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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Trade Book Sales Down in Q1 of 2016

According to figures released by the AAP's StatShot program, sales of adult books fell 10.3% and sales of children's/YA titles fell 2.1%, compared to the same period last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cupcakes from Jamie T and a trip to Abbey Road: A day in the life of NME’s digital editor

For the latest in Digiday’s Day in the Life series, Charlotte Gunn, digital editor at NME, takes us through an average day. Like many publishers, NME is producing more video content, half of Gunn’s time is spent finessing the video strategy. This includes Facebook Live sessions with bands at... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Biography of explorer Humboldt wins Science Book Prize

Andrea Wulf has been named the 29th winner of the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize for her biography of Alexander von Humboldt, The Invention of Nature (John Murray), about an explorer, naturalist and foreign member of the Royal Society. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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These authors are in the running for the $50,000 Kirkus Prize book awards

The Kirkus Prizes, which at $50,000 each are among the most lucrative literary prizes in the country, announced their finalists Tuesday morning. The awards, sponsored by the book review magazine Kirkus Reviews, are given in three categories: fiction, nonfiction and young readers' literature.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Play Books App Adds Discover Feature

The new feature, intended to help users with book discovery, mines information from online book news, reviews and video content. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At The Week Live, Magazine Content Comes to Life

The news magazine launches a new event to boost its profile in cultural coverage. The post At The Week Live, Magazine Content Comes to Life appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2016-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book groups are so 21st century

Once the domain of your Nana's generation, book groups have enjoyed a bit of a renaissance for a wee while now. A group of like-minded folk who read a common book in their own time then meet up once a month to talk about it, the classic book group is a great way for neighbours and communities to... Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2016-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google wants to help find your next book to read

It doesn't matter if you've got the biggest or best shop in the world if you can't connect people to the things that they want. It's an issue that Google is hoping to address in its electronic bookstore with the launch of Discover, a new way to show... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2016-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Call for Nominations: FutureBook’s Digital Achiever of the Year

The winners in this year's Bookseller FutureBook Awards will be announced December 2 at the conference. Frankfurt Book Fair again is sponsoring this special honor for digital achievement. The post Call for Nominations: FutureBook’s Digital Achiever of the Year appeared first on Publishing... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Old book, new look: why the classics are flying off the shelves

Sales have risen 10%, thanks to TV adaptations and clever marketing. As four publishing houses unveil new looks, John Walsh investigates the battle for new readersImagine you have a sudden burning desire to read David Copperfield, Charles Dickens’s favourite of all his novels. Thanks to Project... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WP Kinsella, whose book became 'Field of Dreams', dies at 81

Canadian author WP Kinsella, whose book Shoeless Joe became the hit film Field of Dreams, dies aged 81 in a doctor-assisted death. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2016-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins to grow RNIB's Talking Books library by 15%

The Royal National Institute of Blind People and HarperCollins have announced a new three year partnership to grow Talking Books' library by 15% to 28,500 titles. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pavilion to publish ‘The Secret Life of Puppies’ TV Tie-In

Pavilion Books will publish the official companion to the "hugely successful" Channel 5 series "The Secret Life of Puppies" this October. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins extends deal with Sophie Cleverly

HarperCollins Children’s Books has acquired a further three books by Sophie Cleverly, the author of the Scarlet and Ivy series. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Publishers Prepare for New Overtime Regulations

What publishers are doing ahead of new Labor Department regulations that will expand the number of employees eligible for overtime pay. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ed Victor representing David Cameron for memoir deal

Literary agent Ed Victor is representing former prime minister David Cameron as he reportedly looks to strike a lucrative deal for his memoirs. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Book Ranking: Hawkins and Moyes stay on track

Paula Hawkins and Jojo Moyes once again dominate the upper echelons of the Weekly E-Book Ranking with The Girl on the Train and Moyes’ After You respectively. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Books store opens in Southern California

Amazon Books, the e-commerce giant’s seemingly incongruous bricks-and-mortar venture, is now open in San Diego. The store marks the company’s second foray into offline retail. The 3,500-square-foot shop at a mall in the University City neighborhood premiered with little fanfare Sept. 7 and is... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Parnassus Books Launches Online Auction to Help One of Its Own—and Binc

An outpouring of support from bestselling authors to raise money for a children's bookseller with cancer led the Nashville store to hold a larger auction to support the Book Industry Charitable Foundation. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Athens named World Book Capital 2018

Athens has been named World Book Capital 2018 by the director general of UNESCO, Irina Bokova.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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