I am so excited this morning. I helped propel New York Times and USA Today bestselling YA novelist Julie Kagawa to a million dollar deal for her next series with teen book imprint: Harlequin Teen. It’s my first seven-figure deal. Julie’s too. Together we worked hard to make this happen. And now we can bask in the glow of all that success. For today at least. Then it’s back to the hard work of writing all those words (Julie) and managing her career (me). Thanks to all the wonderful people at Harlequin who continue to see the brilliance in Julie’s writing. And if you want more details, it’s all over the interwebz. Check it out!

http://www.prlog.org/12067994-new-york-times-bestselling-ya-author-julie-kagawa-inks-seven-figure-deal-with-harlequin-teen.html

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/55677-deals-week-of-january-28-2013.html

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/bestseller-julie-kagawa-signs-seven-figure-deal-ha/

http://www.larsenpomada.com/julie-kagawa-inks-seven-figure-ya-deal-with-harlequin-teen/

Publishers Marketplace listing:  NYT and USA Today bestselling author of the Iron Fey series, Julie Kagawa‘s new series featuring mythical creatures in a contemporary setting, again to Natashya Wilson at Harlequin Teen, in a major deal, for seven figures, for multiple books, for publication beginning in 2015, by Laurie McLean at Larsen/Pomada Literary Agents (world).

Here’s the story behind those bonuses you read about last week: http://www.stevenpressfield.com/2012/12/the-story-behind-the-random-house-gives-5000-bonuses-story/

This is a big deal. Ever since BookScan started it has only included retail bookstore point of purchase sales in its reports, and not even every bookstore participated. Now, for the first time, BookScan will add sales data from Walmart into its totals. This will significantly change the numbers and represent 80% of English language book sales. However one must note that Walmart tends to carry only a small selection of bestselling titles, so this will skew the numbers more towards the bestsellers. Read the full article here.

Love this funny from Liz Climo:

Amazon Sells Subscription Package of Kids Books, Videos and Apps

Called Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, Amazon’s new all-in-one unlimited subscription service will offer all types of media from books and apps to movies and television shows for kids. It will work on any Kindle Fire device and will be available as part of Amazon’s next automatic OS software update for that device. The package features all kinds of media focused on children ages 3-8. Amazon Prime members get preferred pricing–$2.99/month per individual child (or $6.99 per family)–but others can subscribe for $4.99/month (or $9.99 per family.)

Companies participating in this subscription service by making their content available include: Andrews McMeel Publishing, Chronicle Books, DC Comics, Disney, HIT Entertainment, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Marvel, Nickelodeon, PBS, Reading Rainbow, and Sesame Workshop, among others. Chris Van Allsburg’s “Jumanji” and Barbara Lehman’s “The Red Book” are among the available picture books, along with those featuring characters like Big Nate, Ivy and Bean, Phineas & Ferb, Shrek, and Kung Fu Panda. The service also includes ebook apps and in-book games from characters such as Thomas & Friends, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, Arthur, Duck and Goose, Caillou and Superman, and from award-winning children’s author Sandra Boynton.

Read the entire announcement here.