Two years after her apparent suicide, the novelist has announced she is still very much alive. Is this what it takes to sell books nowadays?‘All publicity is good publicity,” Susan Meachen thought to herself as she prepared to stage her suicide. In September 2020, Meachen, the self-published author of what she described as “perfectly flawed” romance novels, logged on to Facebook, pretended to be her daughter and wrote a post declaring herself dead. Meachen’s “daughter” continued to post numerous times after that. She suggested that Meachen was “bullied in the book world to the point of suicide” and encouraged people to buy Meachen’s “final” book. Then, plot twist: last week, Meachen posted on Facebook again to declare that she wasn’t actually dead. Surprise! “Let the fun begin,” she added.My very first sentence, by the way, was – like Meachen’s death – part fiction. I have no idea what the romance writer was thinking when she offed herself online. Nobody does. But people have a lot of questions. Meachen has alluded to mental health problems, which should obviously be taken seriously – but that still wouldn’t excuse using your fake death to try to hawk books, as has been suggested in the days since she announced her resurrection. People in Meachen’s writing community are furious. “I think she believed that if she died, her books would get attention,” an author in Meachen’s writing circle told the BBC. “Now, this is a new gamble: ‘Hey, if I come back, that will get... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-01-11 07:00:12 UTC ]
A pair of Wellington women with a combined 25 years experience in the children's book world are getting ready to share their passion with a wider audience. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2017-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After news broke that 'Breitbart Tech' editor and "alt-right" pundit Milo Yiannopoulos received a $250,000 advance from S&S in a deal for his book 'Dangerous,' the book world has taken its grievances to Twitter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The online reading and writing community is launching Wattpad Futures, a program that will run paid advertising in a selection of the stories posted on its website. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Until last week, Louise Linton was a little-known Scottish actress living in California, whose most prominent roles were guest spots in the television shows "CSI: NY" and "Cold Case" and the movies "Intruder" and "Cabin Fever." Now, thanks to a self-published memoir she wrote about her... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-published author Adam Croft has been snapped up for a publishing deal by Amazon imprint Thomas & Mercer after releasing what he says is the biggest-selling book by a self-published author in 2016. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Genre fiction, non-fiction and books which "are causing a stir, a story in the book world" will all be candidates for the new "Meet the Author" interview series, now conducted by veteran broadcaster James Naughtie who has replaced Nick Higham. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pape Satàn Aleppe: Chronicles of a Liquid Society is a collection of essays that was originally set to be published in May 2016The release date of the final book by the Italian novelist Umberto Eco, who died on 19 February, has been pushed forward from May 2016 to come out this weekend in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After a successful 25-year run and selling more than three million copies, the final book in the Griffin and Sabine series will hit stores this spring. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SLIC c.e.o Amina Shah has today (29th October) been appointed as Scottish Book Trust’s new director of programme. The director of programme is a key post at the national charity promoting literacy and a diverse reading and writing community in Scotland. Working with the c.e.o. as part of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The children’s book world should not be scared of self- publishing, according to Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin, the Swedish author behind the bestselling picture book The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep, which shot to number one in the Amazon.co.uk book chart before the author signed any deals with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sir Terry Pratchett fans react to the release of the authors final novel, almost six months after his death. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The final book in Laura Lam’s Dark Circus series – the first two books of which were published by the now-closed Osprey imprint Strange Chemistry – will be published by Pan Macmillan. Pan Macmillan has acquired world rights to the series, consisting of Pantomime, Shadowplay and Masquerade, from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Athill will publish Alive, Alive Oh! next year, it is revealed, while O’Brien has a new novel about love on the wayDiana Athill published her previous memoir, a Costa award-winning, and bestselling, reflection on ageing and death, at the age of 90. Intending it to be her final book, she called... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hugo Award clowns aside, there's another literary scandal that we should actually be worried about. The post Hey, Book World: Sexism is Way Bigger Than the Hugos appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2015-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins has reopened its graduate programme for 2015, with applicants now asked to make an application online with a home-made video interview. During the video, applicants will have to describe the best designed product they can think of, and explain how they would persuade a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wildlife expert and TV presenter Chris Packham is bringing his love of animals to the children’s book world with Amazing Animal Journeys, which will published by Egmont. The non-fiction picture book is illustrated by Jason Cockroft and is about the way different animals, from blue whales and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Forward-looking children’s book editorMarni Hodgkin, who has died aged 97, was an outstanding editor of children’s books in an era before it was obvious that they would become one of the most important areas of the publishing business. She was one of a great group of female editors, including... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wattpad, the online reading and writing community, has released After Dark, an app that offers its users a curated selection of romance and erotica. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In popular genres such as sci-fi and fantasy, fan fiction based on the Wattpad model could easily disrupt the publishing industryFor a few years in the mid 2000s, I was the young librarian who got sent to schools to convince kids they really did want to read books. The truth of my experience was... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chicken House and Altitude, a film production company, are teaming up to develop book and film projects simultaneously. “Instead of waiting for a final book to take into movie production, we will find scripts or treatments together and develop them at the same time,” said Barry Cunningham, m.d.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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