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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Foyles to close One New Change store

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 05/10/2011 - 09:00 Foyles will close its One New Change branch when its lease expires in April 2012 to "free up resources" for its forthcoming Stratford branch and recently opened Bristol shop. The booksellers at Foyles One New Change will be... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'The Book Show' moves to primetime

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 04/10/2011 - 10:10 Sky Arts is moving "The Book Show" to a new primetime slot on Thursdays when it returns for a fifth series next week. The show, presented by Mariella Frostrup, will be broadcast at 8pm and opens with four episodes from the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fortune Releases Steve Jobs History E-Book

"All About Steve: The Story of Steve Jobs and Apple from the Pages of Fortune" has been released on Amazon as a Kindle book. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hutchinson confirms Clinton deal

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 03/10/2011 - 11:49 Hutchinson has confirmed it will publish former US president Bill Clinton's book Back to Work, setting out his plan on how to get America "back into the future business". Cornerstone m.d. Susan Sandon acquired UK and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Galaxy Book Awards moves date and venue

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 03/10/2011 - 17:23 The 2011 Galaxy National Book Awards will take place on 4th November, rather than 9th, with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge announced as the location. Agile Marketing m.d. Alastair Giles said: "It's mainly a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cornerstone buys business book from ex-Tesco c.e.o.

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 03/10/2011 - 08:05 Former Tesco c.e.o. Sir Terry Leahy has written a business book for Cornerstone. Random House Business Books publishing director Nigel Wilcockson bought world rights to Ten Management Lessons by Sir Terry through Danny... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Another Rodale Exec’s Exit Points to Changes at Publisher

Gregg Michaelson, the integrated marketing president and chief marketing office with Rodale, has left the company. Michaelson was with the publisher since 2001, beginning his tenure with Rodale’s book division. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's book sales defy recession

Written By: Charlotte Williams and Philip Stone Publication Date: Fri, 30/09/2011 - 08:40 Children’s books sales outperformed the rest of the market in the first half of 2011, down just 1% year on year to £143m, due to blockbusting brands and the delay in children adopting digital content in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Casey to tackle kids' books for RH

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 29/09/2011 - 08:15 Ebury Press and Random House Children's Books have signed two separate three-book deals with crime writer Jane Casey. Editorial director for fiction at Ebury Gillian Green acquired UK rights, including Europe and British... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book sales pass the £1bn mark

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Thu, 29/09/2011 - 09:30 Printed book sales in 2011 have passed the £1bn mark two weeks later than in 2010 with David Nicholls' One Day the biggest selling book of the year to date. In total, £29.5m was spent at UK booksellers in the week ending 24th... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dahl in R&J Children's Christmas Book Club

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lord Sugar to hold Twitter book signing

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 28/09/2011 - 08:39 Pan Macmillan will be holding the world's first live Twitter book signing to launch Lord Alan Sugar's book The Way I See It: Rants, Revelations and Rules for Life. The signing will be held over www.lordsugar.tv at 1pm... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Flammarion signs Amazon deal ahead of Kindle launch

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Tue, 27/09/2011 - 15:18 French publisher Flammarion has signed an agreement to sell its electronic titles through Amazon and Apple’s iBookstore. The publisher is the first in France to sign up with Amazon, just before the Kindle is expected to be... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bezos tops Guardian book trade power list

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 26/09/2011 - 08:50 Amazon c.e.o. Jeff Bezos has been named as the most powerful man in books in a Guardian and Observer "power list" of the 100 key people in the trade. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More Readers, Sales for E-books

There are almost as many ebook surveys as there are digital conferences. Two new surveys released last week provided more information, one on the impact digital readers have had on consumers' reading and book-buying habits, while a second examined the impact of digital publishing on the industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster to publish Country Life titles

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arnie signs memoir deal with S&S

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 22/09/2011 - 15:45 Simon & Schuster UK is publishing a memoir by action movie legend and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus invests in youth with rights deal

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 22/09/2011 - 14:15 Quercus has acquired two books from 26-year-old debut author, Prajwal Parajuly, who becomes the youngest writer at the publisher. Editor in chief Jon Riley bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BISG discuss WBN US and digital changes

Written By: Gayle Feldman Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:16 The debut of World Book Night U.S., coinciding with the U.K.’s second go-round next April 23rd, was introduced in a keynote at the Book Industry Study Group AGM in New York. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BISG discusses WBN US and digital changes

Written By: Gayle Feldman Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:16 The debut of World Book Night US, coinciding with the UK’s second go-round on 23rd April 2012, was introduced in a keynote at the Book Industry Study Group a.g.m. in New York. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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