Book Biz Shocker: Flight Attendant-Turned-Phenom Author T.J. Newman Makes Jump To Little Brown

Mike Fleming Jr
·2 min read

EXCLUSIVE: T. J. Newman, the flight attendant who hung up her wings to become the bestselling author of the movie-bound action thriller novels Falling and Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421, is catching her next flight with Little Brown.

In a publishing industry shocker, Newman has left Simon & Schuster and signed a new multimillion-dollar mega deal with Little Brown. Newman’s first novel for the publisher is called Worst Case Scenario, which debuts August 13. Screen rights will be auctioned before the novel gets a big push from Little Brown. Newman stays in her wheelhouse – it all starts with a commercial flight – but the book veers into tentpole territory that might draw comparisons to Independence Day or War of the Worlds-meets-Chernobyl. The action surrounds mankind preventing an extinction-level disaster.

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When a pilot suffers a widow-maker heart attack at 35,000 feet, a commercial airliner crashes into a nuclear power plant. Only the efforts of the residents of a small Midwestern town will prevent the worst-case scenario.

Newman’s first two novels, Falling and Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421, had weeklong screen rights auctions that were fiercely competitive before selling to Universal and Warner Bros, respectively, in major seven-figure deals.

Now famous for scribbling her work on napkins between flight attendant duties, Newman went from making $35,000 a year to signing five seven-figure deals in the past two years for books that have been published in 40 countries and made the Amazon Best Books of the Year charts.

Falling landed a seven-figure film deal with Universal and Working Title, and the script is being written by Newman and Shane Salerno. The latter is producing with Working Title’s Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan.

Newman’s follow-up, Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 was bought by Warner Bros in a $3 million-plus deal. United 93‘s Paul Greengrass will direct, and Steve Kloves (Harry Potter) is writing the screenplay. Greengrass is producing with Salerno and Greg Goodman, with Newman and Amy Lord serving as executive producers.

Little Brown adds Newman to a stable of thriller writers that includes James Patterson — who has championed both of Newman’s books — Michael Connelly and David Baldacci. Newman’s new deal was made by Salerno at The Story Factory, who took on the aspiring author after her first book submission was rejected by 41 agents.

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