This June, Canadian e-book retailer Kobo will publish its first original e-book when it releases Kevin Donovan's Jian Ghomeshi: Secret Life. Kobo is partnering with Toronto-based independent publisher ECW Press on a print edition of the book, which is about the fall from grace of the former CBC Radio host.
Ghomeshi, who had been the longtime emcee of the annual Giller Prize gala, was fired from his job as host of the radio show Q in October, after several women went public accusing him of sexual assault and violence. In a Facebook post at the time, Ghomeshi claimed he was simply involved in “adventurous forms of sex.”
Donovan is an award-winning Toronto Star investigative reporter who helped to break the Ghomeshi story. In a statement, he said that the book offers him the chance to "go further with the story by using a new publishing model to get [content] into the hands of an even wider audience.”
According to Kobo’s statement, Donovan has interviewed several women and former colleagues from Ghomeshi’s past, and the book will “tell the story of who the broadcaster with the winning touch really was, behind the scenes.”
“The topical nature of the Ghomeshi case makes the story perfect for original digital publication, but we felt it wouldn't be enough to publish a book in only one format,” said Pieter Swinkels, Kobo's v-p of publisher relations. “ECW has proven it isn't afraid to publish current news-driven non-fiction and loves innovation as much as we do.
Ghomeshi, the author of the memoir 1982, had been scheduled to write another book before the scandal broke, but his publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, quickly dropped him. He is currently out on C$100,000 bail, with the condition that he must live with his mother and remain in Ontario. He is due to return to court April 28.
