Tag Archives: Jesse Finkelstein
Deal News: Untitled Work by Joshna Maharaj Sold to ECW Press!
Chef and activist Joshna Maharaj’s untitled work, a social gastronomy manifesto and practical guide for transforming the way people eat in hospitals, schools, prisons, and community food centers, to Jennifer Knoch at ECW Press, in a nice deal, for publication in Spring 2020, by Jesse Finkelstein (world English; French).
Deal News: Home Ice by Angie Abdou
HOME ICE: Reflections of a Reluctant Hockey Mom by Angie Abdou chronicles and illuminates a full season in the life of a hockey parent, crafting a nuanced and unflinching self-portrait of a mother dedicated to supporting her son’s passion for amateur hockey but struggling with ambivalence over our society’s often troubling sport culture and its impact on her family. Canadian English rights sold at auction to Susan Renouf at ECW Press by Jesse Finkelstein & Samantha Haywood of the Transatlantic Agency (Fall 2018).
Transatlantic Celebrates our Authors’ Achievements in 2016
As we near the end of 2016, we are proud to recap the many highlights of our agency’s adult and children’s/YA authors’ achievements this year. This year, our clients have received a variety of impressive award nominations and wins, and have been named bestsellers.
Thank you to our wonderful clients, the publishers who published them, and the fantastic readers who have made it all possible! We look forward to beginning a new year of accolades and an exciting list of new projects in 2017! Happy Holidays!
Transatlantic Agency’s 2016 Adult Author Award & News Citations:
YIDDISH FOR PIRATES by Gary Barwin shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the 2016 Governor General’s Award for fiction, Globe and Mail Top 100 Book, National Post Top 99 Book, CBC Books’ Best Debut 2016, and CBC Books’ Best Book of 2016 selection
THE GALLERY OF LOST SPECIES by Nina Berkhout a finalist of the 2016 Ottawa Book Awards in the English Fiction category
THE LADY AND THE LIONHEART by Joanne Bishof received a rare 5 Star/Top Pick Review from Romantic Times
SQUAWK by Megan Gail Coles nominated for the Montreal English Theatre Awards
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Elisabeth de Mariaffi longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and nominated for the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
BACK TO THE WELL by Marq de Villers nominated for the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award and the Donner Prize
Kathleen Ernst was named by the Wisconsin Library Association as a 2016 Notable Wisconsin Author, recognizing her body of work of 35 books for adults and young readers
Kathleen Ernst’s A SETTLER’S YEAR: Pioneer Life Through The Seasons, earned a Finalist Award from the Midwest Independent Publishers Association , and from the Indiefab awards for best book from an Independent Publisher
COOK KOREAN by Robin Ha an NPR Best Book of 2016
ALL THE THINGS WE NEVER KNEW by Sheila Hamilton is a contender for a 2017 Oregon Book Award in the Creative Non Fiction category
David Huebert won the Walrus Poetry Prize for “Colloquium: J.T. Henry and Lady Simcoe on Early Ontario Petrocolonialism”
DON’T I KNOW YOU? by Marni Jackson was listed on the Globe & Mail’s Globe 100 list
THEY LEFT US EVERYTHING by Plum Johnson winner of the Evergreen Award. Feature film rights also sold to Buck Productions.
EPIC GAME by William Kowalski shortlisted for the Golden Oak Award
RED STAR TATTOO by Sonja Larsen shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Prize for Nonfiction and a National Post Top 99 Book.
PUNISHMENT by Linden MacIntyre shortlisted for the Evergreen Award
A GOOD DEATH by Sandra Martin shortlisted for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, featured on the Globe & Mail’s Globe 100 list, a CBC Books’ Best Book of 2016 selection, and on the Walrus best of 2016 list
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS by Iain Reid on the Globe & Mail’s Globe 100 list and an NPR Best Book of 2016
THE MYSTICS OF MILE END by Sigal Samuel longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and shortlisted for the 2016 Alberta Book Publishing Awards for Trade Fiction Book of the Year. Winner of the Canadian Jewish Literary Award.
THIS IS NOT MY LIFE by Diane Schoemperlen longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize and the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, featured on the Globe 100 list, a National Post Top 99 Book, and a CBC Books’ Best Book of 2016 selection
THE BLONDES by Emily Schultz has been optioned for film by Branded Pictures
MEADOWLARK by Wendi Stewart shortlisted for the 2016 Alberta Book Publishing Awards for Trade Fiction Book of the Year and Cover Design. Also shortlisted for the second annual Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.
BEYOND THE PALE by Emily Urquhart shortlisted for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize and shortlisted for the second annual Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
LEDGER OF THE OPEN HAND by Leslie Vryenhoek’s longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award
THE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE by Zoe Whittall shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Zoe Whittall also was awarded the 2016 K.M. Hunter Artist Award for Literature. Featured on the Globe 100 list, a National Post Top 99 Book, a CBC Books’ Best Book of 2016 selection, and a Publishers Marketplace best book of the year.
FIVE ROSES by Alice Zorn chosen The Writers’ Trust of Canada 2016 Best Books of the Year and 49th Shelf Best Books of the Year
Transatlantic Agency’s 2016 Young Adult & Children’s Author Award and News Citations:
DELUSION ROAD by Don Aker named a White Pine Honour Book, was a finalist for the John Spray Mystery Award, and on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
WAKE UP, ISLAND by Mary Casanova was featured on NPR and won the “Honorable Mention” for the National Outdoor Book Award for 2016
ONCE UPON A LINE by Wallace Edwards on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
BUDDY AND EARL GO EXPLORING by Maureen Fergus was a National Post Best Book of the Year and on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
INVISIBILL by Maureen Fergus shortlisted for the Blue Spruce Award and the 2016 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
A DOG DAY FOR SUSAN by Maureen Fergus was on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
SMALL BONES by Vicki Grant on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
THE V-WORD by Amber Keyser selected by the New York Public Library as one of the top 50 books for teens in 2016. Also a Chicago Public Library Best Book for Teens.
DNA DETECTIVE by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and illustrated by Lil Crump shortlisted for the Red Maple Non-Fiction Award, finalist for the Red Cedar, Best Bets List Top 10 OLA, Science in Society Book Awards Finalist, Information Book Award Finalist/Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada, Best Book for Kids and Teens 2016/CCBC
EXTREME BATTLEFIELDS by Tanya Lloyd Kyi on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
WHEN THE WORST HAPPENS by Tanya Lloyd Kyi winner of the Silver Birch Honour Book Award, 2016 Rocky Mountain Book Award finalist
THE SQUIGGLY STORY by Andrew Larsen was a Kirkus Best Book for 2016 and
has been shortlisted for the Colorado Libraries Early Learning Award 2017
FRANKENSTINK: Garbage Gone Bad by Ron Lightburn winner of the Lillian Shepherd Award for Excellence in Illustration
STORMSTRUCK by John Macfarlane named a Julia Howe Ward Children’s/Young Adult Highly Recommended Book for 2016
THE SAME PLACE BUT DIFFERENT and A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLACE by Perry Nodelman optioned for film to Panthera Productions
ANIMACHINES by Debora Pearson on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
JOCKEY GIRL by Shelley Peterson on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
SHOOTER by Caroline Pignat shortlisted for the Red Maple Fiction Award and on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
THE GOSPEL OF TRUTH by Caroline Pignat winner of the Red Maple Honour Book Award
HAMSTERS ON THE GO! by Kass Reich on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
LIZARD RADIO by Pat Schmatz awarded the 2016 Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Literature from The Wisconsin Library Association, and named the 2016 Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year. Also winner of the 2016, Fourteen and Up, Outstanding Merit and the 2015 James Tiptree Jr. Award
DEEP ROOTS: How Trees Sustain our Planet by Nikki Tate shortlisted for the Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award, selected by the New York Public Library as one of the top 50 books for teens in 2016, selected by CBC Books as one of the top books for children of 2016, and on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
BEWARE THAT GIRL by Teresa Toten a CBC Books’ Best Book of 2016 selection and on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
SHATTERED GLASS by Teresa Toten shortlisted for the Red Maple Fiction Award and on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
TODAY IS THE DAY by Eric Walters shortlisted for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award in the category of Children’s Picture Books, shortlisted for the 2016 Shining Willow Award, and on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
WALKING HOME by Eric Walters shortlisted for the 2016 Snow Willow Award
REGENESIS by Eric Walters shortlisted for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award in the category of Young Adult/Middle Reader Award
THE RULE OF THREE by Eric Walters a winner of the Snow Willow at the Willow Awards (Saskatchewan children’s choice)
THE RULE OF THREE: Will to Survive by Eric Walters on the CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens 2016 list
Transatlantic Agency’s Bestsellers of 2016:
YIDDISH FOR PIRATES by Gary Barwin
HOT THAI KITCHEN by Pailin Chongchitnant
SECRET LIFE by Kevin Donovan
WHAT IS PEACE? by Wallace Edwards
STARTLE & ILLUMINATE by Anne and Nicholas Giardini
COOK KOREAN!: A Comic Book with Recipes by Robin Ha
DON’T I KNOW YOU? by Marni Jackson
THEY LEFT US EVERYTHING by Plum Johnson
A GOOD DEATH by Sandra Martin
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS by Iain Reid
THE RULE OF THREE by Eric Walters
THE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE by Zoe Whittall
DEAL NEWS – DYING MATTERS BY KATHY KORTES-MILLER
DEAL NEWS – World rights to Palliative care advocate Kathy Kortes-Miller‘s DYING MATTERS, tackling our last taboo – talking openly with our loved ones about death and dying, to Susan Renouf at ECW Press, in a nice deal, for publication in Spring 2018, by Jesse Finkelstein.
Transatlantic welcomes Kathy Kortes-Miller
Transatlantic is happy to welcome Kathy Kortes-Miller to the agency, she is represented by Jesse Finkelstein. Kathy is an unconventional death educator with a passion for palliative care and improving the end of life care for all. Kathy has been teaching and researching at Lakehead University for over a decade. She is presently writing her first book, DYING MATTERS, intended to transform the perception of dying and death from being the elephant in the room to an integral part of life that deserves and demands acknowledgement, respect, and even a bit of lightheartedness (when called for). Read more about Kathy here.
Greystone Acquires Body Positive Training Manual for Plus-size Athletes By Expert and Trainer Louise Green
Associate publisher Nancy Flight of Greystone Books has acquired world all-language rights to Louise Green’s Limitless, a fitness book for plus-size women that makes it clear you don’t need to be slim to be fit. Green is represented by Transatlantic Agency’s Jesse Finkelstein.
Deal News for Jian Ghomeshi: Secret Life
Transatlantic is pleased to announce a groundbreaking new publishing deal. In an unprecedented agreement, digital reading company Kobo will partner with ECW Press to publish Jian Ghomeshi: Secret Life, a detailed exploration of the rise and downfall of the superstar radio personality by our client Kevin Donovan, the award-winning Toronto Star investigative journalist who has covered the story.
Jian Ghomeshi: Secret Life will reveal details and background about Ghomeshi, his tell-tale past, and ultimately how events and actions conspired to see him fired from his post as the star of the popular CBC Radio One show Q. After interviewing a number of women and former colleagues from Ghomeshi’s past, Donovan will tell the story of who the broadcaster with the winning touch really was behind the scenes.
In an industry first, the book will be published by Kobo, which will offer the digital version, and ECW Press, one of Canada’s most diversified independent publishers, which will offer the print version to the North American marketplace.
Donovan is represented by agents Jesse Finkelstein and Samantha Haywood.
The official press release can be found here: http://cafe.kobo.com/press/releases/kobo-signs-deal-with-journalist-kevin-donovan-to-publish-jian-ghomeshi-book
Transatlantic Agency Forms Alliance with Page Two
The Transatlantic Agency is pleased to announce an alliance with the newly founded Page Two, whose principals, Jesse Finkelstein and Trena White, will represent adult non-fiction to the book trade as Transatlantic associate agents.
Finkelstein and White met on the management team at D&M Publishers Inc., whose day-to-day operations Finkelstein ran as chief operating officer. She also led the company’s digital and international sales strategies, licensing content in multiple formats and in global markets, and developing one of Canada’s first enhanced ebook apps. Prior to working at D&M, Finkelstein was associate publisher at Raincoast Books, where she managed the publishing department and oversaw acquisitions.
As the publisher of Douglas & McIntyre and Greystone Books, White was responsible for running a publishing program of sixty new books a year. She set the vision and strategy for list development and author relations and oversaw acquisitions. Before joining D&M, White spent several years in Toronto as an editor at McClelland & Stewart. She has worked with acclaimed writers such as Allan Gotlieb, Andrew Potter, Michelle Shephard, and Joshua Knelman. Both Finkelstein and White are graduates of the Simon Fraser University Master of Publishing program.
“Transatlantic is a successful agency with a longstanding track record and an excellent reputation,” says Finkelstein. “Working within their network will add tremendous value to our service offering, to the benefit of our agency clients.”
“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Transatlantic,” says White. “We’ve always appreciated their agents’ integrity and professionalism, and we have been impressed with the collegiality we’ve experienced throughout our negotiations.”
“We couldn’t be happier than to have these two highly-respected entrepreneurs joining Transatlantic,” says David Bennett, the agency’s president. “This new arrangement will make us all stronger and more robust in our respective endeavours. We look forward to welcoming them to the team.”