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 ]
News tagged with: #adrian mckinty #crime fiction #book deal

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Six shortlisted as Royal Society kids' book prize returns

Written By: Rachel Bradley Publication Date: Fri, 17/06/2011 - 08:07 A guide to astronomy and a pop-up guide to how the world works are among the shortlisted titles for the first Royal Society Young People's Book Prize in three years. The £10,000 prize was not awarded between 2008 and 2010 due... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #shortlisted titles #book prize #funding difficulties #anonymous donor #winning book


Goldsboro Books set for "record-breaking" year

Publication Date: Thu, 16/06/2011 - 09:10 Goldsboro Books has revealed it is on-track for a record-breaking financial year after moving premises in March. The 12-year-old independent London bookshop, which specialises in first edition signed copies, said May prevailed as its “best ever” month... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #financial year #financial quarter


Accent buys book by progeria-sufferer Okines

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 16/06/2011 - 15:40 Accent Press has bought world rights to a memoir by Hayley Okines, who suffers from a rare genetic condition that means she ages eight times faster than healthy people. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #times faster


Price to attempt book signing world record

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 15/06/2011 - 14:03 Random House author Katie Price is to attempt to break the Guinness World Records title for the largest book signing by a single author. Price's attempt will take place at the O2 Academy, Leeds, at 11 a.m. on 27th July,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #27th july #signing copies #21st july #27th october


Bertelsmann formally disbands its book club division 'Direct Group'

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 15/06/2011 - 07:46 Bertelsmann has disbanded its Direct Group division having all-but completed what it described as the scale-back of its book clubs business. Its remaining book club interests, most notably in Germany and Spain, will now be... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #direct group


Seventeen chosen for Booked Up

Written By: Rachel Bradley and Katie Allen Publication Date: Tue, 14/06/2011 - 17:23 Titles from Cressida Cowell, Sita Brahmachari and Jon Mayhew have been selected for Booktrust"s “Booked Up” programme, which sees 17 titles on offer to all year seven pupils in England. Over 650,000 free books... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cressida cowell #sita brahmachari #secondary school


Steve Jobs the Comic Book Hero: An Exclusive Look

PCWorld managed to snag previews of some of the pages, although they are a work-in-progress as the pages have not yet been colored or had speech bubbles put in. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #steve jobs


Book Machines Near the Tipping Point?

Retailing for $185,000, the Espresso Book Machine, developed by On Demand Books, costs more than the annual revenue of some independent bookstores. But with a new partnership with the American Booksellers Association to help get frontlist and midlist titles from mainstream houses (something that... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tipping point #book machines #demand books #annual revenue #independent bookstores #backlist titles


Henderson, Lehane on TV Book Club summer list

Publication Date: Mon, 13/06/2011 - 08:55 Emma Henderson's Orange-shortlisted Grace Williams Says It Loud and the latest novel by American thriller writer Dennis Lehane have been picked for the summer season of "The TV Book Club". Returning on Sunday 26th June on More 4, with repeats on Channel... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #summer season #jo brand


Octopus buys book by "People's Supermarket" star

Publication Date: Fri, 10/06/2011 - 10:36 Octopus has acquired a vegetable cookery title by chef, eco-restauranteur and star of "The People's Supermarket" Arthur Potts Dawson. Publishing director Stephanie Jackson acquired world rights to Eat Your Veg from Sophie Laurimore of Factual... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #factual management #mitchell beazley


Why E-Books Are Bad for You

By restricting purchases unnecessarily, ebooks and e-readers are a bad deal, says free software guru Richard Stallman. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Christine Jones new c.e.o of Murdoch Books

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 09/06/2011 - 08:05 Murdoch Books has further restructured its workforce following owner Matt Handbury's move into the role of c.e.o. last week. Christine Jones will become managing director of Murdoch Books UK, which has its UK offices in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sales manager #murdoch books #south-west london #marketing director


Apple Changes Rules on In-App Subs

Apple has changed its rules for in-app subscriptions and content access in the App Store. Reports are indicating that the most significant change is access to content purchased outside of the app without a corresponding in-app subscription requirement, and a concomitant relaxation of pricing... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #app store #significant change


HC signs Transformers and Conrad deals

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 08/06/2011 - 14:56 HarperCollins Children's Books has signed two deals, with a new trilogy from reality star Lauren Conrad, and a licensing deal for the tie-in to the new Transformers movie. Brand development manager Richard Haines signed a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #licensing deal #english-language rights #ultimate guide #activity book #29th june


Guardian to sponsor Edinburgh Book Festival

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 08/06/2011 - 14:53 The Edinburgh International Book Festival is to be sponsored by Guardian News & Media, in a newly-penned two-year deal. The sponsorship deal will include coverage in the Guardian, the Observer and its books website of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sponsorship deal #books website #review books #29th august #fay weldon


Smiths News acquires Dawson Books

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 07/06/2011 - 09:49 Dawson Books has been bought by the parent company of book wholesaler Bertrams for £20m. Smiths News plc, which owns Bertrams, announced today (7th June) that the wholesaler and Dawson Books would be "fully integrated"... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dawson books #fair trading #deal means #increasing demands #digital products


Grisham top as children's book sales soar

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 07/06/2011 - 15:44 Thanks in part to a "better than half price" deal at Waterstone's, John Grisham tops the Official UK Top 50 for the first time in five and a half years. The Confession (Arrow), the Arkansas-born legal thriller writer's 23rd... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #grisham top #half price #half years #confession arrow #full week #uk booksellers #mass-market edition


Unbridled in 25 Cent E-book Promotion with ABA

Unbridled Books is partnering with the American Booksellers Association to promote the organization’s IndieCommerce program. For three days Unbridled is offering 25 of its titles in ebook format for 25 cents exclusively through the approximately 250 independent bookstores that are set up to sell... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Call the Midwife author Worth dies

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 06/06/2011 - 11:35 Bestselling author of the Call the Midwife trilogy Jennifer Worth has died following a short illness, Weidenfeld & Nicolson has announced. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New everyday philosophy title for Rider Books

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 03/06/2011 - 10:03 Rider Books has acquired a non-fiction book telling readers how to use philosophy to improve their everyday life by journalist and blogger Jules Evans. Rider Books commissioning editor Sue Lascelles bought world rights,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #everyday life #jonathan conway #paperback original