From Uber driving to huge book deal: Adrian McKinty's life-changing phone call

Despite awards and acclaim for his crime fiction, the impoverished novelist lost his home and was set to quit – then the phone rangIt was1.30 in the morning in Melbourne and Adrian McKinty had just got home after dropping off his last Uber customer of the night at the airport. His phone rang. It was Shane Salerno, agent to authors including Don Winslow, and it was a call that would pull McKinty into “some major league craziness”, ending in a six-figure English-language book deal and, last week, a seven-figure film deal from Paramount for his forthcoming novel The Chain.“Don told me you’ve given up writing,” said Salerno. McKinty, an award-winning crime novelist, had recently blogged about his decision to quit being an author. Beginning with his debut, Dead I May Well Be, written while he taught high school English in Colorado, and continuing with his award-winning series about Northern Irish detective Sean Duffy, McKinty’s books might have won him prizes and great reviews, but they weren’t making him any money. The family moved from the US to Australia in 2008 because McKinty’s wife, author and academic Leah Garrett, was offered a job there. Now the family had been evicted from the home they’d had lived in for eight years, and he was working as an Uber a cab driver (“the world’s worst,” he says now) and bartending in an attempt to actually bring in some cash.When they were evicted from their home, 'I was thinking to myself, "Oh God Adrian, what have you done with your... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-07-08 06:00:17 UTC ]
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12 Books Translated from Dutch and Flemish to Know Before Frankfurt

A number of books have been translated from Dutch to English ahead of Flanders and The Netherlands' appearance as the 2016 Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair The post 12 Books Translated from Dutch and Flemish to Know Before Frankfurt appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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George RR Martin and Apple announce interactive Game of Thrones books collaboration

A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Edition, available through Apple from Thursday, promises ‘a world of additional content’ including sigils, family trees and glossariesGeorge RR Martin has hailed “an amazing next step in the world of books” as he announced publication of a new digital edition of A... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fire series #20th anniversary #epic fantasy #publisher harpercollins #audio clips


WIRED Book Club: Picking Apart the Satisfying, Uncheesy End of Three-Body Problem

Three bodies in the WIRED Book Club talk religion and science in the final act of Liu Cixin's mind-bending book. The post WIRED Book Club: Picking Apart the Satisfying, Uncheesy End of Three-Body Problem appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2016-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH Releases ‘Game of Thrones’ Enhanced E-Book

To mark the 20th anniversary of the release of the first book in George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series, 'A Game of Thrones,' Penguin Random House has released an enhanced ebook edition of the title featuring additional content. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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2016 National Book Festival in Photos

The National Book Festival, now in its 16th year, was held Saturday, September 24, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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International Industry Notes: PEN America on Banning Books in the USA

PEN America's new report asserts that 'diverse books' frequently are the first to be yanked when it comes to book challenges and 'soft censorship.' The post International Industry Notes: PEN America on Banning Books in the USA appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #usa appeared #pen america #report asserts #diverse books #book challenges


National Book Foundation Names 5 Under 35

The honorees for the program's eleventh year include Brit Bennett, Yaa Gyasi, Greg Jackson, S. Li, and Thomas Pierce. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's 2016 print book market up 11.7% to date

The children's print book market is on course for an 11.7% increase to a full year value of £394m this year if sales continue at the same pace - making 2016 the biggest year for children's books for the third year in a row. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dow: Children's publishers must think 'beyond the book'

"Publishers need to think beyond the book" to other media such as YouTube and Snapchat, and ensure everything they do has "the consumer at its heart”, m.d. of Penguin Random House Children’s Francesca Dow has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Early Pre-Frankfurt Deals, Two Novels Fetch Big Sums

Although the Frankfurt Book Fair doesn’t get underway until next month, a handful of big deals have already closed. Among the titles gaining early buzz in the run-up to the fair are two novels acquired in six figure deals late last week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter tops nation's favourite book-into-film adaptations

The Harry Potter series is the nation's most-loved book-into-film adaptation, according to a survey, with classics also ranking high in list. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Live events 'important for children's books'

Live events are having a direct impact on book sales in the children's market, according to Julia Eccleshare, children's director for Hay Festival, speaking at The Bookseller's Children's Conference this afternoon (27th September). Eccleshare said she thought live performances were not only a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #julia eccleshare #live events #direct impact #book sales #hay festival #promoting authors


Religion and Spirituality Books Preview: October 2016

The latest by Christian fiction star Karen Kingsbury, Rhonda Byrne’s follow-up to the bestselling ‘The Secret,’ and Sarah Young’s highly-anticipated new devotional ‘Jesus Always’ are each hitting bookstores in October. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rhonda byrne #sarah young #hitting bookstores


Robert Gottlieb: the editor who changed American literature

The man who ushered classics like Catch-22 into the world, Gottlieb has reason to brag. But in his new memoir Avid Reader he prefers to downplay the editor’s role Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, once gave an interview where he credited his editor with kicking his work into shape. After... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #avid reader #simon schuster #20th century


International Hot Book Properties, Week of September 26, 2016

Among the book attracting international publishers this week are a British novel found in the slush pile and a Swedish thriller set in 2037, in an alternate history where the Berlin Wall never fell. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Flanders and The Netherlands at Frankfurt: 454 New Book Releases

Across the grounds of Frankfurt Book Fair and in many other parts of Germany, the Guest of Honor program featuring Flanders and The Netherlands will provide cultural events and programming elements. The post Flanders and The Netherlands at Frankfurt: 454 New Book Releases appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Texas Prisons Banned My Book About Texas Prisoners

Banned Book Week, which started on Sunday, reminds us that no one sets out to write a banned book. But as long as speech threatens those in power, censorship, even in a country that espouses one of the most expansive free-speech regimes in the world, remains inevitable. Given that book banning... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What's Selling at Harleysville Books

Catching her breath after the summer vacation scramble, settling into a new and larger location, and gearing up for the fall book fair season, Stephanie Steinly, owner of Harleysville Books in Harleysville, Pa., shared word of books that are moving briskly in her store. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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W&N signs 'epic' finale to Cemetery of Forgotten Books series

Weidenfeld & Nicolson is publishing a new novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Labyrinth of the Spirits, the last in his "epic" The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series that spans more than a decade. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #weidenfeld nicolson #publishing anew


Latest Ukrainian Ban of Russian Book Imports Under Consideration

Reports say the ban proposed to Ukraine's parliament members would require a book from Russia to have permission from a special public commission to be imported. The post Latest Ukrainian Ban of Russian Book Imports Under Consideration appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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