“I think we haven’t done the great things yet.” Are you an author? If so, would it surprise you to know that that line came from a publisher? It did, and Sara Lloyd, Pan Macmillan’s digital and communications director, was set on making sure that the participant-hackers of the first-ever FutureBook Hack understood that she… Read More
FutureBook Hackers at work: Did we tell them enough?
As the mists rise off the beanbags here at the Roberts Building on the campus of University College London, the FutureBook Hack has about 19 hacker-participants at work. FutureBook-pink blankets still cover some shoulders. The smell of breakfast being set up is encouraging. It’s early morning. More teammates will join these. The message goes out:… Read More
#PorterMeets The Bookseller's Alice Ryan
When everyone sits down to the midnight feast this weekend at FutureBook Hack in the University College London’s Roberts Building, they can toast, among others, one Alice Ryan. The conference and community manager for The Bookseller is certainly managing some major community now, a collective of more than 100 developers, designers, entrepreneurs, engineers, coders, programmers,… Read More
Faber's Griffiths on audio at FutureBook Hack: Listen for the consumer
“In 23 years, I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘Have you heard the new Zadie Smith?’” A compelling, even moving appeal has come from Hannah Griffiths, Faber & Faber’s publishing director, at the weekend’s FutureBook Hack – the UK’s first industry-wide publishing hackathon. The event is presented by The Bookseller in association with publisher-partners, including Faber,… Read More
Gearing up for #FutureBookHack
For all the experience Blackwell’s Matthew Cashmore brings to his production of The Bookseller’s FutureBook Hack on Saturday and Sunday, neither he nor anyone else knows exactly what creative benefits to expect from the weekend. Surprise is a key element of these events. Organizers try not to restrict expectations because, as Rick Joyce of Perseus Books Group puts… Read More
Perseus' Rick Joyce on the FutureBook Hack: "What's possible"
“A hackathon is about the very beginning of thinking what’s possible.” And Rick Joyce, chief marketing officer for Perseus Books Group, will look at new iterations of those beginnings this weekend when he flies to London to judge projects in The Bookseller’s FutureBook Hack event. “A hackathon is a way to socialise what you’re looking for,” he says, “to socialise publishing’s needs to a community that… Read More
The FutureBook Hackathon: London’s Publishers Brave The Weird
Right on schedule, a round of disparaging tweets was launched today by the foppish members of the community, as the news was announced about the London hackathon. I’ll give it to you as a short scene among bewigged swells in Congreve. The quotes are actual, from Twitter. Mister Pan-It-All: How many of these hacks lead to products or sustainable… Read More