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 ]
Pan Macmillan has acquired five self-published and two unpublished novels by bestselling ebook... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An Appreciation: Michael Connelly, bestselling author of the Harry Bosch books, on being under the influence of the late Elmore Leonard.I never wanted to be Raymond Chandler. I wanted to be Philip Marlowe. I never wanted to be Ross Macdonald. I wanted to be Lew Archer. Elmore Leonard was the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A self-published author has featured among the regional winners of the Commonwealth Book Prize.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The BBC's business editor Robert Peston describes how transcribing his late wife's final book helped him cope with grief following her death from lung cancer. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It goes without saying that many book trailers and promotions are creative, but none have become truly viral. Where is the book world's viral video hit? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Children's has snapped up rights to The Breathing series by self-published author... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Given the state of flux in the book world, it can be dangerous to predict industry sales trends, but the private investment banking firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson has done just that in its latest annual report, the “VSS Communications Industry Forecast (2012–16).” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon UK has announced another self-published author has sold well though its retail site,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The final book in The Hunger Games trilogy is coming to the big-screen in two parts starting in 2014. Lionsgate Films announced today that The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 will be released November 21, 2014, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 will follow on November 20, 2015. The... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Many in the book world are eager to discover if Oprah's book club – after a two-year hiatus and now on the lower-profile OWN network – will still draw readers in massive numbers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Locke found fame as the first self-published author to sell one million Kindle ebooks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Thu, 10/11/2011 - 09:00 Christopher Paolini is likely to turn his hand to science fiction for his next work, as the final book in his epic Inheritance Cycle series is published this week. The series has sold 4.5m in export and UK sales, including... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 12/10/2011 - 13:30 Authonomy, HarperCollins' writing community for unpublished authors, is launching a new imprint with plans to publish 12 titles per year as digital editions. The imprint will be headed by Scott Pack, who runs Authonomy and is... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 12/09/2011 - 15:41 Gollancz is hoping to reignite interest in the adventure game books of the 1980s after buying two books by a self-published author. Editor Marcus Gipps bought world rights to two books in the DestinyQuest series by Michael J... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 15:00 Simon & Schuster US has signed a deal to publish the physical editions of John Locke's Donovan Creed novels in North America. In June, Locke became the first self-published author to sell more than one million ebooks... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital technology is transforming the world of textbook publishing much as it is changing every other aspect of the book world. Digitization is bringing down the cost of textbook content, transforming static print works into interactive learning experiences and allowing publishers to create and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 20/06/2011 - 14:31 John Locke has become the first self-published author to sell more than one million ebooks through Amazon. The author used Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing platform to publish and sell his titles. He joins Stieg Larsson,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 17/05/2011 - 08:15 Corvus has acquired seven books from self-published author Nick Alexander, whose title The Missing Boyfriend was in the top 10 in the Kindle paid-for charts for six weeks. Senior editor Laura Palmer bought world English... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Special K is a $1 billion brand in the U.S., selling an estimated 168 million boxes of cereal a year. This spring, Kellogg's and Weldon Owen are hoping a massive marketing campaign can extend the brand's success into the book world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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