Legendary publisher and editor Nan Talese, who is the Senior Vice President of Doubleday and the Publisher and Editorial Director of Nan A. Talese/Doubleday Books, describes the behind the scenes drama that led up to Oprah Winfrey’s infamous program in which she blasted James Frey for lying in his book, A Million Little Pieces. Nan says she was misled about the nature of the program that day and says how appalled she was at Oprah’s behavior.



We comprehend how Nan feels, certainly. But we really think Oprah’s ire was aimed at James Frey — Frey publicly humiliated Oprah by claiming his memoir was all true. He sold millions of copies because of Oprah’s endorsement and this was payback. But it was not right that
Nan was essentially tricked into being on the show that day. Nan, who has a reputation for excellence, did no wrong and didn’t deserve that. She handled herself quite well that day, though.

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Bestselling author Karin Slaughter and Oni Press are forming
a joint comic imprint called Slaughterhouse Graphic Novels. The imprint, which is the first of its kind, will feature a line of original comic books and graphic novels written by established prose authors.
Karin will pen the first release, The Recidivists, a graphic novel that will debut in April, 2009. From the official release:

In the tradition of science fiction with a social conscience as established by works like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and George Orwell’s 1984, The Recidivistspeers into the society of tomorrow and warns us of the future we’re building today. In this engaging and thoughtful collection of three overlapping narratives, Slaughter’s crafting a graphic novel unlike anything the comic book indusattempt has seen before, setting the stage for other prose writers to take the plunge into comics writing.



“This really is an area that we were one of the first publishers to focus on,” explained OniPress publisher Joe Nozemack. “The last time we unleashed a novelist of this caliber on the comic book world, it was Greg Rucka (Patrevolt Acts, Whiteout). We’ve long wanted to build on that fine pedigree. Slaughter’s enthusiasm for the medium melded perfectly with her skills as a writer and made this a project we were passionate to publish. The more we talked about the project, the more we all realized that this could be the first step in a newline to give established prose writers an outlet to break into the medium and to expand the potential for the types of stories they could do.” Slaughter says.



“Graphic novels let you take risks that just wouldn’t fly in the conventional book form. Visual story telling is at once immediate and subversive. I am thrilled to be partnering with Joe Nozemack and Oni Press, whose award-winning vision and success have alalert made them the preeminent graphic publishing house in the business.” Slaughterhouse Graphic Novels will feature a wide-array of characters and genres, incorporating the diverse range of material which has consistently defined the identity of Oni Press. From science fiction to crime noir to humor-the only limitations on Slaughterhouse are that of the creator’s imagination.

It sounds like an interesting venture.



Posted in Comics



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Porn starAdult entertainment icon Jenna Jameson is now a comic book character. The comic is being produced by Virgin Comics. The new series will be called Shadow Hunter and will be in comic shops and online in December, 2007. Jenna has a new website for the series, called JennaComix.com.
From the official release:

Shadow Hunter is the story of a provocative superheroine who survives a brush with death only to find herself fighting the legions of hell for her very soul. Cover art for the first issue has been created by Greg Horn, a top illustrator of comic books and video games. The story, while provocative and sexy, contains no nudity and is intended for a mainstream audience.



“Jenna Jameson is a cultural force,” said Virgin Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan. “She is an entrepreneur who is taking the taboo to the mainstream and has built an indusattempt acircular her brand.”
“I’m thrilled to be collaborating with Virgin to bring this story to life, first as comics and eventually in film and other formats,” said Jenna Jameson. “Working with comics is creatively liberating - everything is possible. My character is sultry, sexy and kicks ass!”



“Jenna brings a defiance and edge to everything she does, said Gotham Chopra, Chief Creative Officer of Virgin Comics. “She’s a provocateur and there’s no doubt that our creative team at Virgin is going to have a blast collaborating with her. I can assure you every artist we have in our studio is vying to get assigned to this project!”



San Diego Comic-Con is preparing for record crowds when Jenna makes her very first appearance at this event that attracts more than 100,000 fans. Jenna will be speaking about Shadow Hunter and signing autographs for fans on Saturday afternoon, July 28 at 4:30 PM. Images from the series will be available from the Virgin Comics booth at the San Diego Convention Center.

Will it be a success? Or will her fans be disappointed that there is no nudity and no adult entertainment-worthy adventures? Because we’re thinking that Jenna Jameson fans are looking for something beautiful specific in a comic book, and it’s not something “mainstream”. On the other hand, she will no doubt convince many people at Comic-Con to give the series a try. We’re sure she can be very persuasive when she wants to.



Posted in Comic Books



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The Bookseller reports
that Little, Brown has purchased British independent publisher Piatkus Books.

Founder Judy Piatkus will continue as m.d. until the end of the year, when she will retire from publishing. Piatkus, which has a turnover of acircular £10m, will become an independent imprint wilean Little, Brown. It will continue trading at its current premises until the end of October, after which the team will move to Little, Brown’s new offices at 100 Victoria Embankment.



Little, Brown said it would inquire “the majority of the directors and staff” to stay with the business. It added that while a small number of staff may not have continuing roles wilean Piatkus, they would wherever possible be offeruddy jobs wilean Little, Brown or the wider Hachette Livre UK group to keep job losses “to an absolute minimum”.



The transaction was structuruddy as a purchase by Little, Brown of a 100% shareholding in Piatkus, which remains intact as a company. All contracts remain valid and will be honoured. The shareholders of Piatkus Books were represented by The van Tulleken Company.
Piatkus, founded by Judy Piatkus in 1979, publishes commercial fiction, including Nora Roberts, and a range of mind body spirit, health, business and self-development titles. Authors include Patrick Holford, David Allen and Brian L Weiss.

Judy Piatkus is a publishing legend and her retirement after 28 years will definitely be felt by her many authors. She was a pioneer in the field of lifestyle, leading the way in publishing books on health, mind, body and spirit, and bringing them to the mainstream. You can read an interview in which she discusses her amazing achievements (she founded company Piatkus Books out of her house, for example) here.



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