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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Five-figure deal to indie Inside Pocket

Publication Date: Fri, 18/03/2011 - 10:17 Independent children's publisher Inside Pocket has signed a five-figure four-book deal with Roald Dahl Funny Prize-winner Ursula Jones. Director of Inside Pocket, Sarah Harrop, acquired world rights, including audio and ebook, to the titles from Celia... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Knitting book proves favourite Royal Wedding yarn

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 14:50 Fiona Goble's 64-page Knit Your Own Royal Wedding (Ivy Press), which comes with a backdrop of Westminster Abbey "so that you can display your creations in authentic surroundings", is the current sales leader in the incredibly... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Big French publishing houses to return to Paris Book Fair

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 09:03 The new-look Paris Book Fair will open on Friday [18th March] for four days as five of the leading French publishers ponder the raids by the European Commission competition officials a fortnight ago. Hachette Livre, Bayard... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mulholland Books acquires debut by "Saw" writers

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 09:04 Hodder thriller imprint Mulholland Books has acquired a fiction debut by "Saw" writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and author, screenwriter and illustrator Stephen Romano. Editor Ruth Tross bought British... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fiction debut #european rights #nancy wiese


As Library E-Books Live Long, Publisher Sets Expiration Date

While librarians are pushing for access to more ebooks to satisfy demand, publishers are reconsidering how much that access should be worth. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #satisfy demand


Children's Books Publishing in Asia

In most parts of Asia, wizardry and fantastical plots have lost much of their magic after dominating the bestseller list for so long. The subsequent vampire and werewolf fever is, by comparison, not as rabidly welcomed in certain territories. As for that wimpy kid, well, his popularity suffers... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IPG: Publisher and retailer relationships must change

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 09:02 The relationship between publishers and retailers needs to change if physical bookshops are not to face a "bleak" future, the c.e.o. of Blackwell has warned. Andrew Hutchings was speaking during the Retailers Question Time... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two pre-LBF deals top £1m in rights frenzy

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 10:11 Agents have claimed two big-money deals worth £500,000 each, which could mark a return to confidence in the rights market in the crucial weeks ahead of next month's London Book Fair. Simon & Schuster publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of World Book Night titles 'double'

Written By: Lisa Campbell and Philip Stone Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 16:27 Sales of the selected 25 World Book Night titles soared by over 100% at W H Smith, amid a wider trade sales boost, following television coverage, events and book giveaways to mark its inaugural year. On 5th... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Changing copyright laws could "stifle" literature, report finds

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 08:50 Changing copyright laws in the UK could strike a blow to investment in literature, a report has found. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) has produced the document for the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), which reveals that out... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Riggio: American trade on cusp of "transformational change"

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 10/03/2011 - 09:13 Barnes & Noble chairman Len Riggio has said the American book trade is on the cusp of "transformational growth" led by digital sales, in a bullish keynote address to the annual meeting of the Association of American... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google’s Algorithm Changes—Will You Notice?

Google’s algorithmic changes (which the search giant claims will effect 11.8 percent of queries) take aim at what it says are “low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other web sites or sites that are just not very useful. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Grace Dent to Leave Twitter for Faber/Guardian Books

Publication Date: Wed, 09/03/2011 - 14:40 Faber and Guardian Books have acquired a title by columnist and author Grace Dent about social networking phenomenon Twitter. Guardian Books publisher Lisa Darnell and Faber publishing director for non-fiction Julian Loose jointly acquired world rights... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Club Associates sold to Webb Group

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 16:00 Online bookseller Book Club Associates (BCA) has been sold to a retail home entertainment supplier. The Webb Group, which supplies retail home entertainment products including games, DVDs, music and gifts, announced the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sainsbury's launches own-brand kids' books

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 07/03/2011 - 09:00 Sainsbury's has launched a range of own brand pre-school children's books, publishing eight titles in collaboration with Dorling Kindersley. The titles went on sale on Saturday [5th March] in more than 200 of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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CAMEX 2011: Moving Beyond the Book

College stores may have taken the word "book" out of their name, but they still have a lot in common with their independent bookstore brethren. At this year's 88th annual meeting of the National Association of College Stores and Campus Market Expo many concerns shared with ABA stores, such as... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins Wants Libraries to Pay (and Pay...and Pay...) for e-Books

Back in 1984, I wrote a book that sold to a lot of libraries. It stayed on the shelves for over a decade. If it had been an ebook published today by HarperCollins, there's a good chance it would have been off those shelves within a year. Or sooner. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBS to begin online auction of non-book stock

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 03/03/2011 - 05:36 The administrators of British Bookshops and Stationers will begin an online auction of non-book stock, including forklift trucks and office equipment, on Tuesday (8th March). Interested parties will be invited to view the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Adults and teenagers still prefer prints books to ebooks, WBD survey says

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 03/03/2011 - 07:34 Almost half of teenagers have read a book on a computer, according to a new survey to mark World Book Day. As hundreds of events get under way across the country today, 40.8% of teenagers said they had read a book on a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House US to bring 17K books to iBookstore

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 02/03/2011 - 18:05 Random House US is introducing 17,000 books to the iBookstore, several days after it announced it had moved to agency pricing. At this afternoon's Apple iPad event in San Francisco, Apple c.e.o. Steve Jobs said users have... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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