John Blake

John Blake (born 6 November 1948) is an English publisher and former journalist. John Blake Publishing was acquired by Bonnier Publishing in May 2016. Blake joined Soho Friday, launched in November 2018, a venture with Richard Johnson and Derek Freeman. Ad Lib Publishing was launched in 2020.

Journalist Blake left school at the age of 17 and gained employment at the Hackney Gazette. concentrating on celebrity gossip. Launched when Kelvin MacKenzie was editor of The Sun, his immediate successor in the post was Piers Morgan. In 1988, Blake became editor of the Sunday People. It was a position he quickly came to dislike. "I had to wear a suit and I was stuck in an office on my own with a secretary outside", he told Emine Saner in 2004. in partnership with his brother, David Blake. Six months later, he was joined by journalist Rosie Ries who became the company's managing director. In 1998, the company published autobiographies by bareknuckle fighters Lenny McLean and Roy "Pretty Boy" Shaw. In 2004, Being Jordan by Katie Price was published by Blake after larger firms had rejected the book. While the advance to Price was £10,000, the book, ghost written by Rebecca Farnworth, sold a million copies. "It's the kind of book bought by people who would find going into Hatchards or Waterstone's rather intimidating", Blake said in 2007.

A scoop in a book entitled Dead Lucky, purporting to have discovered the missing (now presumed deceased) Lord Lucan had lived in Goa, India, quickly collapsed. The Sunday Telegraph editor Dominic Lawson published the story in September 2003, believing it to be "a rattling good yarn", but "inherently improbable". The dead "Jungly Barry" turned out to be one-time Northern folk singer named Barry Halpin. Blake initially stood by the book but, while it sold 20,000 copies, the remainder of the 60,000 print run were destroyed. Blake the following year described the incident as being his biggest error. Rushdie did not seek any damages in his legal action. The first version of the book, which was serialised in The Mail on Sunday informing Rushdie of its existence, was rewritten and the original version's 4,000 print run was pulped.

The company also publishes memoirs of football hooligans, including Cass by Cass Pennant, Massive Attack by Trevor Tanner and Undesirables by Manchester United hooligan Colin Blaney. Delays in paying royalties, apparently in breach of an obligation in 2,000 contracts, caused the publisher's authors to complain in the spring of 2016, Blamed on problems with a new computerised system intended to increase efficiency. Blake told The Bookseller that after "a slight hiccup", "virtually all" outstanding fees had been paid.

The company was acquired by Bonnier Publishing in May 2016; the purchase price was not disclosed. The company published 110 books in 2015 and turnover was £2,2 million. Blake remained in charge of the division. Both Blake and Virgo, plus their staff, left JBP in 2018 and joined Bonnier's Kings Road Publishing division whose list includes Blink Publishing, Lagom and 535, all of which issue adult non-fiction titles. In 2010, John Blake Publishing won a second 'Nibbie' as well as the IPA Award for Independent Publisher of the Year.

Personal life Blake is married with three children.