On Monday, Random House UK hosted James Patterson (situated at left with company CEO Gail Rebuck) at Sketch, reports Booktrade.info, where the company first held a conference day at the venue, outlining sales plans to staffers and the trade. Customers got to meet the author in the evening. And while Patterson was in London the company also arranged for him to do a photo shoot with Rankin, the results of which will be revealed in due course.
The Bookseller was at the presentation, too, and report that Patterson will nearly double his annual output to eight books a year when he moves to the Random House next February, adding non-fiction, a graphic novel and more romance and teen fiction to his mainstay of thrillers. CHA marketing director Claire Round said the company will treat every Patterson launch “as if it were a major Hollywood release”, and has appointed a full-time brand specialist to manage the Patterson oeuvre. Each standalone thriller will be backed by prime-time television advertising. Further branding plans are in place for a new teen series, titled Jack X, the Michael Bennett series co-authored with Michael Ledwidge, and his existing series. “We felt strongly – sorry Headline – that the package could be evolved to bring in some new readers without alienating the current ones,” Round concluded.
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