Blog
Bloody Brilliant Marketing
20 May, 2011
One evening last week, following a blood donation appointment, a vivid splatter of blood caught my eye on the undergound. Don’t worry, I wasn’t being picked off à la Morganville after ‘paying my taxes’, it was this rather bold poster advertising Charlaine Harris’ latest Sookie Stackhouse novel, Dead Reckoning. And in a nice little touch, […]
War and Peace: A Summary (The Epilogues)
19 May, 2011
My summary of War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy continues… The Epilogues Well, my Tolstoyan brethren, it has taken three months of reading and five months of blogging. But now, at last, the inkwell has run dry, the poor paper-merchant is made redundant, and Mrs Tolstoy’s pleas for attention may finally be satisfied: for it […]
Wednesday Cover Story: Why change cover design mid-series?
18 May, 2011
We recently received the comment below from one of our readers, in light of the new cover design for Gale Force, Book 6 in the Weather Warden series, by Rachel Caine and we thought our Wednesday Cover Story would be a good place to address this issue. From Sammy (reader and fan of the Weather […]
A nostalgic day out exploring classic war stories for children
17 May, 2011
This weekend my cousin and his family are coming to visit. He has two little angels of 8 and 10 years old. Well, they are little angels until boredom/hunger sets in – but then again, the same could be said about me. So in an effort to keep them entertained, and also avoid traipsing through […]
More from Anthony Burgess
16 May, 2011
If you’re a big fan of an author who is now longer with us there’s that disappointing moment when you realise that there is nothing, nada, rien, more to read by them and nothing more in the pipeline. The metaphorical bookshelf has been ransacked and is empty. So good news for devotees of Anthony Burgess […]
Could The Hoff be anything but The Hoff?
13 May, 2011
I believe it is a universal fact that everyone will have some kind of reaction to the mention of two simple words. And the words are: The Hoff. Whether you can bear to admit it or not, the man has become an icon. Yes, I watched Knightrider. Yes, I watched Baywatch (the early series), yet […]
Wednesday Cover Story: Sneak peek of last Lake District Mystery reprint
11 May, 2011
Anyone who is a fan of Martin Edward’s Lake District mysteries will know they’ve recently been given a revamp with striking new covers (very neon colouring – I love it!). The new look for The Serpent Pool prompted the redesign of the previous titles in the series beginning with The Coffin Trail and the The […]
Have you got a better title?
10 May, 2011
There’s something of an occupational hazard to working in the publishing industry – it becomes harder to treat a work of fiction as a complete, inviolable entity.
Happy Birthday Eeyore!
9 May, 2011
I spent last weekend scouring Winnie-the-Pooh books looking for catchy phrases to use for a friend’s baby shower, her nursery theme being that of the AA Milne classic. There was a fair amount to choose from, not all of it quite right for writing on the little hunny pot party favours, but I still spent […]
Writers and a Wage
6 May, 2011
I won’t be the first to say that for many authors, writing is not a very profitable line of work. When a book really works, it REALLY works but the number of books published every year (151,969 in 2010 according to Nielsen), nay every week, point us to a more accurate picture. Which is why […]
War and Peace: A Summary (Books Thirteen to Fifteen)
5 May, 2011
My summary of War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy continues… Books Thirteen to Fifteen The French are in Moscow and the Russians are without, vacillating between activity and lethargy, apparently on the brink of disintegration, suddenly propelling themselves uncompelled into attacks on the invaders. Kutusov is not a happy pensioner. His commanders delay when they […]
Wednesday Cover Story: How we came to talk about The Postmistress covers
4 May, 2011
Working in book publishing and in open plan office, it is natural that at some point in the week (possibly day) we will talk about a cover to a book – one of ours or one from another publisher. Exactly how we might end up talking about a particular cover may vary… It could be […]
French Summer Plans?
3 May, 2011
With the May bank holiday break behind us (and the inevitable post-holiday blues) it’s time to look forward towards the summer. If you’re planning a summer escape and fancy something away from the thronging hordes and lager louts, perhaps the south of France is for you? I’m currently inspired by the upcoming women’s fiction title, […]
War and Peace: A Summary (Books Eleven & Twelve, Part II)
28 April, 2011
My summary of War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy continues… Books Eleven & Twelve, Part II Last week, as you may recall, another one of our gallant heroes snuffed it. The ranks of our epic are thinning, and the survivors are bunching together for protection. Before Prince Andrei had the decency to succumb to his […]
Wednesday Cover Story: Designing with apps
27 April, 2011
A while ago I came across the article about how the cover to The New Yorker had been designed using Brushes, a new app on the iPhone. This week, I see that the cover to the Annual issue of Creative Review – which always involves a different treatment of the letter ‘A’ – has also […]
Pondering the future model of the e-reading experience…
26 April, 2011
One of the handful of LBF seminars I managed to squeeze into this year was entitled ‘Beyond eBook Novels – What Publishing Can Learn from the World of Entertainment and Digital Marketing’ and had some very eloquent contributors from EA Games, Fever Media and Arkstone Publishing. Numerous interesting ideas were bandied about, among them: direct […]
War and Peace: A Summary (Books Eleven & Twelve, Part 1)
21 April, 2011
My summary of War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy continues… Books Eleven & Twelve (Part 1) Having thrashed the French at the Battle of the Borodino, the Russian army sportingly decides to retreat, and now finds itself at the beginning of book 11 with its back pressed hard against the shuddering walls of Moscow. Quite […]
Wednesday Cover Story: When Crafts and Books Collide
20 April, 2011
Art Editor, Christina, has been beavering away at finishing off book jacket designs for the rest of the year’s titles. There are some beautiful new looks coming up – sneak peak of Book 11 in the Morganville Vampire series, Last Breath (out November 2011) which Christina just finished today, below! – so keep an eye […]
Easter Entertainment
19 April, 2011
I’m in a bit of a quandary at the moment. I can’t help but be a bit suspicious of the beautiful sunshine we’ve been having – and cynical about how long it’s likely to last. Do I pack the winter coats and scarfs away? Or will Mother Nature wait until the day I do so […]
What will Kate and Will do for us?
18 April, 2011
So, roughly a month to go until Kate and Will’s big day, a.k.a. THE DAY THAT LONDON STOOD STILL™ and for lack of anything else to write about, journalists around the country are unpicking every teeny-weeny detail that is available about the nuptials. For instance, Kate has commissioned three wedding dresses to throw people off […]
Marathons and other challenges
15 April, 2011
The London Book Fair is now behind us. With three full days of back-to-back meetings, the frantic grabbing at cups of coffee, the wading through the crowds and the racing to seminars, the exhaustion by the end of the day… it is, effectively, the publishing equivalent of a marathon. Except the women wear heels and […]
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