The Swedish publisher of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, Norstedts Förlag (covers of the original and U.S. editions of the first title in the series, above), has announced that they have hired Swedish journalist and author David Lagercrantz to write a fourth book, scheduled to be published in August, 2015.

The publisher added that it has nothing to do with the manuscript that Larsson left unfinished when he died in 2004 (the series was originally planned as ten books and there is still a legal dispute over ownership of the rights to the unfinished manuscript).

In a press release, Norstedts explains why they chose Lagercrantz for the task, “His ability to find the right tone and voice, his great experience and his manner of engaging readers of all ages – most recent in the form of the global success that is I am Zlatan [which he ghost wrote for the soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic]  – makes him the right choice. David Lagercrantz is not just a skilled novelist, he has also, through his work searched for different characters and complex geniuses. He is also used to working in editorial environments”

U.K. rights were acquired by British publisher, Quercus, which launched in the U.S. this fall (see their web site here) with a list that includes a book of articles by Larsson, translated into English, The Expo Files. Larsson, like his main character, was a crusading journalist. No news yet on whether Quercus, or the U.S. publisher of the previous titles in the Millennium series, Knopf, will publish the new title here.

A very early work by Larsson, a story he wrote when he was just 17, will make its first appearance in English in an anthology of works by several Swedish crime writers, A Darker Shade of Sweden, coming in February 2014 from Grove/Mysterious Press.

General Stanley McChrystal was ousted from his post by President Obama after making critical remarks about the administration’s handling of the war in Afghanistan in a Rolling Stone interview.

Reactions from the news media showed they were caught off guard, shocked that Rolling Stone broke the story, as hilariously portrayed by Jon Stewart,

Now, there may be cause for even more professional jealousy; Little, Brown announced that it will publish a book about the war in Afghanistan by the author of the article, Michael Hastings. The book, as yet untitled, will “offer an unfiltered look at the war, and the soldiers, diplomats and politicians who are waging it,” according to the press release. No pub date has been announced. Hastings published a memoir in 2007, I Lost my Love in Baghdad.

The story was picked up by many news sources, including the AP.

Printz-winner (Going Bovine) Libba Bray has signed to write a new YA series called The Diviners for a rumored $2 million, according to Publishers Weekly. Described as supernatural fantasy set in Manhattan during the 1920s, Bray said the series will offer  “readers a wild new ride full of dames and dapper dons, jazz babies and Prohibition-defying parties, conspiracy and prophecy—and all manner of things that go bump in the neon-drenched night.”

The first title in the four-book series is planned for Fall 2012.

The books were won in a six-house auction by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Bray’s last four books were published by Delacorte.

Before you get excited by the Wall Street Journal headline, “From Australia, the Next J.K. Rowling?,” do what the Christian Science Monitor suggests, Google “the next J.K. Rowling.” Time gave Stephenie Meyer that title last year, long after she was already a phenomenon. Philip Pullman was also a candidate, but the other names that surface have so far not panned out.

So, here’s the story. Struggling married mother of four, Australian Rebecca James, decides to bet all she has on her ability to write a book. The resulting  Beautiful Malice, “a gritty psychological thriller for teenagers and upward,” suffered many rejections before suddenly being picked up by an agent who took it to the Frankfurt Book Fair last week, where it engendered an international bidding war.

Bantam was the high bidder for U.S. rights, spending “up to $600.000,”  for Beautiful Malice and a second thriller, Cooper Bartholomew is Dead, says the WSJ.

One of the American underbidders says the book offers young adults something totally different, “a smart and literary psychological thriller.”

By the way,  Scholastic paid $105,000 for the rights to publish Harry Potter back in 1997, which amounts to $140,306 in 2009 currency. At the time, it was the largest amount ever paid for a debut childrens book

Of course, that was before Harry Potter proved what profits were lurking in the childrens book market.