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EPUB 3.2 – What is it and should we care?

Written by Ken Jones on May 19, 2019. Posted in Coding and other skills, Ebook and digital production, Production. Leave a Comment

EPUB is the open standard that defines exactly what an ebook can be, and EPUB 3.2 – the first real update to the EPUB format since EPUB 3 in 2012 – has just been approved by the W3C Community Group and Business Group (the clever people that decide on such things).

If you are the sort of person who enjoys reading specification documentation then you can get up to speed with the full list of changes here. Otherwise, let me explain the main points of what has changed…

Associate Publisher & Commissioning Editor [JOB POSTING]

Written by BookMachine on May 16, 2019. Posted in Editorial. Leave a Comment

Can you find the very best stories and help them reach millions of readers?

Bookouture is the UK’s fastest growing digital publisher of commercial fiction. We are only six years old but we have grown rapidly every year and have now sold over 25 million books to readers worldwide. 2019 is a particularly exciting year of expansion for us as we establish a new editorial team. To keep up this incredible rate of growth, we need only the best talent…

Five reasons to (still) do a Publishing MA

Written by Laura Bisericanu on May 16, 2019. Posted in Business, Freelancing. Leave a Comment

Laura Bisericanu freelances as a proofreader and book reviewer. She aims to join a trade editorial team by the end of the year.

Design case study: illustrating The Dragon in the Library

Written by Louie Stowell on May 14, 2019. Posted in Art, illustration and picture research, Cover and internal design, Design, Design briefs. Leave a Comment

It takes a village – or at least a team – to produce a book, and in this article, author Louie Stowell, Nosy Crow designer Elisabetta Barbazza and freelance illustrator Davide Ortu share insights into how an illustrated book comes to life.

Getting to Know a Niche Market

Written by admin on May 9, 2019. Posted in Marketing and publicity. Leave a Comment

Áine Ryan is a Marketing Executive at Jessica Kingsley Publishers, where she looks after their list of books on autism and neurodiversity. She has previously worked in theatre publishing and in talent management. BookMachine meets Jessica Kingsley Publishers on Thursday 30th May at Carmelite house and you can book your tickets here.

How to be more innovative

Written by Bec Evans on May 1, 2019. Posted in Marketing and publicity. Leave a Comment

What springs to mind when you think about ‘innovation’? Do you imagine mind-blowing technical disruption, or headline-grabbing initiatives that no-one needs, or super-simple improvements that smooth your daily life – things that you could have designed if you’d had more time or money? I believe that everyone can be more innovative whatever their job, skills or budget. When I worked in publishing innovation, I loved sharing practical approaches for people to try, and when writing my first book I experimented with different tactics. Here are some easy-to-implement innovation principles to get you started.

Now We Are Five

Written by Alison Jones on April 28, 2019. Posted in Business, Independent publishing, Operations, Production, Strategy. Leave a Comment

Alison Jones (@bookstothesky) is founder of Practical Inspiration Publishing, a pioneering publishing partner for businesses, and host of The Extraordinary Business Book Club, a podcast and community for writers and readers of extraordinary business books. She sits on the board of the Independent Publishers Guild and is Head Judge of the Business Book Awards.

Amazon Advertising: 5 tips to get the best results

Written by Kaz Harrison on April 25, 2019. Posted in Digital Marketing, Marketing and publicity, Metadata. Leave a Comment

BookMachine Works is the marketing agency arm of BookMachine. We are regularly asked by publishers how to get the best results from Amazon Advertising. Kaz Harrison, digital sales specialist, shares 5 tips for getting the best results.

Amazon Advertising Console, or AMS as it has affectionately become known thanks to its previous moniker Amazon Marketing Services, is a powerful tool in the digital marketing mix, especially given its high conversion rates. No surprise when it is targeting readers on a platform where they are most likely already browsing for books. Whilst Amazon may have been on the slow side to improve the user interface and reporting functions over the years, the competition on the platform has surged.

How to begin coding for free (or nearly free) in a few minutes each day

Written by Anna Cunnane on April 10, 2019. Posted in Coding and other skills, Tech.

This is a guest post by Anna Cunnane. Anna is Systems and Data Manager at Abrams & Chronicle Books. Anna was winner of the Trailblazer Awards 2018, she is part of BookMachine Team Unplugged and was Chair of the Society of Young Publishers (2015-16).

Public speaking for introverts: tips from someone who understands

Written by Abbie Headon on April 5, 2019. Posted in Articles.

This article is a little different from the pieces I usually write or commission for BookMachine, but I think the topic of public speaking deserves a place here because most of us in this industry need to do it from time to time. Whether it’s making a presentation at an in-house meeting, or speaking at a conference in front of 400 people, it’s always scary – but it’s worth doing if we want our ideas to be heard.

Commissioning: The insider’s guide to building strong lists

Written by admin on April 5, 2019. Posted in Commissioning, Editorial.

Bookmachine Unplugged: Talking Editorial, 3 April 2019

Acquiring books for six-sum figures, huge advances and bidding fights for undisclosed sums of money do not usually represent publishing as a whole. These types of headlines are actually worlds away from much of the industry. So how do commissioning editors build their successful, strong, balanced lists? Many stimulating insights and tips were shared with a very attentive audience at the second Bookmachine Unplugged event of 2019, a galvanizing talk with a Q & A session on the topic of commissioning.

Announcing BookMachine meets…

Written by Laura Summers on April 4, 2019. Posted in Articles, Business, Editorial, Marketing and publicity.

Today BookMachine launches BookMachine meets…, a brand new event series designed to explore the strategies of some of the top publishing houses, in order to find out what makes them unique and successful.

Minimum Viable Metadata

Written by Ian Synge on April 3, 2019. Posted in Business, Strategy.

“The cure to information overload is more information,” David Weinberger once observed.

A co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto, a highly influential treatise from 1999 on the ways that the Internet has changed markets and marketing, Weinberger holds a doctorate in philosophy, has taught at university, and was a comic strip gag writer. What he has to say will often sound profound and preposterous all at once.

Publishing with ethical credentials

Written by Alison Smith on April 1, 2019. Posted in Business.

Eco-friendly Tote Bags have been making a come-back at publishing conferences. The latest module on our Publishing MA course explores the reason behind this phenomena.

The course will cover:

An overview of the publishing courses on offer
A history of the origins of the Tote Bag
The Tote Bag supply chain

For more details email Alison Smith.

Inclusive publishing in practice: interview with Truth & Tails

Written by Phoebe Kirk on March 29, 2019. Posted in Art, illustration and picture research, Design.

Phoebe Kirk is the co-founder of Truth & Tails, and also creates illustrative work at Phoebe Kirk Illustration: www.phoebekirk.co.uk.

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Bookmachine Unplugged: Talking Editorial, 3 April 2019

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