Irish Times arts editor Shane Hegarty landed a four-book deal with HarperCollins after an auction at the Bologna Book Fair. You can meet the debut author on Twitter.
The publisher bought English world rights for Hegarty’s Darkmouth, a series of middle grade fantasy novels. Marianne Gunn O’Connor of Marianne Gunn O’Connor Literary Agency negotiated the deal with HarperCollins U.S. editorial director Phoebe Yeh and HarperCollins U.K. fiction publishing director Nick Lake. Here’s more from the release:
In this monster-hunting, debut middle-grade fantasy series, DARKMOUTH, humans and monsters—properly called Legends—live in separate worlds. And it is the Legend Hunters who work to keep the population safe. Our hero Finn is the son of the last remaining Legend Hunter. In a society where Legend Hunting skills are passed down through generations, Finn is slated to carry on that tradition. Ironically, Finn proves unskilled and the fate of the world rests with him.