Peter Kaplan, editor who commissioned Sex and the City, dies at 59

Former New York Observer editor was known as cultural arbiter and was credited with cultivating style of influential paperPeter Kaplan, the former editor of The New York Observer who hired a then-unknown Candace Bushnell to write a column called "Sex and the City" has died. He was 59.Kaplan died on Friday of cancer in New York City, said his wife, Lisa Chase. He edited the Observer from 1994 to 2009. The weekly has a reach beyond its circulation of about 50,000 because it is read by the Manhattan-based movers and shakers it covers.Kaplan was credited with honing the paper's snarky tone and with hiring writers who became influential voices of their era. Bushnell's column, about love and dating, inspired the hit HBO series Sex and the City, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, and followed by two movie adaptations."The more cancellations we got for her column", Kaplan wrote in New York magazine in 2011, "the more the paper knew we had hit the jackpot". Other writers who worked under Kaplan at the Observer include Joe Conason, who is now editor-in-chief of the political website The National Memo, and Nikki Finke, who founded Deadline.com.After leaving the Observer, Kaplan was hired as the editorial creative director at Conde Nast Traveler. In 2010, he was named editorial director of the Fairchild Fashion Group, now Fairchild Fashion Media, a division of Conde Nast Publications. But Kaplan's role as a cultural arbiter was perhaps best exemplified by the creation of several fake... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Elmore Leonard, crime novelist, dies

The prolific US crime writer Elmore Leonard, whose books include Get Shorty and Out of Sight, dies at the age of 87. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2013-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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No Mercy for an Erring Bloomberg Editor

So this is the Bloomberg Way! Bloomberg LP fired an editor yesterday after he published an incorrect headline on the company’s terminals worldwide — saying a jury had found ex-Goldman Sachs banker Fabrice Tourre not liable for ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Christine Quinn Wants to Be the First Female Mayor of New York City

As of this writing, Christine Quinn, the first female and openly gay speaker of the New York City Council, remains a front-runner in the city’s crowded race for mayor. A poll by Quinnipiac University, the New York Times reports, shows Quinn, the second-most-powerful elected official in the... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2013-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'I Am Legend' author Richard Matheson has died at 87

Author Richard Matheson, who was 87, has died at home. His family announced his passing in a protected Facebook post; the news was shared by publisher Tor/Forge.Author Richard Matheson, who was 87, has died at home. His family announced his passing in a protected Facebook post; the news was... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Spin names new editor-in-chief

SpinMedia has named Jem Aswad the new editor-in-chief of Spin, succeeding Caryn Ganz, who was ousted last week.Mr. Aswad was most recently the editor of Billboard.biz and previously held editing jobs at MTV News and Time Out New York. "This is probably the job I dreamed about most when I first... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2013-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tom Sharpe dies

Bestselling author Tom Sharpe, perhaps best known for his 1974 novel Porterhouse Blue, has died... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jack Vance, prolific, prize-winning pulp author, dies at 96

Jack Vance, prolific author of science fiction, mystery and epic fantasy, died Sunday at 96, his son John told the Associated Press. He had written more than 60 books during his long life.Jack Vance, prolific author of science fiction, mystery and epic fantasy, died Sunday at 96, his son John... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reuters Social Media Editor Joins Circa

Anthony De Rosa, social media editor for Reuters, is joining quick-hit mobile news curator Circa as Editor-in-Chief. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Patty Marks: Sex, Romance, and Erotic Bestsellers

The beginnings of Ellora’s Cave, the Akron, Ohio–based publisher of erotic romance fiction, have become something of a publishing business legend. Tina M. Engler, a single mom at the time, began writing the kind of romance novels she wanted to read—novels written with explicit descriptions of... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Silent Wife author dies

Canadian writer A S A Harrison, whose debut novel The Silent Wife (Headline) is due for worldwide... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Discover A Foreign City Through Its Fiction Via New Gimbal App

The new Gimbal app, launching Tuesday at the London Book Fair, features translated short stories for commuters that allows you to explore a city through fiction. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A book editor unleashes the beast within in Arnon Grunberg's 'Tirza'

Years of quiet sacrifice boil dry as a father in his late 50s fears he's losing everying, including his beloved daughter."Parental love is the sacrifice made in silence," says Jorgen Hofmeester, the protagonist of "Tirza," Arnon Grunberg's latest translated novel. In "Tirza," the quiet martyrdom... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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5 Innovations That Show Libraries Don’t Have To Die

Sure, the age of browsing for books and checking them out may be coming slowly to a close, but the idea of a library can adapt rather than fade away. These five locations are doing just that. When I took a high school class in "library science," the primary innovation I learned about was the... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Achebe, 'greatest of all African writers', dies

The death of novelist Chinua Achebe has been confirmed.  A statement from The Wylie Agency... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Herbert dies

Bestselling novelist James Herbert has died. Herbert, described by his editor Jeremy Trevathan... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Franklin 'commissioning ebooks via Twitter'

Twitter is being used as a "commissioning channel", Random House digital publisher Dan... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pichon wins Blue Peter Book Award

Schoolchildren from across the country have chosen Tom Gates: Genius Ideas, Mostly by Liz Pichon... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Festival of Cookbooks in the City of Light

The Paris Cookbook Fair that took place in the Carrousel du Louvre, February 22-24 brought in nearly 3,000 attendees to visit 102 booths of publishers, writers, and agents. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Huffington Post Loses Executive Editor Tim O'Brien

Arianna's right hand is out at The Huffington Post. Huffington announced today via company memo that Tim O'Brien, executive editor of the online publisher, will be leaving the site to work on the second of his five-part book deal. Per the memo, Huffington noted, "In the next few days, Tim's... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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