John Blake (journalist)
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| John Blake | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 6, 1948 |
| Occupation | journalist and publisher |
John Blake (born 6 November 1948) is a British journalist and publisher. He lives beside the River Thames near London with his wife Diane.
Contents |
[edit] Debut
Blake first came to prominence in the early 1970s as a pop columnist for the Evening News in London. His work developed into a column titled "Ad Lib", an early example of a celebrity gossip column and lifestyle guide which survived the merger of The Evening News with the Evening Standard.
[edit] Cult of celebrity
Head-hunted by The Sun, the UK's leading tabloid daily, Blake launched 'Bizarre', a page that took celebrity gossip to a new level and established much of today's UK media obsession with the topic, helping to found what is now referred to as the cult of celebrity;
[edit] Career
A tug-of-war ensued over Blake between The Sun owner Rupert Murdoch and Daily Mirror owner Robert Maxwell. Maxwell won the bidding war and Blake launched a pop column called White Hot Club. He went on to become editor of Maxwell's Sunday People, an appointment that lasted until Maxwell suddenly decided he wished to appoint Britain's first female national newspaper editor.[1] Blake found himself President of the Mirror Group in the USA in the run-up to Maxwell's anticipated purchase of the National Enquirer, a job which imploded when Maxwell failed to complete the deal.[1] He resolved to enjoy his hobby of sailing, with occasional contributions as a TV writer in the Daily Mail. In 1976 he wrote a book about the Rolling Stones's 'Up and Down with the Rolling Stones' with their drug dealer "Spanish Tony" Sanchez which became a best seller.
[edit] John Blake Publishing
Subsequently, he gravitated towards publishing and incorporated John Blake Publishing.[2] Blake enlisted the help of his criminal contacts and set up his controversial true crime series. His first number one bestseller was The Guv'nor with Lenny McLean and Peter Gerrard. This title, voted best biography of 1998, created a genre that helped John Blake Publishing extend into leisure, fiction and other sectors.
John Blake Publishing Ltd. is an independent publishing company which now specialises in high profile, mass-market non-fiction. Their commissioning criterion is: could it be a bestseller? It is this attitude that has allowed them grow into a major force in British publishing. In recent years they have acquired the Metro list which has diversified their output even more. Their collection of health, lifestyle, cookery and mind, body, spirit books are second to none.
[edit] Subjects
The bulk of their output centres on the biography and true crime lists, including the successful true crime library and 'hard men' series of books, as well as the ever-popular stars, media & sports personality titles.
John Blake Publishing books are regular features in the bestseller lists. From the publishing phenomenon that was Being Jordan by Katie Price to Neil Simpson's best-selling biography of Paul O'Grady; from Noel Botham's Book of Useless Information to Kate Kray and David Bailey's Diamond Geezers, their books are what people want to read. Being Jordan by Katie Price, became the fastest selling autobiography ever.
[edit] Awards
In 2005 the company was voted Small Publisher Of The Year. The Gold Book Award was also awarded to them for Being Jordan for sales of over 500,000 copies. In 2010 the company was voted Trade Publisher Of The Year and also Independent Publisher Of The Year.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Kercher, John (September 15, 1996). "Printing his own money Hard profit". Mail on Sunday.
- ^ Carter, Meg (June 19, 2001). "MEDIA: MY OTHER JOB IS JOURNALISM; WHEN JOURNALISTS WRITE BOOKS, SERIALISATION RIGHTS CAN MEAN BIG MONEY. GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENTS DON'T APPLY.". The Independent. pp. 9.
[edit] External links
- Company website
- Publishing commentator Danuta Kean interview with John Blake.
- Interview as The Celebrity Man with John Blake
| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by Ernie Burrington |
Editor of the Sunday People 1988–1989 |
Succeeded by Wendy Henry |
