Slightly surreal evening at the Austrian Embassy with an eclectic mix of Austrian and UK publishers, publishing tech folk, and international trade envoys. Surreal but jolly, lubricated by Austrian wine (who knew?), Schnitzel and Sachertorte. The Austrian Trade Commissioner, Christian Kesberg, gave an introductory talk to kick off the evening and set the tone, in […]
Continue readingI’m preparing Episode 61 of The Extraordinary Business Book podcast, which will go live on Monday (I’m sure you know that, since you’re probably subscribed on iTunes, I just mention it in passing). It’s a conversation with Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist, presenter of More or Less on Radio 4, and author of Messy. And […]
Continue readingBack home after a lovely few days away (and yes, we played the Haribo story game on the way back too, my favourite being the crazy experimental chef whose fairy godmother stopped by to teach him how to boil an egg, and who sat down with her to soft-boiled egg with soldiers every night after […]
Continue readingA looooong drive up the M6 today to visit Grandma near Manchester, but I have a secret weapon. Gone are the days when World War III would break out on the back seat while I was negotiating the roadworks near Sandbach: on a trip a few years back I stumbled upon the Haribo storytelling method […]
Continue readingBecause of my poorly planned travel arrangements, I missed Terence Mauri’s keynote speech on innovation at the IPG Spring Conference this week. But I’ve just read the write-up in The Bookseller, and discovered this phrase which I thought was worth sharing: Arguing that in order to innovate, businesses need to make the familiar feel unfamiliar, Mauri proposed […]
Continue readingI did. And I stumbled on this sumptuous Pinterest board from Non Fiction Books – a gallery of gorgeous covers, new and old. Most of the design accolades out there for book covers seem to be focused on fiction, so this is a refreshing and inspiring treat for a NoFi girl like me. https://uk.pinterest.com/martaborrell/non-fiction-books/ Here’s […]
Continue readingA sneak peek at next week’s Best Bits episode, which I finished recording this morning: If you’re finding it tough – building your business or writing your book – here’s some wise words from Amy Wilkinson. In Episode 32 Amy talked about how she wrote The Creator’s Code: The Six Essential Skills of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs […]
Continue readingHere’s a bit of news you might not have expected: the latest must-have Apple product is a book. Yes, an actual print book. Designed by Apple in California is beautiful (of course), bound in white lined with embossing and silver-edged paper, and contains 450 luscious shots of iconic Apple design and the processes behind them. […]
Continue readingLast night I was talking at a Byte the Book event in London on selling books through non-traditional channels. This afternoon I was talking to Brookes Publishing MA students about emerging busines models. It’s funny: when I first got excited about digital publishing, it was from an editorial perspective. As a reference book editor back […]
Continue readingI read a superb piece by Joanna Pieters this morning: Creators, We Need Your Strength Today, written in response to the US election. ‘As a creator, your voice has never been more important,’ she says. ‘You have energy that the world needs, right now.’ I recommend a read. It got me thinking about creativity more […]
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