IP Picks🔎: Fantasy Action With a 'Looper' Twist
➕ Rich parents behaving badly and a kids' series that's a more grounded 'Percy Jackson'
Welcome to The Optionist. Thanks for reading along.
The London Book Fair, the biggest English-language publishing confab in the world, takes place next week. For those of you thinking, "Hey, isn't that a little early?" you'd be right. London moved up from April to March this year to solidify its agenda-setting influence on the literary calendar. Additionally, 2024 marks the full post-pandemic return of the show and includes countries that had a reduced presence at the fair the last couple of years (most notably, China).
There are, of course, speeches (Jonathan Karp, President and CEO, Simon & Schuster is the keynote speaker), panels (on such hot-button topics as AI, BookTok, book bans and the conflict in Gaza, especially AI which is is the subject of many, many panels) and author appearances (Hi there, Taylor Jenkins Reid).
More than ever everyone is looking to get optioned, which has upped the screen-centered dealmaking taking place alongside the flurry of foreign rights sales and other publishing world business. The uptick in the options market is a by-product of the era of Peak TV and it remains above historical levels even as new production has dipped a bit. Agents and publishers seem to be pursuing deals ever more vigorously, convinced that even an option helps sell a book (both in the U.S. and abroad). With the tight profit margins in book publishing, they covet the potential windfall that comes when something actually makes it to air.
Ahead of the fair, the buzziest genres seem to be “romantasy” (the mashing of romance and fantasy), dark academia and Succession-style stories. That's all stuff that’s been featured extensively in The Optionist. Still, we'll be keeping an eye on adaptable romantasies, which can be tricky in terms of costs and audience buy-in for a new world. Some are saying the once-hot historical-fiction category has cooled down and has become a hard sell in publishing circles. Then again, Shogun. So, we'll see how long that lasts.
Onto this week’s picks, a fab new kids’ series, a very funny satire and a fantasy adventure with one of the best oddball titles I’ve seen in a while. The full rundown:
A kids’ thriller about two rivals at an elite sailing academy, a secret society and a mysterious island.
A fantasy adventure about an undead assassin sent to kill her younger self.
A satirical comedy about a mommy blogger unraveling in the high-pressure world of elite NYC private kindergarten admissions.
A murder mystery centered on the killing of a popular female high-school senior in a small Vermont town and the secrets that come out in the investigation.
An inspirational sports drama about an inner-city mountain bike racing team.