Friedman joins Inkitt as director of author relations

Data-driven publisher Inkitt has appointed agent Rebecca Friedman as its director of author relations, working closely with its pool of writers.

The firm, which claims to have the world's first bestseller-predicting algorithm technology, analyses audience reading behaviour and publishes successful authors on its sister app, Galatea.

Friedman, who has more than 13 years' experience as an agent, will focus on making Inkitt and Galatea “the most attractive publisher in the world for authors”.

Her key tasks will be signing the authors picked up by Inkitt’s algorithm and further developing the firm's offering to authors. She will also work on protecting authors’ intellectual property from copyright infringements, and negotiating on content licensing for film and TV.

Ali Albazaz, c.e.o. and founder of Inkitt, said: "I am beyond excited to welcome Rebecca to the Inkitt family. Rebecca has been a successful literary agent since 2005 and we are thrilled she'll be running our author relations. We're very much looking forward to building the Disney of the 21st century together with her."

Friedman added “I'm thrilled to join the Inkitt team and appreciate the company's confidence in me. I'm excited to take on the challenge in this critical phase for the company's growth. I'm passionate about this role because I believe that the success of the company goes hand in hand with the satisfaction of our authors.”