Julian Assange's ghost writer breaks silence on failed autobiography

WikiLeaks founder a mercurial character who could not bear his own secrets, according to writer Andrew O'HaganThe ghostwriter who collaborated with Julian Assange on his abortive 2011 autobiography has broken his silence to describe his months working with the WikiLeaks founder, which culminated in the acrimonious collapse of one of the highest profile and most lucrative book deals of recent times.Three years after he was first introduced to the Australian, Andrew O'Hagan has now spoken out about how he worked with Assange on the book, which he said the publishers Canongate had sold in more than 40 countries for a total of US$2.5m before the deal dramatically imploded. In a lengthy, nuanced essay for the London Review of Books, a version of which he delivered in a lecture in London on Friday, O'Hagan describes working with a mercurial character who was, by turns, passionate, funny, lazy, courageous, vain, paranoid, moral and manipulative.The book deal ultimately collapsed, O'Hagan writes, because "the man who put himself in charge of disclosing the world's secrets simply couldn't bear his own. The story of his life mortified him and sent him scurrying for excuses. He didn't want to do the book. He hadn't from the beginning."Assange, he writes, was persuaded to agree to the autobiography by his lawyers who said the huge sums on offer would cover his mounting legal costs. He had initially been enthusiastic about the project, telling his ghostwriter that he "hoped to have... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Deadline for ST/PFD Young Writer award

Authors and publishers have just a day left to submit work to the relaunched Sunday Times/Peters Fraser & Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award, which is open to self-published writers this year for the first time. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Crisp signs fantasy writer Hawke

Julie Crisp has signed up her first author as a literary agent following her departure from Pan Macmillan. Crisp will represent Sam Hawke, an Australian fantasy writer from Canberra, who has written a novel called Proof, described as “intelligent fantasy concentrating on issues of race, gender... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Record-breaking Christian Grey dominates charts

E L James’ Grey (Arrow) has become the fastest-selling adult paperback in the UK since records began, smashing the previous record by almost 270,000 copies, while selling nearly 650,000 physical and digital units in just three days on sale.  Grey shifted 385,972 print units Thursday through... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Short story writers lament profile problem

Short stories are gaining ground in the UK, but authors working within the format are finding it more difficult to break into the public consciousness than novelists, writers have told The Bookseller. Awards that cover all forms of fiction such as The Folio Prize, won in 2014 by George... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BAFTA seeks writers for children’s film and TV

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is looking for aspiring writers of children’s films and TV shows for its new writing forum. The competition is part of the BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum, a long-running initiative which was created to give a platform to undiscovered... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Record breaking" sales for Grey on first day

Cornerstone has claimed that the first day sales of ‘Grey’ have been “record-breaking” for an adult paperback in the industry. The latest edition of E L James’ bestselling series – Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian went on sale around the world yesterday, just 18 days after the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mentoring bursaries offered to low-income writers

Quality Writing for All, a campaign to support low-income writers, with a focus on Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and disabled communities, will be officially launched tonight (16th June). The scheme has been put together by The Literary Consultancy (TLC), which is using funding from Arts... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Riddell supports equal credit campaign for illustrators and writers

The new children’s laureate Chris Riddell said he supports campaigns for illustrators to gain equal credit with writers. In an interview with The Bookseller magazine published today (12th June), Ridell said Sarah McIntyre, who spearheaded the #PicturesMeanBusiness campaign, is “amazing”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Henry, Atlee among Guild of Food Writer winners

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook’s growing video power has publishers embracing the sound of silence

The rise of Instagram and Facebook, which mute video audio by default, is forcing publishers to rethink their video creation strategies. NowThis and Fusion, for example, are creating video that's "volume agnostic", meaning that they can viewers can watch them with the sound on or off and still... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How One Writer Cooked Her Way Through Great Literature

From Jane Austen's white soup to a liver mousse inspired by 'Silence of the Lambs,' butcher and writer Cara Nicoletti explores recipes inspired by classic and contemporary book. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Do Writers Measure Success in Global Publishing?

Lori Nelson Spielman, an American author, has written books that became global bestsellers — just not in the USA. How should authors measure success? The post How Do Writers Measure Success in Global Publishing? appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Caitlyn Jenner Is on Pace to Break President Obama's Twitter Follower Record

Bruce Jenner effectively completed his gender transformation today—at least in the public sense—when the former Olympian appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair with the headline, "Call me Caitlyn." His new identity, Caitlyn Jenner, then got her own Twitter handle, @Caitlyn_Jenner, where she... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookCon 2015: Put ’Em Up! Powerhouse Mystery Writers Reveal Secrets on the ‘Pencil Panel’

Don’t tell anyone,” confides bestselling author Brad Meltzer about today’s panel “Inside the Mystery Writer’s Studio,” in which he is participating with fellow superstars James Patterson and Nelson DeMille. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Emerging writers prize launched by Hachette and Guardian Australia

$10,000 award in memory of publisher Matthew Richell announced at Emerging Writers’ festival in Melbourne, which will also be a partner on the prizeA new Australian literary award has been established in memory of Matthew Richell, the Sydney publisher who died in a surfing accident in 2014 at... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scottish Book Trust gets £95k for young writers

The Scottish Book Trust has been awarded £95,000 for a new national programme for young writers, from Time To Shine, Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy. The Young Writers programme will include a conference, development of writers groups across Scotland, and an online platform to showcase... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hub City Writers Project Celebrates 20 Years of Literary Energy

Hatched over coffee 20 years ago, the Hub City Writers Project has grown into an indie press, a nonprofit bookstore and driving force behind the literary arts in Spartanburg, SC. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ruth Rendell, British mystery writer, remembered for Inspector Wexford novels

Rendell was one of Britain's most popular crime novelists and wrote dozens of books, including many under the pen name Barbara Vine. She passed away over the weekend. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bourgeois Ghosts

The BBC’s miniseries adaptation of The Casual Vacancy, a pungent, unhappy novel-for-adults by J.K. Rowling, has an especially formidable bundle of expectations to clear. Like any television retelling of a book, it must do right by its (difficult) source material—then factor in the reflected... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2015-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Peter Carey among writers to protest PEN honour for Charlie Hebdo

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[ The Guardian | 2015-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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