Book Balls, Angry Authors, and a $417.5 Million Hollywood Deal

Unedited is back, and so is BookCon. In episode 24, Adam, Sarah, and Noah survey the return of NYC’s biggest book event, which has awoken from a five-year covid coma. This time around, the Javit’s Center will host a convention with special focus on those readers romantasy-inclined: signings, meetups, workshops, and a “fantasy ball” are on offer. Less love is being lost across the pond, however, where a coalition of Dutch authors are decrying private equity firm KKR’s ownership of publishing conglomerate VBK via Simon & Schuster, in part because of KKR’s investments in Israeli companies. What lies beneath their complaints, and does authors refusing to publish send a message or do they silence their own most salient means of expression? 

In happier-ish news, a bankrupt Village Roadshow goes to a good home (Alcon) for the diminutive adoption fee of $417.5 million (#adoptdontshop). What does this mean for the future of two studios which have, separately, made some of the best films of the past twenty-five years, including Insomnia and The Matrix? And what does any of this have to do with FedEx? Note: Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx and an investor in Alcon, died last week between our recording of this podcast and its publishing; rest in peace, Fred. 

Sarah Elizabeth Hill is a writer, digital strategist, and the founder of Bobi Media, a boutique social media agency based in New York City. Before launching Bobi Media, Sarah co-founded Bookstr.com, a digital media platform for readers which she grew from zero to 3.5 million global organic followers. She secured ad or content partnerships with all five major publishers and has hosted over 100 live author interviews, including conversations with Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Sarah’s earlier work included global campaigns for brands like Nike, HBO, Oracle, and Google Politics. She hosts The Login Podcast and is working on her debut lifestyle nonfiction book that she is not allowed to mention yet… 

Noah Broyles was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. He started out writing in a notebook, upgraded to a typewriter, and finally graduated to a laptop. At the age of fourteen he sat down to write his first novel and at the age of twenty-three his debut novel, The House of Dust, was published by Inkshares. He has been a member of the Inkshares publishing team since 2021.