Sunday Telegraph book deal that compromised a murder trial

Sebastian Faulks gave his former Sunday Telegraph boss, John Thompson, a warm send-off in his tribute yesterday, "A nurturing force in the final days of Fleet Street".It reinforced the picture drawn of Thompson in the more formal Daily Telegraph obituary following Thompson's death, aged 93, on 24 November.Thompson, who edited the Sunday Telegraph for 10 years from 1976, was mild of manner and ran a kindly regime but had "an inner steel", wrote Faulks. This characteristic was necessary, as both Faulks and the obituary pointed out, because of the difficulties he faced in producing a paper in Fleet Street's final days of continual union disputes.Faulks pointed out that it was difficult to know Thompson well because "he was a diffident man who did not invite intimacy." It reminded me of a description of him by Henry Porter as "retiring to the point of joining a trappist order." But Faulks and the Telegraph's obituarist overlooked Thompson's most extraordinary, and disastrous, decision as an editor. In 1978, the Sunday Telegraph negotiated the serialisation of an autobiography by a former Liberal MP, Peter Bessell, who was a chief prosecution witness in the trial of Jeremy Thorpe, his party's leader. Thorpe was accused of conspiring to murder a male model, Norman Scott, who was said to have blackmailed him over their alleged gay relationship.Two months after Thorpe was charged, Thompson agreed a contract with Bessell which stated that he would receive £50,000 for extracts... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AMP Reissues Self-Published Book of Poems

Andrews McMeel Publishing has moved quickly to produce and promote Lang Leav’s Love & Misadventure, a 176-page volume containing 75 poems, as well as prose and illustrations, in which the author ruminates upon the highs and lows that inevitably accompany romantic relationships. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While You Were in Frankfurt: Sprint Beyond the Book

Porter Anderson looks at the Arizona State University-based project Sprint Beyond the Book, creating a book in the three days of Frankfurt Book Fair. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: Markus Dohle's Full Remarks

What does the future hold for the world's first mega trade publisher, Penguin Random House? Check out this transcript of PRH CEO Markus Dohle's full remarks delivered at the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Watch Videos from Thursday at the Frankfurt Book Fair

Watch our Frankfurt Book Fair video interviews with Peter Usborne (Usborne Books), Bob Campbell (Wiley), Jamie Byng (Canongate), Richard Nash (Small Demons), and other leading figures in the publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Brazilian Children’s Books on the Rise in Frankfurt

Leading Brazilian children's publishers are in the spotlight this year at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and demonstrate Brazil's growing rights business with markets around the world. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Watch The ABCs And 123s Come To Life In These Stunning Pop–Up Books

There are tons of bad pop–up books out there, content to merely sprong, jut, accordion, or bulge. French paper engineer and children's book author Marion Bataille does a different kind of pop–up. She has released a trilogy of books that explore the design of the Roman alphabet and Arabic... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AUDIO: Morrissey book published as classic

Author of Morrissey Dr Gavin Hopps and former literary editor of The Times Erica Wagner, discuss the decision made by Penguin to classify Morrissey's new autobiography as a classic. Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Murder of Akong Rinpoche 'a tragedy', says Rider

The murder of 73-year-old Dr Choje Akong Rinpoche, author of Taming the Tiger (Rider), has been... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AUDIO: 'People realise the value of books'

In the world of books, 10 October is Super Thursday - the day many publishing houses release what they hope will be their biggest sellers for the Christmas market. The BBC's Will Gompertz reports. Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2013-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: HC Wins Self-Published Novel In Major Buy

In what is rumored to be a deal worth $500,000, Jennifer Brehl at HarperCollins’s William Morrow imprint bought North American rights to Tina Seskis’s novel, One Step Too Far. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'</em>s Comic Book Easter Eggs: Episode 3

Just like the Marvel movies, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. enjoys adding references to the more obscure details of the Marvel Universe as tiny presents for longtime readers of the comic books. And we enjoy breaking them down.     Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2013-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: Pricing is the New Piracy

At this year’s fair, piracy has been a noticeably absent topic, replaced by a new, more pressing concern for publishers in the digital age: pricing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Can Digital and Print Peacefully Coexist in the World of Comic Books?

While digital distribution has roiled the newspaper, book publishing and music industries, a different story may be playing out in the world of comic books. Continue reading at Knowledge@Wharton

[ Knowledge@Wharton | 2013-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: Ferals Emerges as Hot Middle-Grade Property

One of the big children’s projects that has bubbled up at Frankfurt is a series called Ferals that was acquired jointly by HarperCollins Children’s Books U.S. and U.K. last week, and has already been optioned for film. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Brain Food: McDonald's to Push Kids' Books in Happy Meals

McDonald's just might become the country's largest children's book publisher for the month of November.The chain, which typically offers toys in its kids meals, will package four original children's books carrying a nutritional message Nov. 1 through Nov. 14 with its Happy Meals, the beginning... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: Where the World Plugs In

At an opening session at last year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, U.K. Publishers Association CEO Richard Mollet remarked that digital publishing was no longer in its infancy, but in the “voting and drinking stages of early adulthood.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: Knopf Nabs Galassi's Debut Novel

Muse pulls from Galassi's own life and follows a book editor who, Knopf explained, "is caught in the middle of the decades-long rivalry between two publishing lions over the work of a beautiful, iconic female poet." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: 'We Have to Get this Right,' Says Dohle

The CEO of the recently merged mega-publisher Markus Dohle addressed a range of subjects. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: Redmayne Talks New Storytelling Models and Competing With PRH

The CEO of HarperCollins U.K. talked about taking his new job and how he plans on taking HC into the future. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: What Is a Publisher Now?

The publishing industry is in the midst of a rapid, tech-fueled period of change, but what does that change mean for the future of the business? That was the question posed to an opening panel at the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair: What Is a Publisher Now? Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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