Joan Didion, Joyce Carol Oates, and Philip Pullman Join Ranks of Open Road Integrated Media Iconic Authors

NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Open Road Integrated Media (OR/M) announced today the acquisition of ebook rights to five books by bestselling author Joan Didion, including Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The White Album, and Play It as It Lays; six psychological suspense thrillers by bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates; and two novels by Philip Pullman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Golden Compass.

"It is a thrill and an honor to welcome these terrific authors to OR/M," said OR/M CEO Paul Slavin. "I can't think of a better way to serve our readers than to offer these extraordinary, impactful literary voices."

"Joan Didion, Joyce Carol Oates, and Philip Pullman have each made a unique and indelible mark on the literary landscape, and they represent the range and endurance of great writing. Their work has inspired readers for many years, and we are determined to ensure that it will continue to inspire as many new readers as possible for a long time to come," said OR/M Executive VP and Publisher, Tina Pohlman.

These acquisitions underscore OR/M's dedication to preserving the legacies of great writers. "I'd like to say how glad I am for these books to be available in this format," said Philip Pullman.

In keeping with this mission, OR/M has already renewed its contracts for digital rights with many authors, including William Styron (Michael Carlisle at InkWell Management), Pat Conroy (Marly Rusoff at Marly Rusoff Literary Agency), Alice Walker (Joy Harris at The Joy Harris Literary Agency), James Herriot (Phyllis Westberg at Harold Ober Associates with Georgia Glover at David Higham Associates), Barbara Hambly (Fran Collin at Frances Collin Literary Agency), James Gleick (Michael Carlisle at InkWell Management), and Erica Jong (Ken Burrows at Kenneth David Burrows Attorney at Law). "These renewals are a testament to both the enduring quality of these authors' works and the marketing power of Open Road," Pohlman said.

"Combining deep data analytics and a large list of registered, passionate readers, we have pioneered advanced long-form content marketing. This led us to a substantial increase in ebook sales in 2016, Slavin said. "With the backlist books by these iconic authors added to our list of 10,000 titles, I am confident we will see even greater sales."

Joan Didion

The acquisition of Didion's ebooks includes her classic essay collections Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album, the novel Play It as It Lays, as well as After Henry and Miami.

Didion's memoir The Year of Magical Thinking won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2005. In 2007, she was awarded the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Didion is represented by Lynn Nesbit at Janklow & Nesbit Associates.

Joyce Carol Oates

The six psychological suspense thrillers by bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates include: Lives of the Twins, Soulmate, Snake Eyes, You Can't Catch Me, Double Delight, and Starr Bright Will Be with You Soon. All were written under the pen name "Rosamond Smith" and feature themes of evil, erotic desires, serial killers, obsession, and murder. All six are currently out of print.

Joyce Carol Oates is a bestselling author of more than 40 novels as well as short story collections, plays, poetry, and nonfiction. She won the National Book Award for Them in 1970 and was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Black Water (1993), What I Lived For (1995), Blonde (2001), and the short story collection Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2015). Her novel We Were the Mulvaneys (1996) was an Oprah Book Club® selection. She has also won two O. Henry Awards and received the Stone Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement in 2012. Oates is represented by Warren Frazier at John Hawkins and Associates.

Philip Pullman

The acquisition by Charlotte Greig, OR/M strategic advisor in the UK, of two ebooks by Philip Pullman for UK publication brings digital editions of The Broken Bridge and The Butterfly Tattoo to an audience of eager fans on May 2^nd, 2017. Pullman is represented by Caradoc King at United Agents.

"They both mean a lot to me. They're both unusual in my work, in being neither historical novels nor fantasies," said Pullman, who has received the ALA Best Book for Young Adults Award, the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, and the British Book Award. "The Broken Bridge is, in a way, a love letter to the landscape of my childhood and teenage years in North Wales, which I still dream about with love and longing. The Butterfly Tattoo is set in the city where I've lived for most of my life, Oxford, and it's a love story that I felt very strongly compelled to write. Stories of modern life are the sort I very much like to read, and I can't quite understand why I haven't written more books like this. Perhaps I will."

About Open Road Integrated Media

Open Road Integrated Media is a prestige content brand delivering digital experiences that entertain and inform readers around the world; their network of digital properties produces compelling stories that keep audiences engaged—across devices and around the world. The Open Road brands include Early Bird Books, a daily ebook deals newsletter and website; The Lineup, the premier digital destination for fans of true crime, horror, the mysterious, and the paranormal; The Portalist, an online community for fans of science fiction, fantasy, and genre-related pop culture news; Open Road Media, a global ebook publisher whose catalog includes legendary authors such as William Styron, Alice Walker, Pat Conroy, Gloria Steinem, Octavia Butler, John Jakes, Pearl S. Buck, Walker Percy, Ruth Rendell, and Sherman Alexie; and Worth Books, a well-curated list of short-form ebooks for readers who consume content on the go, whether brushing up on business strategies while commuting, preparing to wow at their next bookclub meeting, or continuing to satisfy their thirst for knowledge.

SOURCE Open Road Integrated Media

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