Should We Celebrate the Blockbuster Leigh Bardugo Deal?

This week, social media became all a-twitter after Macmillan announced a blockbuster deal for author Leigh Bardugo. But some reactions were negative.

(Source: Photo by Keith Luke on Unsplash.)

How Big Is This Deal?

This was an eight-figure deal. That was newsworthy enough to hit news sources ranging from AP News to Fox News. Not to mention websites devoted to books and media, such as LitHub and Tor Books.

Macmillan Publishers stated in a press release that they signed Leigh Bardugo in a deal encompassing 12 books in a “variety of formats, age categories and genres.” In the press release, Leigh Bardugo praised Macmillan for taking chances on her since her debut.

Leigh Bardugo had to work for her success — and fight osteonecrosis along the way. She debuted with Shadow and Bone in 2012, a young adult (YA) fantasy novel that launched the Grisha trilogy — and what would become known as the Grishaverse. It would also be adapted as the Shadow and Bone series on Netflix (which debuted in 2019).

The Netflix Tie-in Edition of Shadow and Bone. (Source: Photo by the author.)

Before the Netflix series came out, Leigh Bardugo also published the Six of Crows duology (a popular fantasy heist novel) and had been…