‘I’m Done Writing Books,’ Says Frey
By MIKE VILENSKY
Booktrack, a new start-up that adds soundtracks to e-books, launched in style Wednesday night at Yotel in Midtown. The company, backed by Facebook co-founder Peter Thiel, matches “synchronized music, sound effects, and ambient sound” to text, according to its press release. The project has author James Frey, an early Booktrack supporter, so excited that he’s retiring from writing books altogether.
“I’m done writing books,” he told a reporter at the reception. “The only books I’ve written are the ones with my names on them, and I’m never writing another book. I have other things to do in life. I’m not bored with it—I’m still going to do television shows and movies and videogames. I just like having other people write books for me, you know?”
Presumably, those “other people” are employees at Full Fathom Five, Mr. Frey’s book company, which has recently been characterized by New York magazine, Gawker, and other media outlets as “a factory” and a “sweatshop.”
“I don’t care what people say,” he said. “I don’t think it’s factory-like. I think we just systematized the production of books, and it’s going well. I don’t think that characterization is accurate at all, but it makes me laugh.”