Little Brown

Novelist Carolyn Parkhurst, bestselling author of The Dogs of Babel and Lost and Found, has moved from Little, Brown to Doubleday, where she is now under contract for a two book deal that one knowledgable source said is worth $1.3 million dollars.

According to Alison Rich, Doubleday's director of publicity, Ms. Parkhurst's first book for Doubleday will be called The Nobodies Album, and it is scheduled for publication in 2010. Her editor will be Alison Callahan.

Ms. Rich declined to comment on Ms. Parkhurt's advance, citing corporate policy.

The deal was brokered by literary agent Douglas Stewart of Sterling Lord Literistic.

Tom Wolfe, who has published all thirteen of his books since 1965 with Farrar, Straus & Giroux, is taking his business to Little, Brown for his upcoming novel, Back to Blood.

Why did Mr. Wolfe leave his home? According to FSG editor-in-chief Jonathan Galassi, it was a question only of money.

"We just couldn't agree on the price for the project. That was the only thing," Mr. Galassi said. "We love Tom. He's a big part of the family here. It's sad, but there are certain things that are just determining."

Mr. Galassi said he read about 20 pages of Mr. Wolfe's book when Lynn Nesbit--Mr. Wolfe's longtime literary agent--submitted it to him in early December. Ms. Nesbit, who could not be reached for comment, took the book elsewhere when it became clear that an agreement with FSG would not be reached.

Mr. Wolfe's editor at Little, Brown will be Pat Strachan, who worked with him on Bonfire of the Vanities and five other books while she was an editor at FSG during the 1970s and '80s.  read more »

Prolific crime novelist Walter Mosley, author of the bestselling Easy Rawlins mystery series, has left his longtime publisher, Little, Brown, and signed a three-book contract with Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group, it was announced today.

According to a press release, Mr. Mosley's first book for Riverhead, where he will be edited by Sean McDonald, will be a mystery novel that centers around an African-American private investigator named Leonid McGill living in present day New York. The book, scheduled for 2009, will be the first installment of Mr. Mosley's new series, the second installment of which will also be published by Riverhead.Mr. Mosley's third Riverhead book will be a "literary novel," according to the release.

Riverhead publisher Geoffrey Kloske declined to comment on the amount Mr. Mosley would receive for the three books.

UPDATE: Asked to comment on Mr. Mosley's move to Riverhead, Little, Brown publisher Mitchael Pietsch said in an e-mail, "Walter Mosley is one of America's greatest writers and I wish him success in everything he does."

UPDATE: The literary novel referenced in this morning's press release will be the second book Mr. Mosley will write for Riverhead, according to Mr. McDonald. Mr. McDonald said the tentative title for the novel is The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.