Gollancz pre-empts three titles from Yamamoto in six-figure deal

Three titles by Makana Yamamoto have been pre-empted by Gollancz in a six-figure deal, including her debut novel Hammajang Luck.

Assistant editor Claire Ormsby-Potter acquired world rights to Hammajang Luck and two further titles from Keir Alekseii at the Azantian Agency. Pitched as an exciting gateway science fiction heist novel, “Ocean’s 8” meets Gideon the Ninth (Tor), Hammajang Luck will be released in hardback, e-book and audio in January 2025.

Its synopsis reads: “Eight years in prison changes a person. Particularly when you’re only there because your partner, your best friend, your all-but-sister, sold you down the river. That’s why Edie knows they’ll turn down Angel’s offer of a job. One last big score. A chance to take down the man who put them away: Joyce Atlas. But Edie’s lost too much time with their family. There’s not a question."

Ormsby-Potter said: “This book has got a great voice, a great pitch and a fantastic hook. But on top of all that? It’s got elements of found family, of romance, and my favourite thing in the world, shenanigans.”

Editorial director Bethan Morgan added: “Claire’s ferocious passion for this book was utterly infectious from our very first conversation, and our pitch call with Makana and Keir will remain a career highlight for the sheer joy of our discussion.”

Yamamoto said: “This book is a love letter to my family, home and culture. I set out to write a fun, lighthearted, childhood-friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story like the heist movies I grew up with and the cyberpunk settings I’ve always loved. Claire and Bethan understood my story so completely, catching all the references to my favourite heist movies and the nods to my most formative sci-fi. They get that this is a Hawaiian story, but they never tried to restrict me to one box.”

This is Alekseii’s first deal with the Azantian Agency, having completed a mentorship programme in 2021-2022, and joining as an associate agent and opening to queries in June 2022. She found Yamamoto’s pitch during the #APIpit event that year.

Alekseii said: “The book is so unapologetically queer and it speaks to the experiences of living as a marginalised person without making those marginalisations the point of the narrative.”