‘I wanted to write a suburban Reacher’: Richard Osman talks to Lee Child about class, success and the secret to great crime writing

The two bestselling authors who both started in TV discuss writing as a second career, natural justice – and what they really think of literary fictionIn the four years since Richard Osman published his first Thursday Murder Club novel he has consistently topped the bestseller lists, and now his quartet of retirement-age detectives will be portrayed on screen by a cast including Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan. Having grown up in Sussex, Osman started out in TV, where he created and co-hosted the gameshow Pointless. His forthcoming novel We Solve Murders – the start of a new series – features a writer billed as the world’s bestselling novelist, “if you don’t count Lee Child”. Child, the creator of former military police officer Jack Reacher, has enjoyed phenomenal popularity since he left his career – also in TV, where he worked on shows including Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown and Cracker – and started writing, with his first novel published in 1997. Raised in Birmingham, he moved to the US in 1998 and now lives between Manhattan and rural Wyoming. He wrote 24 Reacher novels before announcing in 2020 that he would be handing the series to his brother Andrew.Lee Child I feel that writing is always a second-phase career, or at least should be. It’s that rare thing that not only can you do it when you’re older, but you should do it when you’re older. Pick your cliche: your gas tank is full, your database is compiled. You are a person. You are ready to write.... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-09-14 09:00:23 UTC ]
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Digital Video Ads That Make You Want to Click

Kraft, Nike, Target and Walmart are trialing new video technology that makes ads interactive. In the case of Kraft, a 15-second clip comes with pop-up information on the brand and its products. As the video runs, a click over one of the frames pulls up a pastry recipe or product details for... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #santa monica #raised $2 #growing segment #digital advertising #michael lazerow #ben barokas


Love, Life and Manga: Moyoco Anno Talks With ‘PW’

Acclaimed manga artist Moyoco Anno is best known as one of the most influential creators in the josei manga genre—Japanese comics aimed at older women. She talked with PW about her life life creating manga, women in Japan and life married to a Japanese pop culture star, when you’re a pop culture... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #older women


Freshman Fifteens, Wattpad Launch Teen Writing, Mentoring Contest

The Freshman Fifteens, a group of 15 authors with debut Young Adult novels in 2015, are teaming with the online writing community Wattpad to organize The Common Room Teen Mentoring Contest, a writing and mentoring contest that opens for entries on June 30. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mina eyes third Theakstons crime award

Novelist Denise Mina is in the running to win the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #peculier crime


Time Incs M Scott Havens: We want to build the next LinkedIn or Facebook

Digital chief on rethinking the rules of journalism, shaking off the magazine group tag, and developing innovationM Scott Havens, senior vice president of digital at newly independent Time Inc is not a man to pussyfoot around journalistic conventions. We have to rethink the old church and state... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital chief #scott havens #sports illustrated


Kobo Writing Life Now Carries 250,000 titles by 30,000 Authors

Two years after its launch, Kobo Writing Life (KWL), ebook retailer Kobo’s self-publishing channel, carries more than 250,000 self-published digital titles by over 30,000 authors who publish regularly through KWL. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lessons From the Leaders: What it Takes to Make Digital Video a Success

  Video is on the tip of every publisher's tongue these days. And for good reason: Advertisers want it. Still, video is complex and not necessarily for everyone-at least not right away. That is, there's no disputing that the medium has arrived but what's still debatable is the value proposition... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2014-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #good reason


PW Talks with Don Piper: '90 Minutes in Heaven' Celebrates 10 Years

Don Piper’s car was hit by a truck in 1989, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Piper wrote about what happened next in the bestselling "90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life," which paved the way for other recent bestsellers recounting glimpses of the afterlife. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #don piper #true story


Why Upworthy Wants To Kill The Pageview

The social do-gooder just released its "attention minutes" source code. You paying attention?Clicks and pageviews are still the standard metric most online publishers use in valiant attempts to convince advertisers to write them checks so that they can keep the lights on. When pageviews are... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #source code #paying attention #online publishers #convince advertisers #selling ads


Apple settles ebooks price-fixing class action lawsuit

The settlement brings an end to one of the biggest and longest-lasting legal cases of the ebook era. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Industry gears up for The Great Bookshop Debate

Authors want both online and bricks and mortar retailers to thrive, Louise Doughty has said.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #industry gears #mortar retailers #louise doughty


Zoe Sugg's YouTube success wins her two-book deal for novels

Known as Zoella to millions of viewers, her first book Girl Online will be a 'modern-day Notting Hill for teens' according to publisherZoe Sugg, a 24-year-old from Brighton whose YouTube videos are watched by more than 12 million people every month, has been signed up by Penguin to begin a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #zoe sugg #youtube videos


Working-class fiction has been written out of publishing

Everyone is the poorer for publishers' widespread assumption that nobody wants to read about this part of societyI have spent the last 25 years selling and then publishing books, so I read with interest Melvyn Bragg's recent comments on working-class characters in fiction being stereotyped and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing books #recent comments #working class


Market Growth: PW Talks with Gabrielle Langholtz

In "The New Greenmarket Cookbook," Gabrielle Langholtz combines the history of New York City's Greenmarket with profiles of its farmers and recipes from chefs and food writers inspired by its offerings. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #market growth


ALA 2014: The Exit Interview: PW Talks with Scholastic’s John Mason

John Mason, the esteemed director of library and educational marketing at Scholastic, will officially hang up his tote bag on July 3. We caught up with Mason as he was preparing for the transition. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john mason #tote bag


India: Publishing’s next great frontier

For digital publishers ranging from the Business Insider to Quartz to the Huffington Post, all roads lead to India. Here's why. The post India: Publishing’s next great frontier appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post india #business insider #huffington post #roads lead


PW Talks with Joseph Telushkin: Legacy of the Rebbe

In his new biography of Menachem M. Schneerson, Joseph Telushkin offers admiring but clear-eyed insight into the life and legacy of the 7th Rebbe of the Lubavitch Chabad movement and explains why the Rebbe is still such a presence in the Chasidic world, 20 years after his death. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Byliner, an Online Publisher of Long-Form Writing, Seeks Partners

Byliner, a company that publishes long, literary journalism and fiction online and as ebooks, told its contributors Tuesday that it has been struggling and is seeking partners to ensure its future. The company started in 2011 with some fanfare. It ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #company started #online publisher #long-form writing #literary journalism


BEA 2014: Stan Lee: From Comic Book Legend To Children’s Author

With X-Men: Days of Future Past and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man 2 taking top box-office this month, one might presume that the co-creator of all these classic superheros is sitting by a pool somewhere sipping mai tais. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stan lee #amazing adventures


BEA 2014: Sharing Family Secrets

Part of family legend for Lin Enger was how his paternal great-grandfather, a Norwegian immigrant who homesteaded 160 acres in the Dakota Territory, shot one of the last wild buffalo east of the James River when the animal drank from the precious stock tank behind his sod barn. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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