As Genre Shows Go Mainstream, TV Execs Are Looking to Novelists for the Next Hit

TV network options on books have exploded. Publishers Lunch, a trade that tracks book industry deals, lists an ever-increasing number of television options over the last few years, with 2013 setting the record and this year looking good. And with massive success stories like Game of Thrones ruling the roost on cable, a disproportionate number of those books are genre fiction. Bill McGoldrick, head of programming for NBCUniversal’s Syfy network, says part of the appeal is the charge a reader gets from a good book with a thoroughly thought-out world. It captures your imagination, even if you’re using that imagination to figure out what your programming slate is going to look like. “The imagination behind the intellectual property, when you’re a producer or a writer or somebody sitting in my chair, fills out the world for you in a way that the script can’t,” he said. “You get behind the curtain in a way the script doesn’t allow you to do.” McGoldrick is overseeing his network’s adaptation of The Magicians trilogy, a fantasy cycle by Time book critic and tech writer Lev Grossman that reads a little like Bright Lights, Big City meets The Chronicles of Narnia. Everybody’s looking for “the next Game of Thrones,” as you’ll hear often from execs. An accounting of books in development for television these days reads like a laundry list of fan requests from Comic-Con. Diana Gabaldon’s Scottish time-travel series Outlander is getting the royal treatment on Starz (Neil Gaiman’s... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2014-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2011: It's Personal: A Show Overview

"The value of personal interaction still trumps all" is a firm belief of Steve Rosato, BEA show manager, who is all fired up for BEA 2011, the second under his command. And while the event's main focus is books and authors, technology and the digital revolution is also at the epicenter of this... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBC defends genre fiction coverage

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 20/04/2011 - 09:45 The BBC is broadcasting an item on “The Culture Show” about science fiction next month, in the wake of a row about the broadcaster’s approach to genre fiction. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mainstream acquires Hooked follow-up

Publication Date: Tue, 19/04/2011 - 08:33 Mainstream Publishing has acquired a second title by Hooked author Clare Gee. Joint m.d. Bill Campbell acquired world rights to the as yet untitled book from Isabel Atherton at Creative Authors Ltd. Hooked, Gee's debut, told the story of her life as a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PBS cuts "will hit sales"

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 18/04/2011 - 09:20 Poetry publishers have united en masse to demand the Arts Council overturn its decision to stop funding the Poetry Book Society, saying the demise of the organisation would lead to a "considerable loss of sales". A total of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Genre authors attack "sneering" World Book Night coverage

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 18/04/2011 - 09:19 Authors including Iain M Banks and Michael Moorcock have written to the BBC's director general Mark Thompson, attacking the treatment of genre fiction in its recent World Book Night coverage. In total 85 authors, across the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #genre fiction #science fiction


LBF: Execs say governments must be ?"made to listen" on copyright defence

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 14:11 The industry must make a stronger case to government for strengthening safeguards on copyright, with the protection of authors at its heart, said senior international publishers speaking at London Book Fair's 40th anniversary... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cutbacks hit the schoolbook market

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 14:47 The Publishers Association has called for more government investment in learning resources after a survey revealed the schoolbook market was hit by cutbacks this year, with further cuts anticipated in 2012. The PA's recently... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Execs' pay up at Pearson as profit grows

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 06/04/2011 - 14:58 Penguin group chief executive John Makinson took home £1.5m in pay in 2010, in a year when Penguin's sales grew 21% to £1.1bn and adjusted operating profit grew 19% to £106m. Makinson's pay rose by £150,000 thanks to a rise in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Room top pick in spring TV Book Club

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 08:51 Emma Donoghue's Room (Picador) has added another accolade to its Man Booker shortlisting and Orange-longlisting after receiving the vote of "TV Book Club" viewers as their favourite spring read of the 10 titles. The second most... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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TV Book Club titles take £3m through the tills

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 30/03/2011 - 15:17 Just shy of £3m has been spent on the 10 titles of More 4's latest "TV Book Club" in 2011, with sales over the series up 2% on the 2010 selections and against an overall book market decline of 7%. A grand total of 506,200... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rebuck bullish on digital after "show-stopping" Xmas

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 29/03/2011 - 08:55 Random House c.e.o. Gail Rebuck has said she expects digital to become a "significant" part of its business in 2011 and hailed a "show-stopping" Christmas, as parent company Bertelsmann announced its full-year results to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mainstream, J R Books and Pan to rush Elizabeth Taylor titles

Written By: Katie Allen and Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 23/03/2011 - 15:48 Mainstream, J R Books, Pan and Faber are to rush publication of titles on Elizabeth Taylor, after the Oscar-winning film star died today [23rd March]. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors hit by new fears over taxation charge

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 16:25 Writers’ ability to average out their earnings over a number of years could be abolished, according to new tax system proposals. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Execs Imagine the Company of the Future

Media companies of the future will be organized differently from the way they are now, with much higher capital expense costs and much greater need for in-house digital development skill. That, with some accommodations for varying markets and editorial missions, was essentially the conclusion of... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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UK's big four could be worst hit in REDgroup collapse

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 08:45 The UK's big four publishing groups—Penguin, Hachette, Random House and HarperCollins—could be the worst hit in terms of exposure to the ANZ market according to Nielsen BookScan data, following REDgroup's collapse in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing Scotland chief exec urges publishers to look abroad

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 09:00 Publishing Scotland chief executive Marion Sinclair has urged Scottish publishers to look abroad for opportunities, likening the current situation in digital publishing to "the Wild West". Speaking yesterday [21st... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At Dealmakers Summit, Execs Imagine the Media Company of the Future

Expect much higher capital expense costs and much greater need for in-house digital development skill. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Android market shows the future is in device-agnostic app stores

By Tim Conneally, Betanews Google on Thursday finally launched a renewed web-based Android Market that integrates with a user's Google account and lets him shop for applications and send them to the various Android-powered devices linked to the account. This new shop marks the industry-wide... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2011-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google shows off the graphical power of Android 3.0 Honeycomb

By Tim Conneally, Betanews At a special event in Mountain View, California Wednesday, search leader Google gave the first in-depth look at "Honeycomb," the tablet-specific version of the Android operating system. This is the biggest overhaul the platform has gotten since it debuted in 2008. The... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jamie back on top as Costa winner shows mutability

Written By: Philip stone Jamie Oliver's Jamie's 30-minute Meals (Michael Joseph) has returned to the summit of the Official UK Top 50 after a three-week hiatus. The bestselling hardback non-fiction book since records began sold 37,407 copies in the seven days to 29th January, up 77%... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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