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Archive
Behind-The-Books Blog
Beyond the era of the sales rep force
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
I was reading a very interesting article in The Bookseller here today, about the ‘death’ of the publishing sales rep, the general gist of which elaborated on the scaling down of large on-the-road rep bodies as more and more buying decisions become centralised or via one-stop wholesalers. As some of you out there may know, [...]
Mobile phone novelists
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Today I read in The Metro about a new species of novel – the mobile phone novel, or, to give it its correct Japanese name - keitai shousetsu. These novels are basically short stories people can read on their mobile phones, which sounds simple enough and perhaps that’s the beauty of them – their accessibility [...]
Get your very own A&B bag!
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
They might not rival Gucci or Prada, but our A&B branded bags proved such a hit with London Book Fair goers that we’re now offering anyone the chance to get one (while stocks last).
I actually got a rather unexpected call at the office one Book Fair morning from a random guy who said he’d just [...]
Do we really want to be available 24-7?
Monday, April 27th, 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…
Friday, April 24th, 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….
Thursday, April 23rd, 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: [...]
Was Paul Daniels at the Book Fair?
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
I’m back at my desk after a busy day at the London Book Fair yesterday, reflecting on all that took place. As always, there was the inevitable hustle and bustle of a crowed hall, with many people milling about admiring the stands and glorious displays of books, whist others (me included) rushed about helter-skelter between [...]
Book fair mania
Tuesday, April 21st, 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
Monday, April 20th, 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…
Friday, April 17th, 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 [...]
The post-Easter, pre-Book Fair week
Friday, April 17th, 2009
It’s been quite a busy week at work so far, which has come as a shock to the system after such a quiet week before Easter! Not only are we all busily catching up with the work that inevitably mounts up during the bank holidays (my days have included editing Priscilla Masters’ fantastic new crime [...]
Time for the London Book Fair
Thursday, April 16th, 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
Wednesday, April 15th, 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
Tuesday, April 14th, 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 [...]
Easter books v Easter chocolates
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
Each year, there are a few traditional book-buying occasions – Mother’s and Father’s Day, Christmas, of course, and birthdays – but what about Easter?
Don’t get me wrong, the thought of a huge pile of chocolate Easter eggs filed with goodies makes my mouth water as much as anyone’s, but within a few days (or a [...]
The art of signing books
Tuesday, April 7th, 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 [...]
Official report: reading tops the list as the ultimate stress-buster.
Monday, April 6th, 2009
I read a report at the weekend that, for once, I am in complete agreement with. Apparently just six minutes of reading can significantly reduce stress levels. Apparently reading helps to slow down the heart rate and ease tension in the muscles, giving you a relaxed, feel-good vibe. Reading came top of the list as [...]
Weekend Reading
Friday, April 3rd, 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 before [...]
Getting all technical…
Thursday, April 2nd, 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?
Wednesday, April 1st, 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 April [...]
Currently we are...
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...reading
The Rose of Sebastopol, by Katharine Mcmahon Lara: Mariella is an interesting protagonist – so far, not your traditional heroine and still second fiddle to the beautiful, enigmatic Rosa. This is the author’s aim I suppose, but I’m still interested to see if Mariella does finally come into her own – or if as readers you’ll always wish the story was told from Rosa’s point of view instead.
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