Egmont Books snapped up Jack Meggitt-Phillips' children's novel The Beast and the Bethany before it could go to auction. Film rights are being chased by a firm headed by a Harry Potter producer.

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian is a national security reporter at The Daily Beast. She previously worked at Foreign Policy magazine. You can follow her on Twitter @BethanyAllenEbr. Send her tips bethany ...