The rise of sexy books

Erika Leonard laughs a lot, a deep wheezy chortle. And why wouldn't she? Leonard, a 49-year-old overnight publishing sensation, is laughing all the way to the bank. In the past few months the former TV executive has had her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey, dominate the New York Times bestseller list, watched it be fought over by the big six publishing houses, and sold the film rights for a cool US$5 million (NZ$6.2m). Continue reading at 'Stuff'

[ Stuff | 2012-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "The rise of sexy books"


Indigo Eyes U.S. Expansion

The Canadian retailer Indigo Books & Music is in discussions to expand operations to the United States as early 2018, according to several high level executives at publishing houses in both Canada and the United States. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pearson sells slice of Penguin for $1bn

The beleaguered FTSE 100 firm strengthens balance sheet by selling a 22% stake to Bertelsmann in deal valuing the publishing giant at $3.55bn Pearson has sold a 22% stake in Penguin Random House, the world’s biggest publisher, with titles ranging from Fifty Shades of Grey, Jamie Oliver and The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Film rights to YA debut S.T.A.G.S snapped up

Feature film rights for M A Bennett’s debut YA novel S.T.A.G.S have been bought by Chernin Entertainment, ahead of its UK publication. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Willow Smith snaps up film rights to Rebel of the Sands

Willow Smith has bought the film rights to YA fantasy trilogy Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (Faber) with a view to starring in it. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books world alarmed by Pearson's sale of stake in Penguin Random House

Management have moved to reassure staff and writers that selling the 47% holding will not affect business, but authors and agents express uneaseAuthors and staff have reacted cautiously to news that Pearson is to sell its stake in Penguin Random House (PRH), the world’s biggest publisher and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Redundancy fears as Penguin Random House derecognises staff unions

Workers from Unite and NUJ fear move heralds industrial strife at company that publishes one in four books sold globallyPenguin Random House, the publisher of hits including The Girl on the Train, Fifty Shades of Grey and Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks, has terminated its collective agreement with... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Film deal for hyped Frankfurt children’s title

Twentieth Century Fox has signed the film rights to Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor, a children’s manuscript that was subject to an eight-publisher auction at the Frankfurt Book Fair last month.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cornerstone 'delighted' by E L James reveal

Fifty Shades of Grey author E L James has released an excerpt of a new book that, like Grey (Arrow), takes on another of her novels from billionaire Christian Grey's perspective. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The secret DNA behind bestsellers

Is it possible to predict whether a book will sell well? Former publisher Jodie Archer and Matthew L Jockers, of Stanford University’s Literary Lab, built an algorithm to find outYour program can identify, from scanning 20,000 books, ones which made the New York Times bestseller lists with 80%... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Witherspoon and Kidman option Moriarty novel for film

Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman have optioned the film rights to Liane Moriarty's novel Truly Madly Guilty (Michael Joseph). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fifty Shades is 'most embarrassing read' for Mumsnet users

Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James has been voted the "most embarrassing book in the world", according to Mumsnet users. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Upstart Pub Behind the Surprise Hit, 'Calendar Girl'

Waterhouse Press, which published the bestselling 12-book erotica series that 'USA Today' just touted as the next Fifty Shades of Grey, is taking a numbers-driven approach to cracking the bestseller list. So far, it seems to be working. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E L James helps raise funds for flood-hit cricket club

Fifty Shades of Grey author E L James is helping to raise funds for a flood-hit cricket club, that has "literally disappeared under the same deluge" as flooded bookshop Book Case, in Hebden Bridge. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple reveals bestselling iBooks of 2015

E L James' Fifty Shades of Grey series has claimed five spots on Apple's iBooks 2015 best-selling fiction chart while Jeffrey Archer has claimed four spots and Lee Child has two. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Film deal for Hurley's The Loney

Film rights to Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney (John Murray) have been optioned by DNA Films, with the support of Film4, after a five-way auction. The gothic novel is set on the Lancashire coast and follows a Catholic family who make an Easter pilgrimage from London to try and cure their mute... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Diversity Survey Deadline Nears

The goal of the survey, which publisher Lee & Low created and is overseeing, is to gather statistics about the staff makeup of both publishing houses and review journals based on gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YA novel Everything, Everything optioned for film

MGM has optioned the film rights to upcoming YA novel Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. The production company struck a deal with publisher Penguin RandomHouse Children’s and has already hired J Mills Goodloe, the scriptwriter for Age of Adaline, to develop the project. The novel, which... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hayward ordered to set aside £6.9m in Fifty Shades lawsuit

A woman who founded the publishing firm which initially released Fifty Shades of Grey has been ordered by a US judge to set aside $10.7m (£6.9m) for her former partner after being found guilty of defrauding her out of royalties for the book. Australian Amanda Hayward and Jennifer Pedroza were... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hawkins has biggest-selling Amazon ebook of 2015

Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train (Transworld) is Amazon.co.uk’s biggest selling ebook of 2015 so far, the retailer has revealed. The list of top 20 ebooks of the year is dominated by female authors, with E L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey companion novel, Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as told by... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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