Bookexpo America

Will be around at BookExpo America in Los Angeles at the end of the month if anyone wants some time there then just drop me a line and we can organise.

Coffee in Stockholm

Feel very fortunate to be in Stockholm at this time as year as the days start to get longer and longer as we head towards towards midsummer. Coffee is never quite the same for me anywhere else or indeed at any other time of the year.

Some China stats for first thing

I am fascinated by China these days fills me with a mixture of opportunity; excitement and perhaps a little fear. Anyway, my friend Gary just texted me via Skype the following amazing set of forecasts:

‘McKinsey research suggests China’s urban population will expand from 572 million in 2005 to 926 million in 2025 and more than one billion by 2030. By 2025, China will have 219 cities with more than one million inhabitants, and 24 cities with more than five million people. Two of its cities, Shanghai and Beijing, will become ‘super cities’ by 2020, with populations of more than 20 million each. At current growth rates, fifteen other Chinese cities could also meet the 20 million mark.’

If you are interested in China and particularly in doing business there then you should go to his site (bizchina-update.com) where you will find news; commentary; insight together with perspective and stories you just won’t see anywhere else.

Reading less but writing more

Post in NY Times about a report recently published about Americans reading less but with advent of POD services etc considering writing more.

Happy to be working with the United Nations

Looking forward to working with the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in Rome in the coming weeks.

‘Publications are central to FAO’s work as a knowledge organization. More than 300 titles per year are published — usually in multiple language versions — on topics such as hunger and food security, commodity markets, climate change, nutrition, fisheries, forests, rural livelihoods and much more.‘

The Wire - Remarkable

Quite frankly those around me are probably pretty much sick to death of me nagging them to watch The Wire but it really is for their own good. Anyway, was reminded about it again by reading Peter Collingbridge’s blog (very excellent blog by the way if you are interested in publishing and how it may work in the world going forward) - anyway recommend this post on The Wire.

If you want to hear the great Charlie Brooker on the same subject then you may do so here:

Happy to be working with O’Brien Press

Pleased to be working with the O’Brien Press in Dublin in the next few weeks. A little about them:

‘The O’Brien Press is Ireland’s leading general publisher of both adult and children’s books. Our list covers a huge range, including biography, humour, photography, history, art, fiction, politics, cookery, sport, music, memoir, true crime and travel and we are constantly expanding into new and exciting areas.‘

Books by Their Covers

One of my very favourite websites - which on occasion loses me way too much time is Book By Its Cover. The person who publishes the site finds such great books with even greater covers and it is just done so well. Anyway, some of the covers I like from the books on my own shelves.

Happy to be working with Cabi Publishing

Very happy to be working with Cabi just outside Oxford in the UK in the next few weeks.

‘… publishers of renowned scientific information, including CAB Abstracts, our world-leading bibliographic database, multimedia compendia, books and internet resources. Our subject areas include agriculture, animal and veterinary science, environmental sciences, human health, food and nutrition, leisure and tourism, microbiology and parasitology, and plant sciences.

The joy of being a European Mac user

I am in the process of buying a 17″ MacBook Pro. So, it seems I can either buy it on my account in Sweden or me and my partner can fly to New York buy it in one of the Apple Stores and have dinner; few drinks; crash somewhere semi decent and fly home with change in our pockets. Craziness.

Prices in US Dollars: Sweden $5039 or in the US $3452.