Blog
Do we really want to be available 24-7?
27 April, 2009
Someone asked me at last week’s London Book Fair why didn’t I have a Blackberry so I could spend all my waking hours hunched over it, fingers feverishly tapping… and I thought to myself, how blissful it is that I don’t have one and so can’t be found 110% of the time! And then someone […]
Time to get Twittering…
24 April, 2009
Yesterday, back in the office routine after the Book Fair mayhem, I was hit by a notable contrast. At the fair you have three days where the hordes who work in publishing collide under one roof – and there’s a real physical and audible connection there. You see people having face-to-face meetings, physically bumping into […]
Last bid for a free iPhone….
23 April, 2009
Phew, a mere three days at Earls Court, having largely lovely conversations and dashing off to the odd seminar, how exhausting the whole thing was. And as suspected it was often the people I didn’t expect to see who gave me the most pleasure by stopping by. So a quick, virtual wave to the following: […]
Book fair mania
21 April, 2009
Monday is always a bit manic, everyone rushing around trying to get the bearings, rush to meetings and gawp at the impressive HarperCollins and Little Brown stands. Amazingly there’s still a shaking of heads and muttering about ‘that awful Excel fiasco’ when the fair was moved to east London for one year’s fair. You’d have […]
Off for an afternoon at the London Book Fair
20 April, 2009
Rushing off to the London Book Fair in fifteen minutes. Attending a seminar at 2pm entitled Online Publicity: Making the most of the Digital Media which sounds very much up my street. Bound to be very interesting…although no doubt will see me writing down a plethora of new webspeak words to look up a later. […]
My Favourite Books? Fallen, by Tim Lebbon…
17 April, 2009
Before I head off for the weekend (and into the rain which has just started pouring down outside my office window) I must flag up the fact that Tim Lebbon‘s newly released paperback Fallen (the latest in his dark fantasy series set in Noreela) has just now got the most wonderful review from blogger Liz […]
Time for the London Book Fair
16 April, 2009
It’s nearly that time of year again, the time when people in the book industry descend like moths to a flame on huge halls in West London for The London Book Fair. Earls Court is a funny old place, or so it seems to me, having seen it under other auspices ranging, but not limited […]
Chocolate envy
15 April, 2009
I was very lucky to have spent a fabulous Easter break in New York. Ostensibly, I was there for a friend’s wedding but after the happy couple had departed for the sunny shores of Mexico (first class I might add – no jealousy after my sincerely tacky flight involving a broken seat, grumpy flight attendant […]
Back from the Easter break
14 April, 2009
Back to work after a lovely, sunny week away relaxing by the pool and doing nothing but eating, drinking and reading. No telly to watch (other than at the bar where I got to see Chelsea’s marvellous trouncing of Liverpool) so it was a great chance to catch up on reading some of the manuscripts […]
The art of signing books
7 April, 2009
Today, we were honoured with a visit from author Jack Ludlow. He came in to sign copies of his latest hardback release Mercenaries, the first in a new trilogy revolving around the Normans. I don’t think any other novelist has tackled this era before (correct me if I’m wrong!) which is odd as the Norman […]
Weekend Reading
3 April, 2009
It’s the weekend, and like most weekends I need to make sure I have sufficient reading material to ensure I make the most of the weekend’s ‘reading moments’. For example there is… The slow start moment: This is when I wake up, quickly make myself a cup of tea and then sit in bed reading […]
Getting all technical…
2 April, 2009
I’m feeling all internet savvy today. I’ve been using words like plug-ins and widgets and mini-feeds. I’ve been exploring the plethora of free features that are available on WordPress and discovering how to add things to our web system. Bearing in mind that five months ago I didn’t even know what WordPress was (an old-fashioned […]
Still innocent enough for April Fool’s hoaxes?
1 April, 2009
I’ll admit that when my alarm went off this morning, my first comatosed thought was “you have GOT to be kidding me”. Sadly, my clock has no sense of humour and I couldn’t count it as the first April Fool’s prank of the day. Later on the tube however, I found myself wondering where this […]
From the book to the silver screen…
31 March, 2009
I must be the only person in the UK who hasn’t read The Kite Runner. Something about it just doesn’t appeal to me although I know so many people have loved it. But I have seen the film and loved it so much I promptly bought it for my Mum. My sister has both read […]
Working with funky fonts
26 March, 2009
Ah – the simple things in life that make me happy (doesn’t take much). For instance, while working on our next catalogue I got to play with two beautiful fonts discovered by cover-designer-in-chief Christina which feature on next month’s One Foot Wrong. One, a slightly bonkers mix of hand-sketched characters that makes me think of […]
Want to save paper? Read a book.
25 March, 2009
Eek! Paper prices have shot through the roof! Well, actually we knew this a while ago but we’ve been hiding our heads in the sand waiting for the wheeling and dealings of the paper mills and printers to be finalised. It’s not pretty. Cutting down trees is environmentally unpopular – and criminally expensive. Yet books […]
A toast to Kate Charles! (And other event news…)
23 March, 2009
Tonight, as I write this, a crowd has gathered at the wonderful Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge to celebrate the launch of Kate Charles‘ new ecclesiatical mystery Deep Waters. There will be much drinking of wine, much signing of books, much merriment in general. Who ever said Monday nights were boring? Now, if you are reading […]
Food for thought…
20 March, 2009
Considering the amount of effort we spend proof reading our manuscripts, the fact that occasionally, like all publishers, we receive a letter from an indignant reader who has spotted a typo on page 245…well, it does hurt a little. Then you read THIS. And suddenly you realise it’s a wonder anyone spots grammatical errors. Or […]
The cover issue
19 March, 2009
Following on from yesterday’s make-over theme, today brought up the issue of changing a cover design. Our Morganville vampire books, by Rachel Caine are proving to be a big hit with readers (look out, Stephanie Meyer…) and now, four books into the series, we are thinking of giving the next one, Lord of Misrule (out […]
Reading on the move…or mobile reading…
16 March, 2009
I spend a lot of time on the train chugging to and from London. Which is great, usually, as it doesn’t take much for me to lose myself in a book and an hour of reading where I can’t do the washing up or other looming chores is precious. So it’s annoying when I finish […]
The A v B format paperback question…
13 March, 2009
I grew up with small format paperbacks that neatly fit in your pocket and that’s what everyone took on their annual holiday. Those were the days … Then along came the large Penguin paperbacks, the King Penguins, which were so gorgeous and covetable. Do you remember Perfume first time round? It was absolutely stunning. So […]
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