The crime writer who made £1 million from Nicole Kidman

Behind the Crimes with Robert Murphy

1×

0:00

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -38:47

-38:47

The crime writer who made £1 million from Nicole Kidman

How the former Chair of the Crime Writers Association, Maxim Jakobowski, made a fortune from a Hollywood A-lister, what a dreadful person Patricia Highsmith was and the future of crime writing

Robert Murphy

Sep 11, 2024

Transcript

Subscribe for free at Robertmurphy.substack.com

Maxim Jakobowski has sold millions of books. But you may not have heard of him.

After releasing a book aged 16, he moved into publishing and worked with Patricia Highsmith (‘an incredible talent… a very difficult lady…’) he then turned to crime writing.

When ‘50 Shades of Grey’ was released, he was drafted into writing a series of erotica - which sold millions of books.

And how did he sell the rights of a novel to Nicole Kidman… for a fortune?

A quick warning… if True Crime is your thing, this episode may not be for you. But fiction fans may find it fascinating.

But Maxim speaks in detail and depth about how to publish crime, the state of the book industry and fiction trends which have come and gone.

Discussion about this podcast

Behind the Crimes with Robert Murphy

### WINNER 'Outstanding Indie Podcast at the True Crime Awards 2024. ###

What makes a criminal? What makes a truly great detective?

Award-winning TV crime correspondent Robert Murphy speaks with people involved with some of the most fascinating true crime cases of recent years: detectives, victims, experts and sometimes even the criminals themselves.

What drives a person to ignore the morals, laws and conventions of normal society and pushes them to perform the darkest acts?

Sex? Money? Revenge? Love? Humiliation?

Are criminals born bad or are they a creation of their circumstances?

How can detectives catch people who are intent on causing truly dreadful harm to others? What happens when that criminal has done a brilliant job covering their tracks?

This podcast and newsletter explores some of our biggest crime stories - and some of the lesser-known, compelling cases which deserve a better understanding.

For video interviews, evidence from each case, articles and more, go to https://robertmurphy.substack.com/about

Listen on