Authors and competitors turn out for Andrew Franklin's retirement gig
Authors Mary Beard, Alan Bennett, Janice Hallett and Simon Jenkins attended Profile founder Andrew Franklin’s retirement party, held ahead of the London Book Fair. They were joined by Faber MD Mary Cannam, Swift Press co-founder Mark Richards, Oneworld founders Juliet Mabey and Novin Doostdar, and Hachette CEO David Shelley. Tributes were made by Profile MD Rebecca Gray and Beard.
Gray reflected that for “someone who was impossible, it’s really sickening how many people completely adore you”, praising Franklin for his “strong moral code”, “kindness” and “endless curiosity”.
“You know how to be decisive, and use your heart and head,” she said. “Kindness is the greatest virtue and the one you practice rigorously.”
Franklin began his speech praising authors – “We will never forgot you had plenty of other choices, and we will never forget that you swiped right on Profile” – and then past colleagues, including Stephen Brough who co-founded Profile with him 30 years ago, and former Penguin MD Peter Carson, who had fired Franklin from Penguin, but who then came to work for Profile, “after he too was fired by Penguin”.
He also thanked the Profile team: “It takes a village to raise a child, and a small town to publish a book. I am proud of the fact that we have never paid a single author a day late on their royalties.”
Franklin also reflected that his career in books had begun at bookshop Hatchards in 1981, describing book people as the inheritors of Gutenberg’s vision. “I strongly believe that books and reading are the foundation on which our culture is built.”
Continues…
Read More
Concluding, Franklin added: “What does a lifetime in the book trade mean? I would recommend it to anyone. It is a really friendly business. A lot of you are our competitors, but we are also supportive and work closely together to encourage reading.” The death of the book and the novel had been continually discussed during his career, Franklin added, but what characterises the trade is “when the times get hard we carry on”.
Franklin founded Profile on April Fools’ Day in 1996 to publish non-fiction. Early bestsellers included Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, and the New Scientist Last Word series. Franklin will retire the day before its 30th birthday and will take on the non-executive chair role. At the time of the announcement, Franklin said: “When I started Profile in 1996 there were three of us. Now there are nearly 70. We will remain fiercely independent, but we are not a small publisher any longer, we are a medium-sized one.”
