JK Rowling has confessed that she authored the crime novel THE CUCKOO’S CALLING, published in April to at least some positive reviews and very modest sales (441 print units in the UK, and about the same in the US, as tracked by Nielsen Bookscan). Rowling was unmasked by The Sunday Times “after it investigated how a first-time author ‘with a background in the army and the civilian security industry’ could write such an assured debut novel.” Actually, as the paper’s books editor Richard Brooks admitted, columnist India Knight was first set on the story by an anonymous Twitter tip (from an account […]
Authors
People, Etc.
Sydny Miner has left her position as executive editor at Crown, and is “looking for new opportunities.” She can be reached at sydny.miner@gmail.com. At Macmillan, Erin Coffey has been promoted to the newly created role of vp, internal communications, event and community services. Colin Bettam has joined Kobo as chief marketing officer, reporting to Michael Serbinis. He was formerly vp, marketing at LG. Bettam will “be responsible for building and expanding the Kobo brand internationally,” with stores “expected to launch this year…[in] countries like India, Russia and Philippines.” Separately, Kobo announced the release of their app for the disappointing new […]
Ballantine the Latest to Break Ties with Paula Deen
On Friday afternoon, Ballantine Books announced that, “After careful consideration, [it] has made the difficult decision to cancel the publication of Paula Deen’s New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up.” As we noted earlier in the week, it was the first title in a multi-book deal that was announced in January 2012 between Deen and Ballantine, and marked her departure from Simon & Schuster. Deen’s agent Janis Donnaud confirms that Random House “has cancelled the entire multi-book contract.” While “not at liberty to share our future plans yet,” Donnaud writes, “I am confident that Paula Deen will have a new […]
A Plagiarist Is Caught Online — and Kindle Worlds Opens for Business
Dear Author caught a plagiarist on Wednesday, and within hours the offending ebook — AMAZINGLY BROKEN by “Jordin Williams” — was removed from online bookselling sites. (The ebook was published June 20.) There is still some mystery around the author. The posted online biography claimed “she” is “a 26 year old ghostwriter turned author…. When she started ghostwriting books they would become popular even though she was never given any credit so she decided to write her own book, Amazingly Broken.” But as Dear Author’s community uncovered, the posted author photo is a stock image. The ebook apparently began as […]
People, Etc.
At Macmillan Children’s, Caitlin Sweeny has been promoted to digital marketing manager, taking the lead in managing all digital marketing initiatives for titles and campaigns. Ksenia Winnicki has been promoted to associate digital marketing manager. Also, Susan Dobinick has been promoted to associate editor at Margaret Ferguson Books. Becky Thomas has joined Ben Mason at the literary agency Fox Mason Ltd in the UK. She was previously at William Morris Endeavor. Forbes releases their annual list of the most “powerful celebrities,” which bases rank on a combination of estimated earnings as well as squishier “TV/radio rank; press rank; marketability rank; and social […]
People
Candice Vallimont recently joined Chronicle Books as distribution account client manager. Previously she was a product manager at Hachette New Zealand. In the UK, Laura Hassan has been named editorial director of Guardian Faber, the new nonfiction imprint created by Faber and the newspaper, effective August 5. She is currently editorial director at Vintage Classics UK. At Harlequin, Beth Attwood will join the company as managing editor coordinator, New York/Toronto on July 2. In the UK, Pippa Roscoe has been promoted to acting assistant editor, Modern/Presents; Laurie Johnson has been promoted to assistant editor; and Megan Haslam has been promoted […]