The BookBrunch Interview with Karen Sullivan from Orenda Books

This week’s BookBrunch interview is with the lovely Karen Sullivan from Orenda Books – don’t forget to click the link for the full article!

Jasmin Kirkbride talks to Karen Sullivan of Orenda Books about the slush pile, the frisson of finding the right book, advances, and giving attention to everything on the list

Two and a half years on from its launch, Orenda Books is going from strength to strength. Run by its founder, Karen Sullivan, Orenda publishes literary fiction, as well as “the high end of genre fiction”, with an emphasis on crime and thrillers. About half the list is translated fiction, and Sullivan is always keen to push the boundaries.

Striking out alone
Though Sullivan started in publishing at Sidgwick & Jackson, working her way up to commissioning editor, for much of her career she has written books on parenting. As her own children got older, she took what was supposed to be a one-day-a-week job at a small publisher; it turned into 15 months of non-stop work when it became clear all was not well with the business.

Continue reading “The BookBrunch Interview with Karen Sullivan from Orenda Books”

A big bunch of BookBrunch interviews

I’ve been shamefully lax on updating everyone on the latest BookBrunch interviews, which means that I have not one, not two, not even five, but SEVEN interviews for you today!

We’ve also had a big, shiny new BookBrunch website built for us, and best of all it’s got its very own interviews section, so you can go back a read your favourite interviews quickly and easily. 

Continue reading “A big bunch of BookBrunch interviews”

Report from Sharjah International Book Fair 2016

sibfI’ve been on a bit of an adventure since I last posted, reporting on Sharjah International Book Fair in the UAE for BookBrunch! What an extraordinary place it was and I’m very grateful to Sharjah Book Authority and Midas Public Relations, London who showed me such overwhelming hospitality while I was there.
 
If you’re interested in the news from the Fair, check out these articles – including an interview with Ahmed bin Rakkad al Ameri, Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority:

Continue reading “Report from Sharjah International Book Fair 2016”

BookBrunch | ‘One country at a time, one book at a time’: An interview with Bibi Bakare-Yusuf from Cassava Republic Press

This week for the BookBrunch interview, I chatted with Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, one of the founders of Cassava Republic Press, a leading African trade publisher who has just expanded to the UK. Read the full article over on BookBrunch.Bibi_Bakare_Yusuf.jpg

Bibi Bakare-Yusuf is one of those infectiously inspirational women who leave you feeling very hopeful about the future of publishing. She has a cast-iron confidence in the lists of her publishing house, Cassava Republic Press, which she co-founded ten years ago in Nigeria, and her positivity about their recent move to the UK shines through. Here, we discuss Cassava Republic’s beginnings, UK expansion and how African writing fits into the wider world.

Continue reading “BookBrunch | ‘One country at a time, one book at a time’: An interview with Bibi Bakare-Yusuf from Cassava Republic Press”

BookBrunch Interviews: Double-Whammy

A fortnight’s worth of BookBrunch interviews for you, one with the marvellous and truly friendly Vivian French from Picturehooks, the other with the busiest man in town, Unbound’s Scott Pack

Vivian French.png
“It’s really embarrassing because the answer is I don’t know how many books I’ve published! It’s more than 250 – in fact, it’s probably crawling up towards really rather ridiculous numbers – but I always excuse myself by saying I have been around a rather long time. My first books were published in 1990!”

Vivian French on the Picturehooks Conference and being a children’s author. Read the full article here.

Continue reading “BookBrunch Interviews: Double-Whammy”