Sorry for the mess

I went to a Digital Skills evening, organized by the SYP, last night. There were three speakers, Nicholas Blake (Editorial Manager, Picador and Digital), Ros Kindersley (Managing Director, JFL Search & Selection) and Chris Meade (Director, if:book/Future of the Book, London).
While the other two people certainly had interesting things to say, Chris Meade’s talk really [...]

I’m going to some digital publishing event tonight, so I googled the one speaker I hadn’t heard of and discovered if:book, a “a small think-and-do tank investigating the evolution of intellectual discourse as it shifts from printed pages to networked screens.” Which, if you peer through the pretentious language, means that they are interested in [...]

Nancy Hicks Maynard, pioneering journalist and general all-round source of inspiration, died yesterday at the age of 61. She was the first black woman to be a reporter on the staff of The New York Times, and went on to buy the Oakland Tribune in conjunction with her husband, Robert C. Maynard.
The New York Times’ [...]

Today I read this article on the BBC about the growing trend for ‘designer vaginas’. I’ve been meaning to blog on the subject for a while, but, y’know, I’ve got Frankfurt book fair coming up and we’re crazy busy at work right now, so I’ve been relaxing in front of Season One Buffy instead of [...]

Bitch made their target! I’m so happy that they’ll be printing the next issue and will live to fight another day. Basically, yay! I was afraid that I’d have to start reading Bust and take up knitting *shudder*.

I’ve been trying to read a lot more recently, and I’ve managed to plough through quite a few books in the last couple of weeks. I’ve listed them below, with some comments on how I found them, and some quotes I dog-eared.
DISCLAIMER: I work at an indie publisher. Two of the below books are books [...]

So now that my official period of self pity (I got dumped) is over, I’m going to kick off by urging all three of you that read this blog to donate to Bitch. I love Bitch. I love Bitch almost as much as I hate Heat and Grazia. It’s one of those magazines that you [...]

I was browsing the Guardian in my lunch break today while listening to vintage Queen Latifah, and two stories caught my attention. I don’t have a lot of time today, so I’ll keep it short, but here they are:
This article reports on a new study that highlights institutionalized racism in British schools. It turns out [...]

How it works.

From XKCD

There has been a bit of a furore in the UK media over Selina Scott recently. Scott, a veteran news-reader, alleges that Five News went back on their agreement for her to cover Natasha Kaplinsky’s maternity leave. She is now suing for age discrimination. Whether or not her individual case holds water, it certainly highlights [...]