Friedman to publish Catch-22 e-book
19.10.09 - The Bookseller

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 will be published as an e-book for the first time as part of Jane Friedman's new publishing venture, Open Road Integrated Media.

Speaking at the Frankfurt Book Fair last week, the former HarperCollins chief executive described Open Road as a ­"content marketing com­pany", which creates "enhanced" e-books of past and present authors, featuring author profiles, behind-the-scenes features and mini-documentaries.
Friedman said: "We expect to use every bit of technology that's around at the moment to market the books and we are also looking at things that are being invented." She added that the "author is the brand" and will look to exploit this in the marketing.
Alongside Heller, other launch titles include books by William Styron, Pat Conroy and Iris ­Murdoch. Friedman added: "Our mandate is that the e-book will be the centre of the ­universe."
As well as turning backlist titles into e-books, Open Road will also be focusing on new and unknown authors. The Studio division will turn new titles straight into e-books and Discovery will be a self-publishing division. Although the company's primary focus is e-books, the titles will also be available as print on demand.
With publishers that already hold digital rights, Open Road plans to be their "marketing arm" for niche backlist titles and selected front list. Grove Atlantic is one of the first publishers to sign up to this.
Friedman said that the first titles would be released in late winter/early spring and the company aims to publish 750 to 1,000 titles in its first year.