Writing is no longer only something authors do. It is also something sold back to them through courses, critiques, webinars, mentoring, self-publishing advice and promises of access. This essay asks when publishing stopped merely selling books to readers and began selling the dream of authorship to writers.

Before Amazon and algorithms, children’s book clubs brought curated, affordable books into homes, schools and workplaces. From Puffin Post to Red House catalogues, this is the story of a vanished reading culture.

Before AR became a buzzword, I built interactive children’s books using webcams and printed pages. Here’s what worked, what failed—and why the market wasn’t ready.

What happens when decades of creative labour are repackaged as “the start of an idea”? An industry explainer on attribution, acquisition-led growth, and why visible human authorship matters more than ever — especially in the age of AI.

Audiobooks are valuable, inclusive and powerful — but they are not the same as reading. For young children especially, decoding print is a skill that can’t be replaced by listening. In our rush to keep reading alive, we risk blurring a distinction that really matters.

Adventure isn’t about recklessness — it’s about agency. A practical, publishing-savvy guide to writing children’s adventure stories that move, matter, and endure.

Publishing leaders offer predictions for 2026—AI, audio, BookTok, the Year of Reading. But what if we treated them like Roman chicken-liver omens: not certainty, but judgement? An essay on the real signs, the contradictions, and what growing up might look like for the trade

When a phrase like "after careful consideration" is deployed, you're meant to hear moral gravity. What you're usually hearing is the soft click of a filing cabinet closing. David Salariya examines the pattern behind British publishing's quiet erasures — and the revealing moments when it suddenly moves at speed.

John Baskerville made books that gleam like jet on porcelain — and insisted on being buried standing up. From japanned snuff-boxes to the Cambridge Bible, from wove paper to sharp transitional type, here’s a brisk, book-trade tour of the printer who annoyed London, dazzled Franklin, partnered Mrs Eaves, and prepared the public for Didot and Bodoni.

Why is the Society of Authors criticised for neutrality while authors feel increasingly unsafe? Because publishers have abandoned cultural leadership. This blog explores how consultancy thinking, risk avoidance, and corporate amnesia have left the SoA carrying the weight of an industry too timid to defend its own creators.

Why does France defend authors while Britain backs “innovation”? The answer lies in two centuries of cultural philosophy: France treats creators as custodians of national identity; Britain views them as participants in a market. As AI reshapes publishing, these old instincts have re-emerged - with profound consequences for anyone who makes books.

Seeing, Reading, Drawing As the number of art teachers plummets and children spend more time swiping than sketching, we risk losing one of the simplest, most powerful forms of learning: looking. Reading and drawing both teach us how to see — one through words, the other through lines. They nurture curiosity, empathy, and imagination, and they shape the way children think about the world. In a society increasingly addicted to the instant, these slow, patient arts might just

A generation is arriving at school unable to speak. The UK faces a “Language Recession” — and until we restore talk, play and storytime, the reading crisis will deepen.

The Booker Prize Foundation has launched a £50,000 Children’s Booker Prize for ages 8–12 — with child judges at the table and 30,000 free books for those who need them most. Here’s why it matters, how it fits the National Year of Reading, and what schools, parents and publishers should do next.

From the unforgettable scream of "No wire hangers!" to the surreal spectacle of "Piggate," these books dropped bombs on the images of some of the most powerful public figures. This is a look at the moments when books didn’t just make headlines — they remade history.

Boarding school stories endure not because they were ever realistic, but because they offered a fantasy of order—where chaos was dormitory-sized, friendships epic, and growing up happened between cold showers and jam tarts.

Excerpt:When Spitting Image turned Britain’s favourite bear into a foul-mouthed drug addict, StudioCanal’s lawyers reached for the marmalade jar. This isn’t just about taste — it’s a legal showdown between parody and property, politeness and profit. Meta description:StudioCanal’s lawsuit against Spitting Image over a cocaine-addled Paddington Bear puppet tests the limits of parody, copyright, and brand protection in UK law.

Horror books occupies a unique place on a children's bookshelf, a genre in which fear isn’t just for scares, but an invitation to emotional discovery, bravery, and empathy. I was spooked by stories in the dark: under the blankets with a torch, the delicious tension of not knowing what might happen next.

Illustrator/Author Jo Surman blends graphic flair, gothic imagination, and heartfelt storytelling. From picture books to middle-grade novels, she creates worlds steeped in colour, character, and curiosity.

Non-Disclosure Agreements in UK publishing protect trade secrets, manuscripts, and confidential deals — but they can also silence victims, bury scandals, and distort public narratives. Here’s how NDAs shape, protect, and sometimes poison the industry.