Futurebook blogger: Agent Orange

Welcome to the new boring.

What will happen when Amazon grows up? At the moment the Seattle Godzilla is still firmly entrenched in adolescence. Revenues may be massive but profit... Read more

A Song of Fire and Water

There’s a line in All About Eve where Birdy, the cynical old dresser replies to Bette Davis’ characters protestations that Eve Harrington does love her... Read more

Let's abolish editors

It has long seemed to me that my job would be less fun but by and large easier if, instead of pitching books to editors... Read more

What editors are (really) for.

(This is a transcript of a memo found trapped in the lift doors of a major publishing conglomerate. I have been assured by the publishers... Read more

Infinite Monkeys

" Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small, unregarded yellow sun. Read more

The Elephant in the Graveyard

When I attended the HarperCollins summer party this time last year I joked that if one listened hard it was possible to hear Rome burning... Read more

If agents are selling publishers to authors, does that mean publishers should pay agents commission?

In ye olde days it was simple. Publishers were the marketplace, their only competition was themselves and agents were the conduits through which authors reached... Read more

Do Publishers Need a Bigger Boat?

If HarperCollins does merge with Simon & Schuster will that be good news for writers? Or, for that matter, readers? One possibility is that the... Read more

Is self publishing immoral?

You could be forgiven for thinking that it was given some of the recent coverage it has had. Read more

Digital goats v Paper sheep?

So there’s been another spat reminiscent of the Stephen Leather equivalent at Harrogate last year. This time involving US self-pubber Barry Eisler. Apparently agents and... Read more

Can publishers disintermediate Amazon?

So, RIP the Agency Model . You won’t be missed. What is simply staggering is that publishers thought they could rewrite the laws of capitalism... Read more

What would you do if you won Waterstones in a raffle?

This is an old, old publishing parlour game and one that certainly hasn't got any easier in the last five years. However,this weeks report by... Read more

Do digital ostriches dream of electric sand?

There can be a certain hilarious magnificence to denial – the huge popularity of the Bruno Ganz Downfall meme is ample testament to that. Read more

Don't Let's be Beastly to Publishers*

Great to see Iain Dale sticking it to the retailers . The reality is though that small publishers have been railing against WH Smith (among... Read more

Are agents and publishers at war?

The news of Conville Walsh’s effective acquisition by Curtis Brown invites a number of responses. Not least is the reflection that we live in a... Read more