricane in 1946. Beginning with this very real drama, Cezair-Thompson tells the tale of two imagined women: a beautiful Jamaican teenager Flynn seduces during his time on the island and the daughter she bears him but whom he never cares to know.” — The New York Times Book Review
Pritchett Earns Kudos
Kansas author and University of Missouri-Kansas City
professor Michael Pritchett has earned more kudos for his acclaimed first novel, THE MELANCHOLY FATE OF CAPT. LEWIS: A Novel of Lewis & Clark. The
Midwest Booksellers Association has chosen the title as a Midwest Connections Pick, and it has been selected as a November 2007 BookSense Pick!
Great, Unbridled News!
Last week, Unbridled Books announced that it has sold the trade paperback rights for Margaret Cezair-Thompson’s surprise fall hit, THE PIRATE’S DAUGHTER, in a significant six-figure deal, to Jane von Mehren at Random House!
The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association included THE PIRATE’S DAUGHTER by Margaret Cezair-Thompson in its 2007 Winter Catalog. Click here to download the catalog (you’ll find The Pirate’s Daughter on page 5).
HICK by Andrea Portes has been chosen as a 2007/2008 Book Sense Reading Group Pick! That’s in addition to already being a Los Angeles Times bestseller, a May 2007 Book Sense Pick, and a Midwest Connections pick!
The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God, by Timothy Schaffert, was chosen as the Omaha Reads selection for 2007! Click here to see a schedule of events taking place in Omaha, Nebraska.
#1 October BookSense Pick!
The Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson is the #1 October BookSense Pick! Booksellers around the country have been raving about this forthcoming (in October) novel:
“The Pirate’s Daughter is perfect.”—Angela Bobbitt, Reed’s Gumtree
“I was completely caught off guard by how wonderful it is…has the makings of a sleeper hit.“—Jamie Kornegay, Turnrow Books
“An unforgettable trip to a time and place that no longer exists…Lost love, forbidden passion, jet set glamour and crushing poverty all collide in this beautiful, poignant novel.”—Cheryl and Thomas Upchurch, Capitol Book & News Company
“There are books and then there are great books. Once in awhile, these days, a great book comes along that makes a bookseller proud to be a part of its success. The Kite Runner, The Life of Pi, and now The Pirate’s Daughter…an unforgettable masterpiece.”—Marva Allen, Hue-Man Bookstore
“Wish it had gone on and on….This book will be a pleasure to hand sell.“—Patricia Worth, River Reader Books
“The story was the kind that eats up a week of time and leaves you happier for having done so.”—Hans Weyandt, Micawbers
“This is a delightful, original treasure that I heartily recommend!” —Dee Robinson, Village Books
The Latest at UBB
Pamela Thompson, author of the forthcoming novel Every Past Thing (September 2007), now has her own website: Pamela-Thompson.com
And be sure to check out her blog, Girl With Glasses!
The Pirate’s Daughter reading guide is now available! Click here to view it online (You can also download for easy printing!)
OnceWritten.com has published a great ‘Meet the Author’ essay by Timothy Schaffert, about his path to becoming a published author.
And finally, this week saw the inclusion of three forthcoming Unbridled titles in LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. Click here for an opportunity to get an advance copy of The Pirate’s Daughter, Every Past Thing, or The Melancholy Fate of Capt. Lewis!
As always, don’t forget to check out our upcoming author events
Publishers Weekly Fall Shortlist
This week’s issue of Publishers Weekly included a Fall Shortlist of 17 recommended books selected by 5 booksellers. Among those recommended titles is The Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson!