Publishing Industry News: Oct. 18, 2019

Curious about what’s happening in the world of books and publishing? Catch up on the biggest acquisitions, news, adaptations and more here!

• Disney-Hyperion has signed a deal with debut author Emma Theriault for her Queen’s Council series. The young adult (YA) historical fantasy series reimagines Disney princesses as young rulers coming into power. The first installment will launch in fall 2020, with Belle from Beauty and the Beast trying to balance her new royal life with her provincial roots during the early days of the French Revolution.

• Don Carmody and David Cormican, producers of the Freeform TV show Shadowhunters, will adapt the New York Times best-selling House of Night series by mother-daughter team P.C. Cast and Kirstin Cast. The story takes place in a world where “vampyres” and humans coexist, but the vampyres remain feared and misunderstood. It follows Zoey Redbird as she’s selected to attend the House of Night academy, a finishing school that will prepare her to transition to a fully fledged vampyre. The central series comprises 16 novels, plus several novellas and spin-off stories.

• A judge denied Audible a request for a settlement conference in the continued litigation over its Captions program because the plaintiff publishers did not agree to the meeting.

• Suzanne Collins, author of the popular YA franchise The Hunger Games, is set to release The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – a new book set 64 years prior to the events in the series – on May 19, 2020.

• In the second year of its Literature for Justice program, the National Book Foundation has selected five works that shed light on mass incarceration in the U.S.: The Prisoner’s Wife: A Memoir by Asha Bandele, Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women by Susan Burton and Cari Lynn, Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis, The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, and Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair by Danielle Sered.

• In Turkey, anyone younger than 18 is being blocked from reading Francesca Cavallo’s Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls out of fear of its “detrimental influence.” The children’s book is made of inspiring stories about women throughout history.

• Bound books will not be subject to the new 25 percent tariff on products from the European Union that will go into effect Oct. 18.

• Clarkson Potter will publish a companion journal to Michelle Obama’s hit memoir, Becoming, that’s “designed to help readers reflect on their personal and family history, their goals, challenges and dreams.”

• Angeline Boulley, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa, has sold her debut YA novel, The Firekeeper’s Daughter, for a rumored seven figures after a 12-bidder auction.