I once was a member of committees within the Booksellers Association and the Publishers Association simultaneously. The BA had better lunches, but apart from that advantage, I wondered why the book industry could not be represented by a single trade body.

I wrote to The Bookseller, which raised some debate. At the next BA conference,...

While at Bertrams, I watched a competitor draw up to the Booksellers Association conference in his new Ferrari and thought wholesale was where I felt very comfortable.
I had most fun in publishing and most impact at Dillons—assisting in bringing the Net Book Agreement to a close—and golden years of wholesaling lay ahead....

In the book trade, time makes some of us liars and many of us fools. One advantage of a 36-year trade career is that I have witnessed things come full circle. I see W H Smith reinventing itself, going back to its core offer before consultants and management stalled it. I see Waterstone's arguing, this time for environmental reasons, the...