Another year, another chance to recap the brilliant accomplishments of our authors and illustrators.
We must give credit to all our wonderful clients, as all their achievements are worth celebrating. Here, we’re highlighting milestones, bestsellers, awards, and recognition, but we cannot overstate our pride in our entire list, and our gratitude that these creators have entrusted our agency with their work.
Our beautiful holiday card was created by our illustrator Hayden Goodman.
Domestic and Foreign Deals
Our authors’ work generated hundreds of deals across foreign, domestic, audio, film, and other subsidiary rights, including over 130 foreign licenses
How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes hit a total of 40 languages, with 13 new first-time language deals this year: Swahili, Hausa, Yoruba, Fulah, Zulu, Twi, Igbo, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, and Hindi
Alex Aster‘s Lightlark sold in an impressive 15 languages this year
2022 has been JGLM’s best year to date in terms of number of foreign deals done and revenue generated, and we are making significant inroads into the Arabic language market after partnering with a new subagent, Bears Factor
We did a number of deals for debut creators in 2022 across all genres and age categories: Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi, You are Home by Bex Tobin Fine, Cities of Women by Kathleen B. Jones, Lucky Break by Ella Synclair, The Things We Miss by Leah Stecher, Breaking Through by Sally Susman, A Rainbow in Brown by Pavonis Giron, The Grimsbane Family Witch Hunters by Joan Reardon, Climate Resilience by Kylie Flanagan, Sew Sister by Elise Matich, and Once There Was by Kiyash Monsef
Film, TV, and Audio
We had several exciting projects announced this year, and are looking forward to some highly-anticipated releases.
Alex Aster‘s Lightlark was optioned by Universal / Temple Hill, and rights to Marissa Meyer‘s Lunar Chronicles were snapped up by Locksmith Animation
Exciting news was shared this year from the set of Netflix’s adaptation of Scott Westerfeld‘s Uglies, with more still to come
With Dial A for Aunties still in the works and exciting new option deals still to announce, Jesse Q Sutanto‘s body of work was in high demand this year
We also saw the announcement of Kiyash Monsef‘s Once There Was, which is in development with Imagine Entertainment
We did over 30 audio licenses this year and continue to explore new avenues and options for our clients work in this booming space
This year also saw the launch of the classic and bestselling title How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes as a videobook from LIT, to help it reach a brand new audience and viewership
Bestsellers
Our authors hit the New York Times and IndieBound bestseller lists this year:
Lightlark by Alex Aster debuted at #1 on both the New York Times and Indie bestseller lists
Cursed by Marissa Meyer debuted at #2 on the New York Times and Indie bestseller lists
The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm hit the New York Times Monthly bestseller list for Middle Grade Paperbacks in July 2022
The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe, featuring Alaya Dawn Johnson, debuted on the Hardcover Fiction list at #10, and spent 5 weeks on the Indie bestseller list
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall hit a cumulative 64 weeks on the Indie Paperback bestseller list
Love from Madeline, a new picture book based on the works of Ludwig Bemelmans, appeared on the Children’s Illustrated bestseller list for 4 weeks
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix hit numerous international bestseller lists this year, including Germany’s coveted Spiegel bestseller list
Awards, Nominations, and Starred Reviews
Our clients were honored with a number of prestigious awards and nominations this year:
Henry Gee‘s A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth won the Royal Society Science Book Prize
The Talk, illustrated by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu, was honored with the Silver Medal at the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show
Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix was a Locus Award Finalist for Best Young Adult Novel
Tohby Riddle was one of Australia’s nominees for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award
Katalina Gamarra‘s debut Ben and Beatriz was shortlisted for the New England Book Award
Alaya Dawn Johnson‘s collection Reconstruction was nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Fiction
Cursed by Marissa Meyer was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Award (Best YA Fantasy/Science Fiction)
We received 22 starred trade reviews this year across 15 individual titles: Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves by L.M. Elliott received four stars, The Talk received three stars, and The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne and Lute by Jennifer Thorne received two starred reviews each
We also saw our books on a variety of year-end lists: The Talk was an Amazon Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, and a Kirkus Best Picture Book; Chef’s Kiss by TJ Alexander was one of TIME‘s 100 Best Books of 2022; The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere by Jaclyn Moriarty and Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q Sutanto were Amazon Best Books of 2022; Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet by Barbara Dee was a School Library Journal Best Book of 2022; Lute by Jennifer Thorne was an NPR Best SFF & Speculative Fiction Book of 2022
There will never be enough space to list every single client accomplishment or milestone, but some highlights of 2022 include:
A number of our established authors will be making exciting debuts with deals in new categories: Garth Nix‘s Sir Hereward and Mr. Fitz: Stories of the Witch Knight and the Puppet Sorcerer and Alison Goodman‘s The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies, their debut works for adult audiences; Scott Westerfeld‘s picture book debut, Everywhere; Sajni Patel‘s YA fantasy debut, A Drop of Venom; Kirby Larson collaborating with her daughter Quinn Wyatt on her first contemporary middle grade, Gut Reaction; Lauren Ho, who launched her sophomore novel Lucie Yi is Not a Romantic in 2022, will be making her YA debut with an exciting new deal
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg made an appearance on GMA3‘s “Faith Friday” to promote her latest book, On Repentance and Repair, and was on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee to discuss abortion rights with other religious leaders
The debut collaboration between Katelyn Detweiler and her husband, actor Danny Tamberelli for their romcom The First Date Prophecy, coming from Kensington in June 2023
The launch of Sara Jane Ho‘s fabulous Netflix series Mind Your Manners, which will be accompanied by a new book of the same name to be published by Hachette Go; Sara also made an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in December
Translation rights for Henry Gee‘s award-winning A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth were sold into Albanian, its 20th language
In-person conference and events made a return this year, with highlights including Alaya Dawn Johnson appearing onstage with Janelle Monáe at the National Book Festival in September to discuss The Memory Librarian, and Barbara Dee and Jesse Q Sutanto attending NCTE in November
Becca Andrews launched No Choice, which was excerpted in Rolling Stone, featured in numerous write-ups about Roe and abortion rights, and was one of Jezebel’s Top 10 Books of 2022
We saw phenomenal debut years for Briana Mukodiri Uchendu and The Talk, with multiple awards and appearances on best-of lists; Shauna Robinson, who launched two fabulous titles (Must Love Books and The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks) in 2022; Britney S Lewis, who launched her highly-anticipated debut YA, The Undead Truth of Us; and TJ Alexander, whose debut Chef’s Kiss found its audiences hungry for the book and its forthcoming follow-up, Chef’s Choice, which is already appearing on “anticipated titles” lists for 2023
JGLM continues to expand our stellar list of illustrators since we launched our gallery in 2020, with new work always available to check out
2023 will see the publication of at least 65 new client titles on the JGLM list. We’re thrilled to be seeing books from exciting debuts and new books from old favorites.
Here are a few highlights from our Winter 2023 season, among many other titles:
The Unfortunates by J K Chukwu, a gorgeous debut novel from a rising literary star
She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran, an atmospheric debut YA that will launch with a stunning B&N exclusive edition
The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music by Roberta Flack and Tonya Bolden, illustrated by Hayden Goodman, telling the story of how the Grammy Award-winning singer found her voice
Once There Was by Kiyash Monsef, a highly-anticipated debut middle grade that sold in a seven-figure deal and is currently in development for film, and is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection
Bootstrapped by Alissa Quart, a deeply reported examination on the American obsession with self-reliance and how we can extricate ourselves from the nefarious “American Dream,” which has already received a starred review from Kirkus
The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix, the exciting follow-up to The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
Breaking Through, the debut nonfiction book from Sally Susman, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Pfizer
We can’t wait to see what else 2023 has in store for all of our clients. We continue to be so grateful to work with such talented creators. This year, we have made a donation in our clients’ names to Unite Against Book Bans, a national initiative to empower readers everywhere to stand together in the fight against censorship.
Wishing everyone health and happiness this winter season.