I had an eventful day yesterday.
Early evening, I went to my local library in Barnes to pick up an inter library loan. The book, Snowdrops by A.D Miller (a snowdrop in this case is not a pretty flower - it is a corpse hidden by Russian snow over the winter that comes to light in Spring...).
The librarian asked me to sign the campaign against library closures. "But I have already signed it," I remonstrated. "Please sign it again," she insisted.
I took a deep breath. I'm not one of nature's criminals and doing something twice goes against the grain. But this is important.
So, I signed. And wrote my comment.
'Shame on you David Cameron. Closing libraries is far from the act of a 'Big Society' - it's the act of a 'Small minded Society'. It's worse than Thatcher Milk Snatcher, because you can get milk anywhere for children - but if you close the libraries, they will not come back. Shame on you David Cameron, with three small children to bring up to be educated, curious, achieving and socially minded citizens.'
I signed it as publisher, Marion Boyars - I have never told the librarians what I do as it's not relevant.
"Precisely," said the librarian, "It's all the more shocking as he is a father and knows how important books are to young children. We have a homework club here, internet access for all, we help the unemployed fill out job applications, we have a scheme where books are taken to the elderly, and collected, we are the only free resource left in London. Manchester has already lost its libraries, and only the very new flagship libraries will remain. We do not know if we will survive and we will most likely lose this wonderful place. Please start a campaign."
I took another deep breath. I know how to reach journalists. I could get free press ads with the rubric, "SHAME ON YOU DAVID CAMERON, closing libraries makes your Big Society a Small Minded Society", and I just might manage to reach the man's morals. He has already decided not to sell off our forests.
Should I do it? Will you lot out there - other publishers, editors and translators, and authors, journalists, broadcasters, newspaper proprietors, join?
Campaigning on the streets for libraries is not easy. Most book readers would rather be curled up in a chair reading, especially when it is foggy and raining like yesterday. But I think I should start.
Libraries are more than the books (ever so cheap, as we known us publishers, nothing like the cost of making them), and staff, (people will always want to work with books for modest wages), but it's the buildings, the computer systems, now working so well. My loaned copy of 'Snowdrops' came from Tower Hamlets Library, brand new. It was transported right across London, just for me to read, and then I shall give it back. Like me, a librarian there reads the new fiction reviews, and takes action, so a book gains readers.
Earlier in my eventful day, I was invited to Books for Cooks, 4 Blenheim Crescent, Notting Hill Gate, to a demonstration by an Italian Jewish cook, Sylvia Nacamulli, through my good friend Anne Wilk. It was a chance to see Books for Cooks for myself, as although several of our authors have done events there, the redoubtable Clothilde Dusoulier of Chocolate & Zucchini fame, book and blog, and Victoria Cator and Lucinda Bruce of Victoria & Lucinda's Flavour of the Month, I did not go to either event as I did not wish to take up a place which a paying guest would have taken.
Sylvia Nacamulli is looking for a cookery book publisher. She has given demonstrations since 2003, and has a wealth of experience. I look forward to fnding salted capers in Sicily this summer, to make her Caponata (aubergine with capers, and many other fine ingredients). It was fun and I came home and prepared her spinach with pine nuts and sweet white onion. But the real event of the day was my visit to the library.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Sunday, January 02, 2011
2011 and our wonderful Christmas bestseller
Happy 2011 everyone!
Marion Boyars Publishers had a Christmas bestseller. Rage Against the Machine followers from 2009 chose Cage Against the Machine for their 2010 campaign against manufactured Christmas songs, and 4'33", otherwise known as SILENCE by John Cage is the track. Letters to The Guardian in praise of SILENCE are continuing into 2011.
As are our height defying sales of SILENCE by John Cage. Mushroom omelette anyone?
Marion Boyars Publishers had a Christmas bestseller. Rage Against the Machine followers from 2009 chose Cage Against the Machine for their 2010 campaign against manufactured Christmas songs, and 4'33", otherwise known as SILENCE by John Cage is the track. Letters to The Guardian in praise of SILENCE are continuing into 2011.
As are our height defying sales of SILENCE by John Cage. Mushroom omelette anyone?
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I thought I would post a little about this company, now that we have reached the middle of the year.
Last year, when Borders and Books Etc in the UK shut up shop, I felt that a small independent press would not be able to hold its own, and gain fiction orders on new books, at the one brilliant remaining chain, Waterstone's.
So we stopped doing new books, and 38 titles were chosen by Penguin UK. I prepared to see this list slow down.
But sales all the way through this year have been very high. It's not just amazon, we have had great orders from Urban Outfitters, HMV and many books are on courses and selling well. We have reprinted at least 6 titles, including Spike Bucklow's The Alchemy of Paint, which is selling in the Uffizi Gallery Florence and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art - all over the world.
I am doing consultancy for a Cambridge publisher, and enjoying less pressure and fewer bills. I have done yoga and pilates, and tennis, and this year has just been more relaxed. But Marion Boyars Publishers appears to be a survivor, in every sense. So if you see me at awards and book events, don't be surprised - any more than I am, anyway!
Last year, when Borders and Books Etc in the UK shut up shop, I felt that a small independent press would not be able to hold its own, and gain fiction orders on new books, at the one brilliant remaining chain, Waterstone's.
So we stopped doing new books, and 38 titles were chosen by Penguin UK. I prepared to see this list slow down.
But sales all the way through this year have been very high. It's not just amazon, we have had great orders from Urban Outfitters, HMV and many books are on courses and selling well. We have reprinted at least 6 titles, including Spike Bucklow's The Alchemy of Paint, which is selling in the Uffizi Gallery Florence and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art - all over the world.
I am doing consultancy for a Cambridge publisher, and enjoying less pressure and fewer bills. I have done yoga and pilates, and tennis, and this year has just been more relaxed. But Marion Boyars Publishers appears to be a survivor, in every sense. So if you see me at awards and book events, don't be surprised - any more than I am, anyway!
Friday, May 07, 2010
Election 2010
We had an author standing for election, in Hampstead & Kilburn. Tamsin Omond stood as an independent candidate - her main issues were green politics, climate change and law and order. Well, she polled 132 votes - and Glenda Jackson held the seat for Labour. Apparently Glenda appeared only 6 times last year to vote and is one of the most apathetic MP's. Tamsin in only 25 and I hope she will continue her energetic campaigns on climate change, green issues, gay rights and so much more. If I ever feel a little down, I just think about how much Tamsin has achieved in the two years since she left university. A low poll in a British election has no bearing on her future as a political force for the good.
At home, Richmond took the lead from the Liberal Democrats. The young professional Tory vote counted. Maybe we should move to Brighton...
At home, Richmond took the lead from the Liberal Democrats. The young professional Tory vote counted. Maybe we should move to Brighton...
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Rosy Barnes - the scrummiest script writer
Great news - Rosy Barnes, the author of SADOMASOCHISM FOR ACCOUNTANTS which we published last year at a launch complete with bowler hatted male strippers and whips, in a London club, (OK - a cafe with literary leanings which may prefer to remain anonymous right now) has been chosen to work up her book into a film script as part of the only programme in the UK which exists to nurture the talents of female script writers.
We all know how hard it is to break into the film industry, and it seems that there are very few female script writers - plenty of actors and plenty of female parts (no double entendre intended). But only 12 per cent of movies have women writers.
She Writes 2010 have chosen ten writers who will benefit from a residential retreat, attend film workshops, and work with professionals associated with the Birds Eye View Film Festival.
Rosy Barnes is delighted:
'This is my dream opportunity. I want to develop insightful wicked comedy, with strong, funny, different women characters that make people snort out loud in public places. What Birds Eye View is doing in terms of encouraging women's viewpoints and characters is just the sort of thing I want to be part of.'
For more information, go to:
www.birds-eye-view.co.uk
www.scriptfactory.co.uk/go/News/
We all know how hard it is to break into the film industry, and it seems that there are very few female script writers - plenty of actors and plenty of female parts (no double entendre intended). But only 12 per cent of movies have women writers.
She Writes 2010 have chosen ten writers who will benefit from a residential retreat, attend film workshops, and work with professionals associated with the Birds Eye View Film Festival.
Rosy Barnes is delighted:
'This is my dream opportunity. I want to develop insightful wicked comedy, with strong, funny, different women characters that make people snort out loud in public places. What Birds Eye View is doing in terms of encouraging women's viewpoints and characters is just the sort of thing I want to be part of.'
For more information, go to:
www.birds-eye-view.co.uk
www.scriptfactory.co.uk/go/News/
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Charlie Gillet
I'm working away - all kinds of things including preparing copy for the English Pen Writers in Translation 5 year celebratory compilation (we were lucky enough to have two books and authors supported by the programme in the past few years - TOUBA AND THE MEANING OF NIGHT by Shahrnush Parsipur, and last year, SEE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU by Luis Leante).
But today started with the very sad news that Charlie Gillet has passed away. I met Charlie when a group of us used to go to African concerts all over London, and one Keith Jeffries imported vinyl records and ran a very small business - (I think he is now deputy governor of the Bank of Botswana). So Charlie was interested in which musicians Keith had found and we all had a few beers together.
All the way through having children - those years when going out on a Saturday is all but impossible - we listened to Charlie on GLR 94.9. I took Samuel Charters on to his programme when we published THE DAY IS SO LONG & THE WAGES SO SMALL. I was incredibly sad when ill health meant that Charlie stopped his programme on Saturday evenings, although by then going out was again the norm, staying in with Charlie was always a good option.
So, listen in to Robert Elms on 94.9 as he is doing a tribute to Charlie. And hope his programmes have been recorded and will pop up on the schedules for ever more.
But today started with the very sad news that Charlie Gillet has passed away. I met Charlie when a group of us used to go to African concerts all over London, and one Keith Jeffries imported vinyl records and ran a very small business - (I think he is now deputy governor of the Bank of Botswana). So Charlie was interested in which musicians Keith had found and we all had a few beers together.
All the way through having children - those years when going out on a Saturday is all but impossible - we listened to Charlie on GLR 94.9. I took Samuel Charters on to his programme when we published THE DAY IS SO LONG & THE WAGES SO SMALL. I was incredibly sad when ill health meant that Charlie stopped his programme on Saturday evenings, although by then going out was again the norm, staying in with Charlie was always a good option.
So, listen in to Robert Elms on 94.9 as he is doing a tribute to Charlie. And hope his programmes have been recorded and will pop up on the schedules for ever more.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Crikey
At lunch time today, an email came in from a consultancy who offer to set you a questionnaire for personnel so you can judge their mood swings and ability to cope under pressure.
Well, I assessed my morning's work which was paying royalties, and decided that the normal annoyances of finding envelopes, statements, checking some addresses on the web and countless other small tasks was bound to make one slightly grumpy. But I was coping OK.
Then - the phone rings and a lovely independent bookshop calls to tell me they are selling books for an event that involves one of our authors. They asked for 5 copies on sale or return, which I said fine to. But they did not want to order them because they wanted to return them the very next day - and I apologised but said I was not going to manage to deliver and then return to the shop to collect unsold books the next day - I mean two hours journey twice over for a possible profit of a tenner? And guess what - the bookseller just put the phone down on me!
Golly. I am so glad that lovely words like golly still exist.
Well, I assessed my morning's work which was paying royalties, and decided that the normal annoyances of finding envelopes, statements, checking some addresses on the web and countless other small tasks was bound to make one slightly grumpy. But I was coping OK.
Then - the phone rings and a lovely independent bookshop calls to tell me they are selling books for an event that involves one of our authors. They asked for 5 copies on sale or return, which I said fine to. But they did not want to order them because they wanted to return them the very next day - and I apologised but said I was not going to manage to deliver and then return to the shop to collect unsold books the next day - I mean two hours journey twice over for a possible profit of a tenner? And guess what - the bookseller just put the phone down on me!
Golly. I am so glad that lovely words like golly still exist.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Sustainable Energy – without the hot air Professor David Mackay
OK – two things are definite – we all want our time on this planet to be worthwhile. And we kind of want to have a good conscience about not using up too many of the world’s resources. So a book I am reading is Professor David MacKay’s top selling energy book Sustainable Energy – without the hot air.
But – he is Professor of Physics at Cambridge and so, although I did an O Level in Physics a long time ago, I have to concentrate hard to get his arguments. They involve equations.
I recall my Physics teacher (who played the banjo – remorselessly, and we had to listen to him) telling us that the bicycle was the most inefficient machine known to man.
So how does David MacKay explain the efficiencies of bicycles, which he rates higher than cars?
What is the energy consumption of a bicycle in kWh per 100 km? That’s a long way, to me - I am no Lance Armstrong, but theoretically I am still very interested.
In these equations, Professor MacKay explains, for a car, “4” is used to stand for engine efficiency, p the density of air, d is distance, A is the area of the front of the car, the area A=cdAcar is the effective front area of a car and v is its speed.
Anyway, using lots of equations, but primarily dividing the energy-per-distance of a car by the energy-per-distance of a bike, a cyclist going at 21 km/h consumes 3% of the energy per kilometre of the lone driver on a motorway, about 2.4 kWh per 100 km. So the fuel efficiency (your pumping legs) is 30 times better than a cars. David MacKay thinks the area A of a bike is 4 times less than that of a car, as you can fit 4 bikes in the space of one car on a road. You can, but hardly any cyclists ride side by side as it is too dangerous to slow down the cars behind. But I do think 4 cyclists can easily squeeze up past your car waiting at traffic lights, so I will allow him the dividing by 4. He calls these equations a fun means of scaling the efficiencies of bikes and cars. I think they are primarily about making people feel good about using their bikes rather than cars.
If you want to follow all of the equations, I suggest you get a copy of the book – which is packed full of other equations. What I really like about science is that it can prove beyond doubt what your common sense tells you is right and thus provide fuel to combat human nature. Yes, his book aids will power!
OK – two things are definite – we all want our time on this planet to be worthwhile. And we kind of want to have a good conscience about not using up too many of the world’s resources. So a book I am reading is Professor David MacKay’s top selling energy book Sustainable Energy – without the hot air.
But – he is Professor of Physics at Cambridge and so, although I did an O Level in Physics a long time ago, I have to concentrate hard to get his arguments. They involve equations.
I recall my Physics teacher (who played the banjo – remorselessly, and we had to listen to him) telling us that the bicycle was the most inefficient machine known to man.
So how does David MacKay explain the efficiencies of bicycles, which he rates higher than cars?
What is the energy consumption of a bicycle in kWh per 100 km? That’s a long way, to me - I am no Lance Armstrong, but theoretically I am still very interested.
In these equations, Professor MacKay explains, for a car, “4” is used to stand for engine efficiency, p the density of air, d is distance, A is the area of the front of the car, the area A=cdAcar is the effective front area of a car and v is its speed.
Anyway, using lots of equations, but primarily dividing the energy-per-distance of a car by the energy-per-distance of a bike, a cyclist going at 21 km/h consumes 3% of the energy per kilometre of the lone driver on a motorway, about 2.4 kWh per 100 km. So the fuel efficiency (your pumping legs) is 30 times better than a cars. David MacKay thinks the area A of a bike is 4 times less than that of a car, as you can fit 4 bikes in the space of one car on a road. You can, but hardly any cyclists ride side by side as it is too dangerous to slow down the cars behind. But I do think 4 cyclists can easily squeeze up past your car waiting at traffic lights, so I will allow him the dividing by 4. He calls these equations a fun means of scaling the efficiencies of bikes and cars. I think they are primarily about making people feel good about using their bikes rather than cars.
If you want to follow all of the equations, I suggest you get a copy of the book – which is packed full of other equations. What I really like about science is that it can prove beyond doubt what your common sense tells you is right and thus provide fuel to combat human nature. Yes, his book aids will power!
Friday, February 05, 2010
the present
Well, the most surprising thing to blog about this year, is how strong book sales are from this list, and how enjoyable it is to plan a future mainly in the back shelves of bookshops and on online book selling sites.
So that's my news! My lesson for 2010 is that sometimes in life it's best to do less.
So that's my news! My lesson for 2010 is that sometimes in life it's best to do less.
Friday, January 01, 2010
Happy New Year
Hope the hangovers are lifting now as the sun sets in London - we had a fine New Year with fellow publishing folk at the pub of the year 2009 in Putney, the Bricklayer's Arms. Only draw back was the young ladies who could not hold their drink so les toilettes were not the best - last time we were there, a group of stags were wearing cloth hats which was far a more civilised crowd to have sharing your space in a pub. Stags of the pre marital variety rather than the Richmond Park variety, I hasten to say, although it would have been fun to see animals propping up the bar. One of the best books I did not publish was about a man who fell in love with an elk when his marriage fell apart - yes, a novel from Scandinavia...but I digress. Now someone will tell me it would have been a best seller.
So, what a year in publishing it's been. Amazon and The Book Depository race ahead and poor old Borders and Books Etc is no more. Farewell, lovely buyers at Borders, and I hope the New Year brings new opportunities.
For myself, it'll be a mix of running Marion Boyars while the Penguin rights transfer continues, some literary agenting for a very exciting project - more soon when a You Tube clip is ready, and publishing consultancy. And I hope to bring you cheer as you contemplate what the 20 ten - no, let's stick to two thousand ands or else we'll have 20 eleven, 20 twelve ad ininitatum - what 2010 will bring.
So, what a year in publishing it's been. Amazon and The Book Depository race ahead and poor old Borders and Books Etc is no more. Farewell, lovely buyers at Borders, and I hope the New Year brings new opportunities.
For myself, it'll be a mix of running Marion Boyars while the Penguin rights transfer continues, some literary agenting for a very exciting project - more soon when a You Tube clip is ready, and publishing consultancy. And I hope to bring you cheer as you contemplate what the 20 ten - no, let's stick to two thousand ands or else we'll have 20 eleven, 20 twelve ad ininitatum - what 2010 will bring.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Reviews - good god, about time
Reviews for SEE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU by Luis Leante are finally starting as people wake up to this book.
The humanitarian angle is certainly important - this people, the Saharawi's of the Western Sahara, cannot send athletes to the Olympics because they do not have a state.
But more importantly, this is the kind of book, when you read it, that you will look back on from a year's worth of reading and say, yes, that was good - more than good. But don't believe me - read the reviews. They are not biased.
The humanitarian angle is certainly important - this people, the Saharawi's of the Western Sahara, cannot send athletes to the Olympics because they do not have a state.
But more importantly, this is the kind of book, when you read it, that you will look back on from a year's worth of reading and say, yes, that was good - more than good. But don't believe me - read the reviews. They are not biased.
REVIEWS
'With vivid imagery of desperate village life and keen insight into multicultural influences, Leante’s rich, often poetic novel of romance and international politics evokes a sensuous yet savage period in this region’s tumultuous history.' Booklist, USA
'...set against one of those ongoing arenas of conflict that the media chooses to ignore - the struggle for independence of the Saharawi people of the Western Sahara first from the Spanish and later from Moroccan dominance...a necessary context to a painfully compelling story of love and loss.' Morning Star
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Wave - 12pm Grosvenor Square 5th December
Hmmm - publishing folk tend towards the green, and they definitely tend towards the inpecunious - happily being green and not buying large 4 x 4 Land Rovers or Lexus cars co exist well.
So, Saturday 5th December - make it a date to go in your diary.
Once the Saturday Guardian has been read, get yourself down to Grosvenor Square, wearing BLUE, and join in the march to Paliament Square for 3pm where the intention is to encircle the square. Yes, it does sound a little hippy - and I went on the TREE HUGGER web site today looking for ways to bring RUSH! The Making of a Climate Activist by Tamsin Omond to people's attention, but gave up when I saw that tree huggers regard posting anything as ungreen (and that includes books, which are made of recycled paper fibres). So obviously direct action is a better way to publicize green issues than books in some people's eyes. Personally, I think books are a great way to convey ideas so I'll be there, wearing BLUE, with a copy of RUSH! about my person. I may even wave it in the air. Who knows....
So, Saturday 5th December - make it a date to go in your diary.
Once the Saturday Guardian has been read, get yourself down to Grosvenor Square, wearing BLUE, and join in the march to Paliament Square for 3pm where the intention is to encircle the square. Yes, it does sound a little hippy - and I went on the TREE HUGGER web site today looking for ways to bring RUSH! The Making of a Climate Activist by Tamsin Omond to people's attention, but gave up when I saw that tree huggers regard posting anything as ungreen (and that includes books, which are made of recycled paper fibres). So obviously direct action is a better way to publicize green issues than books in some people's eyes. Personally, I think books are a great way to convey ideas so I'll be there, wearing BLUE, with a copy of RUSH! about my person. I may even wave it in the air. Who knows....
Monday, October 26, 2009
What do all the books listed below which have been published by Marion Boyars in the past few years have in common?
Requiem for a Dream Hubert Selby Jr
Enlightenment Maureen Freely
The German Momey Lev Raphael
The Flea Palace Elif Shafak
The Gaze Elif Shafak
On a quick walk through the fiction shelves at the Putney Central Library, Wandsworth, these books were on display, and all had no less than eight library stamps in them. Well read, enjoyed, and waiting for the next browser. I just finished Lorrie Moore's excellent A Gate at the Stairs, in which the rather crazy Sarah takes books out of the library for her two year old daughter, and puts them in the microwave to get rid of the germs. I avoid really badly marked library books, since you do not know where they were last, but I love libraries - the possibilities, and the fact that your own house remains a little less cluttered. I did have to admit to myself that our house probably contains more fiction than all the fiction shelves in the Putney library. Oh well. Once I have bought and enjoyed a book, I cannot take it to an Oxfam shop. Too much of a good friend....
Monday, October 19, 2009
Frankfurt Book Fair
I'm just back from the Frankfurt Book Fair. It was fun, not as busy as the past few years (especially Saturday - very few people in the aisles of Hall 8 and just a few meetings). But one thought I had was this - the stands were full of new books, every subject, shape and author under the sun. I could have browsed for ages and there were a lot of books I would have liked to buy at the end of the Fair if I had space to pack them.
So, the current Kindle vs book discussion - can you imagine an international rights fair where all the books are on Kindle screens - a kind of book electronica. The book fair would be a little like a grey TV shop. Back to black and white on screens.
Just an idea - and I think it proves the book is here to stay. The publishing industry will be further split into massive firms and smaller ones supported by government initiatives or private patronage. This is a shame, and it is why Marion Boyars is finding itself divided in two - one part up for sale, the name and the history, with a large culturally divergent backlist, and the main fiction titles finding new homes at Penguin Modern Classics. It's not really a sad scenario as I know it is the right thing for 2010 and onwards. We had a great boom over the past ten years in retail and in education, but we are now in more digitally challenged times, so change is a coming in.
So, the current Kindle vs book discussion - can you imagine an international rights fair where all the books are on Kindle screens - a kind of book electronica. The book fair would be a little like a grey TV shop. Back to black and white on screens.
Just an idea - and I think it proves the book is here to stay. The publishing industry will be further split into massive firms and smaller ones supported by government initiatives or private patronage. This is a shame, and it is why Marion Boyars is finding itself divided in two - one part up for sale, the name and the history, with a large culturally divergent backlist, and the main fiction titles finding new homes at Penguin Modern Classics. It's not really a sad scenario as I know it is the right thing for 2010 and onwards. We had a great boom over the past ten years in retail and in education, but we are now in more digitally challenged times, so change is a coming in.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Luis Leante world tour....SEE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU
Yes, he has visited twenty countries since winning the Alfaguera prize in 2007 - and arrived today fresh from two days at the Berlin International Festival. Tomorrow Luis will be reading at the Instituto Cervantes, 102 Eaton Square, from 6.30pm, and then on Monday he will be at the Tabernacle in Powis Square (northern side - closest to the westway, Portobello and all that - just down the road from Westbourne Park tube), from 7pm. Our launch is in tandem with the Sandblast Arts charity, and we will have a guitarist, artefacts, a show of powerful images from the desert Saharawi people.
And you may be tempted to join the run in the Sahara desert next year in February. Apparently it's OK to just do 5 km....or even walk them if you have flat feet like I do! Since when has walking in a desert been a wuss activity anyway?
See you at one of these events, I hope. Wine in London and you'd only want water in the desert...
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
RUSH! on the move - tour by horse
Photographer Peter Marshall is with the Climate Rush tour as it progresses from Sipson to Aylesbury, then Oxford where they plan to close down the airport just renamed London Airport (!) on the 12th September, and then on to Bristol if they are not put in prison first.
The above link is to his web site, mylondondiary - nothing to do with the Evening Standard and the famous column of the same name - and I hope lots of people will look at the photographs, and ask for permission to reprint them (as I did).
Last Friday, September 4th, Rebecca and I went and joined the RUSH! at Sipson, held on the land that Greenpeace have bought with 10,000 signatories, to stop the development on the third runway at Heathrow.
Now, in case people think this is a piece of jumping on the bandwagon publishing, let me make it clear that I live and work directly underneath the Heathrow flight path. I can hear aeroplanes now going over the office in Putney. In the summer, it is hard to talk in our garden for the noise of the planes - in fact I was amazed that in Sipson, right up against the perimeter fence of Heathrow, the noise was identical to that in my garden.
In fact, finding Spison was hard. It officially does not exist. It is not on the map. Not at all so no matter how good your map reading skills are, it makes no difference, you just have to guess which is the Northern perimeter of the airport and head towards it. We were taking copies of RUSH! The Making of a Climate Activist, for Tamsin to sign and sell as they progress on the tour.
When you get near to Sipson, there is just one tiny signpost for a left turn, and then you are in the village. In fact, the village has a great pub, but very few shops and no real centre. The camp on the Greepeace land is just behind the King William 1v pub - or as it is affectionately known to the locals - behind the King Willy.
The camp itself was idyllic. September sunshine, gifts of fruit from the locals, the horses gently resting in the background, the tarpaulins of the carts being sewn, tents up, a large fire starting for the evening. The locals were all delighted to see the Climate Rush! suffragettes and to read about themselves in the book. I met many people, and really wanted to stay all evening and join the camp. I nearly ran away with the fairies and never came back. It is all hugely fun and the nicest of times, while being essential to raise awareness of the fragility of nature. Sipson used to be on a site called Heath Row, and it was a huge market garden, which is why it is still full of fruit trees. The houses are small, and loved, though every time you mow the lawn you must think, is it worth it, when will the bulldozers arrive? It reminded me of the beginning of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, but this is for real, with real people, right up the road.
It will mean that more people will vote for David Cameron next May as he has said he will cancel the third runway. But that was what Gordon Brown said also. Who can trust politicians now? We have enough flights for business and travel to flourish - we do not need more. It's all about moderation - and we should not treat this planet as an endless resource. Because, although the Climate Camp at Sipson was lovely, and people were having a nice time, when it is a runway, they certainly will not. I heard a journalist on the radio last night saying he is done with flying when he goes on holiday - he takes a train or drives. And when you arrive somewhere with cheap flights, it is full of tourists. Finding the 'real' world is hard, because we, in the first world, have fully invaded it. I may sound like an old fashioned reactionary, but it's just about doing with less, and being happy with less, as a way of life. I hope the young see Tamsin and her friends, and decide she is right - it takes a massive change of lifestyle. But I think her example, which you can read about in her book, will have some impact...I hope so.
http://mylondondiary.co.uk
Catheryn
The above link is to his web site, mylondondiary - nothing to do with the Evening Standard and the famous column of the same name - and I hope lots of people will look at the photographs, and ask for permission to reprint them (as I did).
Last Friday, September 4th, Rebecca and I went and joined the RUSH! at Sipson, held on the land that Greenpeace have bought with 10,000 signatories, to stop the development on the third runway at Heathrow.
Now, in case people think this is a piece of jumping on the bandwagon publishing, let me make it clear that I live and work directly underneath the Heathrow flight path. I can hear aeroplanes now going over the office in Putney. In the summer, it is hard to talk in our garden for the noise of the planes - in fact I was amazed that in Sipson, right up against the perimeter fence of Heathrow, the noise was identical to that in my garden.
In fact, finding Spison was hard. It officially does not exist. It is not on the map. Not at all so no matter how good your map reading skills are, it makes no difference, you just have to guess which is the Northern perimeter of the airport and head towards it. We were taking copies of RUSH! The Making of a Climate Activist, for Tamsin to sign and sell as they progress on the tour.
When you get near to Sipson, there is just one tiny signpost for a left turn, and then you are in the village. In fact, the village has a great pub, but very few shops and no real centre. The camp on the Greepeace land is just behind the King William 1v pub - or as it is affectionately known to the locals - behind the King Willy.
The camp itself was idyllic. September sunshine, gifts of fruit from the locals, the horses gently resting in the background, the tarpaulins of the carts being sewn, tents up, a large fire starting for the evening. The locals were all delighted to see the Climate Rush! suffragettes and to read about themselves in the book. I met many people, and really wanted to stay all evening and join the camp. I nearly ran away with the fairies and never came back. It is all hugely fun and the nicest of times, while being essential to raise awareness of the fragility of nature. Sipson used to be on a site called Heath Row, and it was a huge market garden, which is why it is still full of fruit trees. The houses are small, and loved, though every time you mow the lawn you must think, is it worth it, when will the bulldozers arrive? It reminded me of the beginning of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, but this is for real, with real people, right up the road.
It will mean that more people will vote for David Cameron next May as he has said he will cancel the third runway. But that was what Gordon Brown said also. Who can trust politicians now? We have enough flights for business and travel to flourish - we do not need more. It's all about moderation - and we should not treat this planet as an endless resource. Because, although the Climate Camp at Sipson was lovely, and people were having a nice time, when it is a runway, they certainly will not. I heard a journalist on the radio last night saying he is done with flying when he goes on holiday - he takes a train or drives. And when you arrive somewhere with cheap flights, it is full of tourists. Finding the 'real' world is hard, because we, in the first world, have fully invaded it. I may sound like an old fashioned reactionary, but it's just about doing with less, and being happy with less, as a way of life. I hope the young see Tamsin and her friends, and decide she is right - it takes a massive change of lifestyle. But I think her example, which you can read about in her book, will have some impact...I hope so.
http://mylondondiary.co.uk
Catheryn
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
I'm currently doing the review copy mailing of RUSH! The Making of a Climate Activist by Tamsin Omond.
Well, - the mailing bit will be minimal - most of these copies will be delivered by van - ADT carry parcels between publishers and newspapers and agents within the M25. Those that do need to be posted will go out in envelopes we have purchased from Paperback Recycled Paper Merchants in Bow (http://www.paperback.coop/). I worked for Paperback back in 1991 - as their Product Marketing Executive - which meant I visited designers with samples, set up a dummy service, and co ordinated the launch of Corona, as well I could, as when I took the job I was pregnant with Tessa (now nearly 18) and Ella, who was a toddler. I can remember being seven months pregnant and lugging samples up eight flights of stairs to visit designers, and doing the delivery run with their van driver...it was a fun job but I had to quit a few months later when Tessa was born.
Our review copies are packed thus - couldn't be greener.
Labels affixed to books with a red Post Office rubber band - books packed in cartons (by newspaper) which have come from printers. The book is printed on mechanical waste - pulp with no bleach added. It's a cute book too - 130mm x 160mm - should stand out and really fit in your pocket - which is what paperbacks were designed to do originally...
I hope the editors of the various newspapers appreciate how green this mailing is...
Friday, August 14, 2009
I am preparing eldest daughter for a six week adventure in Vietnam, Malaysia and perhaps Bali - she leaves this evening. I was asked what I suggested she read on long coach trips, and had to admit my favourite book which I read at 19, when travelling around South America, was Watership Down by Richard Adams. At the time, I also knew that my mother, Marion Boyars, had turned it down - big mistake. I loved it! So today I went to Waterstone's in Putney and bought a copy - it's sold as a children's book, but think it will be good reading for an Anthropology student, as it was for myself, about to read English & Philosophy at Bristol University.
While having a break from the July book keeping, I got the book out. And what do I discover - at 89, Richard Adams is alive and well. He was able to retire in 1974 after the phenomenal success of Watership Down - that's 35 happy years of walking in the natural habitat around his home in Whitchurch, Hampshire. Who said that publishing wasn't a good thing!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
If you happen to be travelling or staycationing this summer, and pick up the August edition of Vogue, you'll find a long article on the new generation of climate activists. Included in them is Tamsin Omond, author of RUSH! The Making of a Climate Activist, which we are preparing for press - October publication.
Many years ago, I was a student at Bristol University. In my third year, I organised the first Schumacher Lectures - in remembrance of the author of Small is Beautiful (a moniker that can be used to describe this publishing house). I asked the student union offficers (one Dave Cohen,now a comedy script writer, was our President) for the use of the whole building on a Saturday, and was given it for free, organised a PA system, designed and got the tickets printed, sold them (it sold out) - so organised close circuit TV in an overflow room, and handed all the money bar one bottle of whisky, over to the Schumacher Society. RD Laing was the main speaker, and we were all thrilled he was coming to the university. The lectures raised over £1500.00 which in 1978 was worth at least £10,000.00. And I'm still organising author events now...
On September 17th, Luis Leante, author of See How Much I Love You, is coming to speak at the Instituto Cervantes in Eaton Square, and on Monday, 21st September, he will be at the Tabernacle Centre in Notting Hill Gate, introducing his book with Danielle Smith, who organises the excellent charity, Sandblast Arts. Sandblast exists to highlight the plight of over 200,000 Saharawi people, who live in the Western Sahara as refugees, thirty years on from the invasion of the territory by Moroccan forces. This is the subject matter of the novel, See How Much I Love You. Sarahawi music plays when the Marion Boyars web site is visited, you may have noticed. Danielle is organising a sonsored run in the Sahara desert in February 2010, which I hope Patrick Kilgarriff will be running in, and maybe I'll do a short run there - although I maintain I have the wrong kind of feet for running - a swim I'd do. More about all these activities soon on our Events page - at the moment, in July, I am just getting all the different people involved in this event organised - no small feat! Then I turn myself into a travel agent to organise the travel...let alone getting the books printed in time....
Many years ago, I was a student at Bristol University. In my third year, I organised the first Schumacher Lectures - in remembrance of the author of Small is Beautiful (a moniker that can be used to describe this publishing house). I asked the student union offficers (one Dave Cohen,now a comedy script writer, was our President) for the use of the whole building on a Saturday, and was given it for free, organised a PA system, designed and got the tickets printed, sold them (it sold out) - so organised close circuit TV in an overflow room, and handed all the money bar one bottle of whisky, over to the Schumacher Society. RD Laing was the main speaker, and we were all thrilled he was coming to the university. The lectures raised over £1500.00 which in 1978 was worth at least £10,000.00. And I'm still organising author events now...
On September 17th, Luis Leante, author of See How Much I Love You, is coming to speak at the Instituto Cervantes in Eaton Square, and on Monday, 21st September, he will be at the Tabernacle Centre in Notting Hill Gate, introducing his book with Danielle Smith, who organises the excellent charity, Sandblast Arts. Sandblast exists to highlight the plight of over 200,000 Saharawi people, who live in the Western Sahara as refugees, thirty years on from the invasion of the territory by Moroccan forces. This is the subject matter of the novel, See How Much I Love You. Sarahawi music plays when the Marion Boyars web site is visited, you may have noticed. Danielle is organising a sonsored run in the Sahara desert in February 2010, which I hope Patrick Kilgarriff will be running in, and maybe I'll do a short run there - although I maintain I have the wrong kind of feet for running - a swim I'd do. More about all these activities soon on our Events page - at the moment, in July, I am just getting all the different people involved in this event organised - no small feat! Then I turn myself into a travel agent to organise the travel...let alone getting the books printed in time....
Thursday, July 16, 2009
I was lucky enough to attend the 14 Juillet celebrations at the French Ambassador's residence in Kensington Palace Gardens this week. A small number of literary independent presses get invited - Dedalus Press, Arcadia Books, Portobello, and us, and some translators, Euan Cameron, Roz Schwartz, and Vivienne Menkes. Gary Pulsifer of Arcadia Books is very good at star spotting, and introduced me to P. D. James - indeed, he addressed her as Phyllis. The book of hers I most loved was An Unsuitable Job for a Woman - something many people have said about publishing, but I think she meant being a murderer.
I also glimpsed Quentin Blake. Sadly, Arsene Wenger was not to be seen, nor Virginia Bottomley or any other Conservative grandees, or Jon Snow - all people I have spotted in the past. But we enjoyed the party, and wonder if we'll be magically on the list to be invited again next year. None of us can work out why we are on it at all.
I also glimpsed Quentin Blake. Sadly, Arsene Wenger was not to be seen, nor Virginia Bottomley or any other Conservative grandees, or Jon Snow - all people I have spotted in the past. But we enjoyed the party, and wonder if we'll be magically on the list to be invited again next year. None of us can work out why we are on it at all.
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