About BookMachine

BookMachine is a global community that has been bringing publishing people together since 2010. Through online and in-person events, video and in-person courses and the community hub, publishing professionals can make new connections, build key skills and develop in their careers. The BookMachine App is the newest way for members to come together from wherever they are – at home, in the office, or on the go.

You can also find us at BookMachine Creative Agency, a UK-based events and marketing agency dedicated to the worlds of publishing and education, assisting businesses and brands with stand-out digital marketing, digital product development and virtual events.

BookMachine Publishing Events

Organising events is our real passion. We have hosted in-person events in London, Oxford, Barcelona, New York City, Toronto, Brighton and Edinburgh, walking events around the South East of England, as well as 50+ online events – both as BookMachine and for publishers and organisations across the industry.

BookMachine Unplugged

Virtual events to inspire you with real insights into what is working in publishing right now. There are 6 events a year, each zooming in on exciting, of-the-moment topics within Production, Editorial and Tech to Marketing, Audio and Design.

Wednesday Wisdom Q&As

An online series of Q&As designed to help you get an insight into the roles and projects of senior publishing people, top up your industry knowledge and learn more about the publishing services that can take your teams to the next level.

Monthly opportunities to meet and mingle with fellow members on virtual platform Wonder. We invite you to switch your cameras on to share ideas, dip into big topics and catch up with publishing people from across the industry.

BookMachine +CAMPUS members can tap into a growing library of flexible, industry-specific video skills courses. Designed for ambitious professionals, business owners or creatives in publishing who want to upskill, reskill or learn new skills, each course covers a range of topics.

From content marketing and social media strategies to leadership, productivity, SEO, publicity and rights, new courses are added up to three times a year, meaning the courses grow with you. Find out more about becoming a member.

BookMachine Agency

Stand out digital marketing & events, digital product management and interactive training

BookMachine Creative Agency, launched in 2017, is an events and marketing agency based in the UK.

We help publishing organisations globally to develop and reach new audiences using stand-out digital marketing strategies and techniques.

Our clients include: Bloomsbury, Canongate, DK, HarperCollins, Head of Zeus, Icon Books, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Singing Dragon, Cambridge University Press, Hodder Education, John Murray Learning, Oxford University Press and many more.

Marketing Sprints

We’ve been running virtual and in-house Marketing Sprints since 2019. These help publishing teams to revamp their marketing in a short space of time. If you would like to work together, please get in touch.

Our Story

From small beginnings, starting as a group of colleagues coming together to talk about the industry, we’ve grown over the years to host in-person events with hundreds of attendees, gather industry people at the London Book Fair and deliver training courses to in-house staff.

In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we pivoted to offer a fully online programme for the first time – allowing us to become even more accessible and focus on bringing BookMachine to everyone in publishing – no matter where they were.

Since then, we’ve …

Launched the BookMachine App, allowing members to tap into everything we do more easily.
Hosted 50+ online events – both for BookMachine and for publishers and organisations across the industry.
Launched a growing library of CAMPUS hour-long online video courses.
Welcomed publishing teams including Bonnier Books UK, SAGE Publishing and Simon & Schuster.
Started fundraising for Book Aid International.
Reintroduced in-person events walking and talking with publishing people in nature.
Grown our online membership, which now spans the UK, USA, Spain, France, Ireland, Canada, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Ecuador, Malta, India, Cyprus and Lebanon.

Meet the Team

Laura Summers leads the Business Development side of the business. Having worked in both editorial and in marketing too, she understands our clients’ needs and is motivated by finding solutions for their problems!

refresh your social media game — Aimee Dewar is Marketing & Design Manager. She oversees the branding of both BookMachine community and Creative Agency, and powers everything we do for our members to develop in their careers and succeed at work.

Suzanne Kavanagh focuses on what works best for our clients and works behind the scenes to make them happy. Also, the guiding force behind BookMachine Unplugged events. Suzanne brings all the elements together, working with speakers from across the industry.

Gavin Summers is Director and Co-Founder of BookMachine. He leads our new digital product consultancy and helps to develop BookMachine’s operational capacity. Previously, Gavin was Head of the Digital at Hodder Education.

Connie Baxter-Mulvenna is Marketing & Design Assistant. She works with Aimee to engage and assist the BookMachine community, from creating organic social media content, to writing copy and assisting with asset design.

Public Speaking for Introverts — Abbie is a freelance editor, writer and author, and also edits the BookMachine blog. She has worked as Editorial Director for Duckworth Books, focusing on the Farrago Books humorous fiction imprint.

Emily Cameron is Digital Marketing Executive, and works across non-fiction, fiction and education projects for our clients, creating social media marketing plans, writing copy and liaising with designers.

Joseph Clark is Digital Projects Assistant and works with Gavin on BookMachine’s digital product consultancy. If he’s not working on client projects he’s upgrading the BookMachine website, automating tasks, writing articles or editing community videos.

Louise Dickens is a Digital Strategist working on client campaigns and managing marketing channels and platforms – from SEO to paid media, to content – creating actionable plans for our growing team to implement.

Gemma is a Digital Marketing Strategist. Working across client campaigns, she specialises in data-driven and creative strategy and stand-out campaigns to maximise ROI. Previously, Gemma was Head of Marketing for Penguin Random House Children’s.