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BookMachine is a network and event series for the people who make publishing happen.
BookMachine Unplugged 2019
After a sell-out 2018 series, BookMachine Unplugged is back in 2019 and ready to inspire you with real insights into what is working in publishing right now. There will be 6 events this year, all included in your BookMachine Membership. Each will zoom in on a vital area of the publishing industry and feature 3 expert speakers taking to the stage.
Meet publishers, editors, marketeers, designers, techies and more - all in a strictly social and informal setting.
Unplugged 2019 Sponsors
Senior Digital Marketing Executive [JOB POSTING]
The largest UK Christian Publisher, SPCK, is recruiting a Senior Digital Marketing Executive to join their fast-paced, forward-thinking marketing team working across all the company’s imprints.
Based in their Central London office, the right candidate will have excellent digital communications skills and an awareness of UK church culture.
Winning Non-Fiction Marketing campaign – Becoming: an interview
Amelia Fairney is General Communications Director at Penguin Random house UK. Last month her team won the Book Marketing Society award for Non-Fiction campaign for Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming. We wanted to find out a little bit more about the reasons for the success of this campaign.
The Real State of Diversity and Inclusion in Publishing
Nancy Roberts is an experienced entrepreneur and a domain expert in diversity and inclusion. She is the founder of Umbrella, using AI and data analytics for diversity and inclusion. She is also a highly skilled leader with 20 years of experience including at board level. She has a BA, two MAs, and a PhD in Postcolonial Feminist Theory, and is currently an Exec MBA student at Cranfield University.
Interview with Colin McElwee, co-founder of Worldreader
As co-founder of Worldreader, Colin focuses on developing and growing key partnerships, putting to good use his for-profit and non-profit experience across the globe.
Most recently, Colin was the first director of marketing at ESADE Business School in Barcelona, where he helped establish the school’s reputation as a world-class business education provider. Prior to that, he started his career as an economist for several Brussels-based lobbies to the European Commission, and later worked in global marketing in the consumer goods sector for Scottish & Newcastle PLC.
Interview with Jo de Vries: commissioning editor, literary agent and lecturer
Jo de Vries is a commissioning editor and literary agent; her role is all about finding and developing books that will spark the imagination, and striving to increase diversity and innovation in all content areas is at the heart of her work. Jo also lectures in Publishing & Journalism at Bath Spa University. Find Jo on Twitter at @JodeVries1.
Interview with Archna Sharma, founder of Neem Tree Press
What led you to decide to set up your own publishing house?
I love books, had been an investment banker before having children and felt that publishing would allow me to marry the two worlds. Also, as I hunted for books for my two boys, I found gaps in the market that I felt should be filled. I also thought I could publish books in the UK whilst living in Dubai, a lesson learnt! Although much of getting a book out into the world can be done online, connecting with people face-to-face, attending book fairs and industry gatherings and getting a deep understanding of the publishing world cannot be underestimated. Although the company has been around for a while, having very recently relocated back to the UK, it is really in 2019 that I have been fully committed to it and feel this is almost the official launch year for Neem Tree Press.
The business of accessibility: content that is more usable is more valuable
I have to finally accept that it’s too late to say ‘Happy New Year’, but we’re right on time to say ‘Happy new Unplugged series!’ The 2019 series of BookMachine Unplugged events kicked off on Wednesday 20 February at a new venue, The Century Club, with a focus on the theme of accessibility. BookMachine Editorial Board member Ken Jones, our Production specialist, and his panel Huw Alexander, Stacy Rowe and Alicia Wise provided important insights into why accessibility matters and what we need to be doing about it.
A day in the life: Marketing in Academic Publishing
I am Sophie Eminson, a marketing assistant at Springer Nature, and a book blogger at www.romanticsrebelsandreviews.wordpress.com, where I also share insights into the publishing industry and job hunting tips. I am also the Communications Officer for the Society of Young Publishers 2019 committee. I currently work on the biggest journal in the world, Scientific Reports, and am looking forward to sharing my experience of marketing in academic publishing with you.
5 things I’ve learnt from working with debut authors
The primary motivation for starting The Riff Raff in May 2017 was to champion the work of debut authors. To Rosy and I, two debut authors ourselves, it seemed there wasn’t enough being done to celebrate the enormous achievement of being published for the first time. From meeting and interviewing over 130 debut authors since we started at our events and on podcast, I’ve established some of the qualities debut authors tend have in common, and a few ways their inaugural flight into the world of publishing could be eased by the professionals they work with…
Cover design case study: Don’t Hold My Head Down
It’s a privilege to do what I do. I love having an idea and seeing it become a book cover. Every now and then, a design goes beyond the page and teaches you something about yourself. Don’t Hold My Head Down by Lucy-Anne Holmes, published by Unbound, did that for me.
Running a Successful Internship
In the seven years I’ve been managing the Profile internship, nearly one hundred interns have fought with our franking machine, climbed mountains of slush, checked hundreds of indexes, and made numberless cups of tea. I think almost all of them have found the experience to be rewarding. It’s a good internship and it works. So how do we do it?
How the UK publishing industry compares to the Australian industry
Ella Chapman is the Head of Marketing Communications at Hachette Australia. Previously she worked in London at Quercus and Little, Brown. You can follow @EllaLChapman.
I moved to Sydney with my husband in March 2017 for the simple reason of trying something new. Before that I’d worked in UK publishing for six years, first at a business publisher and then in trade publishing.
Catalogue season is here again (but it doesn’t have to be a nightmare)
The time: early evening, late February. The place: a dark office, desks piled with books, Jiffy bags, and full-colour A3 print-outs of spreadsheets. A woman sits, hunched, bathed in the glow of a screen, on which colourful rectangles dance.
Sales Executive [JOB POSTING]
We are an award-winning Christian Publisher which produces a range of books from children’s stories to academic titles, and we are looking to complete our in-house sales team.
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