Writer Tao Lin has landed a $50,000 deal with Vintage Books for his novel, Taipei, Taiwan. According to The New York Observer, Lin (pictured, via) will also receive an additional $10,000 bonus if the profits for his novel earn out his advance.
Lin hopes to finish the manuscript in fall 2012 and expects publication in 2013 or 2014; he intends to make it a “short” book one “could almost memorize” (between fifty and sixty thousand words). Literary agent Bill Clegg of the William Morris Endeavor negotiated the deal. Associate editor Tim O’Connell will edit the project.
In a previous interview with The New York Observer, Lin revealed: “The novel is autobiographical and begins in 2009 when the protagonist is 25. It spans ~2.5 years and is set in Taiwan, NYC, Las Vegas. It contains a marriage, somewhat extreme recreational drug usage, parents, a book tour. It’s written in a Lorrie Moore-esque prose style but denser, like my first story-collection but more refined. The protagonist in my 3rd novel experiences Siddhartha-like unhappiness and confusion.”
Lin has authored two novels, Eeeee Eee Eeee (2007) and Richard Yates (2010); a novella, Shoplifting from American Apparel (2009); a short story collection, Bed (2007); and two poetry collections, you are a little bit happier than i am (2006) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (2008). In the past, all of Lin’s books (except for the first volume of poetry) had been published by independent press Melville House Publishing. (via HTML Giant)