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Dan Ruffino has been hired as the managing director of Simon & Schuster Australia. Ruffino will report to Ian Chapman, the chief executive of Simon & Schuster UK and International.

Ruffino has devoted more than 25 years to a career in publishing. Some of the authors he has worked with in the past include Jackie Collins, Ian Thorpe, Ken Follett, Marian Keyes, and Judy Blume.

Ruffino gave this statement in the press release: “I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead Simon & Schuster’s dynamic team in Australia and New Zealand. I am passionate about connecting writers with readers and look forward to working closely with my colleagues internationally and with local booksellers, authors and agents to continue to accelerate the growth of the business in Australia.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Romance novelist Jackie Collins will answer questions from fans on Facebook this afternoon from 3:00pm until 4:00pm in EDT, hosting a live chat on her Facebook wall about The Power Trip.

It could be an interesting interaction tool for writers–so far more than 160 readers say they plan to attend the online event. Here’s more from the post:

Got questions for me? Join me on Thursday, October 3 for a live chat on the Facebook wall. Get ready … definitely a lot to dish about when it comes to The Power Trip!

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

When novelist Jackie Collins revealed she would self-publish a book for her fans (during a So What Do You Do? interview with Mediabistro), the article generated thousands of responses around the Internet.

Collins herself has written a blog post about the project, reassuring her readers: “I have fantastic relationships with my two publishers, Simon & Schuster UK and St. Martin’s Press US. No juicy story about a tiff or spat between us—we’re good.” At the same time, she offered some advice for aspiring writers:

Publishers are in the publishing business to make money (and that’s a good thing). But remember that their goal is NOT to make your dreams of being an author come true. Their goal is to make money through the careful and thoughtful exploitation of your book. So, you have to fight for what you want. (Even I do.) If you want a full-page ad in People magazine, you have to get it in your contract; otherwise it’s not going to happen, and you’ll hear things like, “it costs too much.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

GalleyCat contributor Jeff Rivera interviewed bestselling novelist Jackie Collins for mediabistro.com’s So What Do You Do? feature.

Collins revealed her plans to self-publish an updated version of her 1979 novel, The Bitch, as an eBook. Collins (pictured, via) will continue working with her traditional publisher for other books.

Follow this link to read the whole interview. Here’s an excerpt: “If it ends up doing very well, I will continue to self-publish books probably because I’ve got a series of short stories that have never been published. And I’ve always said to my publisher, ‘I’d like to do a book of short stories.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, short stories don’t sell.’ And dealing with publishers, it might be fun just to deal with myself. I always say, ‘If you have faith in something, do it yourself.’”

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

It’s hitting the industry like a rash: Major authors are ditching their publishers to self-publish their own eBooks. Seth Godin, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, and even billionaire Mark Cuban have gone the DIY route, and now mega-bestselling author Jackie Collins is joining the ranks.

In our forthcoming So What Do You Do? interview with Collins, she reveals exclusively to us, that within the next three weeks she will release an eBook for The Bitch, a complete rewrite of her previous version of the novel, with a price point of $2.99 or less.

Although she will continue to work with her traditional publisher for other books, Collins was going through her old work recently when she thought that The Bitch would be the perfect eBook. The novel was also a movie, which Collins said “wasn’t that good and didn’t turn out the way that I wanted it to.”

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Just back from BEA in California. It was a weekend of book signings, walking the showroom floor and grabbing the galleys. I will be posting pictures soon of the authors I met and hot news from the show.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Jackie Collins has a new book coming out MARRIED LOVERS.

James Patterson was walking the floor and signing copies of DANIEL X.

Mario Lopez signed copies of KNOCKOUT FITNESS

Alec Baldwin signed sample copies of his book on divorce and raising children. Very funny, nice and charming, not at all intimidating.

Brooke Shields signed her children’s book.
Julie Buxbaum was a delight! Signed copies of The Opposite of Love.

© Kathleen Rietz