Can jamie byng really have been the wild child entrepreneur of the publishing industry. Independent publishers face many challenges in todays market. He works for the independent publishing firm canongate books, where he is publisher and managing director. Jamie byng has bought a memoir of a former publisher in the us whose life descended into drugfuelled chaos. Jamie byng s sense of humour is pretty organic, too. Canongate boss jamie byng tells director how the fleetfooted edinburgh publisher has achieved growth by making shrewd acquisitions and staying true to its conviction that quality can defeat mighty multinational rivals. What you can do with graphics and moving images creates a lot of possibilities for a publisher that have never existed before, said jamie byng, canongates publisher. Established in 1974, severn house began republishing outofprint titles by popular library authors. Not that he gives a damn since scooping the booker prize last week, hes been hailed as the most dynamic figure in. Severn house publishers is an independent publisher of fiction in hardcover and ebooks. Canongate boss jamie byng tells director how the fleetfooted edinburgh publisher has achieved growth by making shrewd acquisitions and. Likewise, another classic edinburgh story of the 19th century, james hoggs. In 2011, canongate ceo jamie byng founded world book night to encourage reading.
Jamie byng, that touslehaired student, would become the saviour of canongate. Perhaps its most ambitious effort was in 2006, when canongate publisher jamie byng teamed with grove atlantic publisher morgan entrekin to form the canongate u. Canongate books often simply canongate is an independent publishing firm based in edinburgh, scotland. Robert webbs how not to be a boy recently broadcast as book of the week on bbc radio 4currently seems to be the most talkedabout book in the country. The series was launched october 22nd, 2005 after nearly seven years of work. Their publishing program remains as inspired as ever and i know our. A few years ago, he was the publisher not afraid to talk. It is most recognised for publishing the booker prizewinner life of pi. His stepfather is sir christopher bland, exchairman of bt and the bbc, and properly addressed, he is the honourable jamie byng, son of the earl of strafford. Jamie byng, managing director of canongate books, describes the risks and most famous releases from his publishing career. Severn house specialises in publishing midlist authors in both the uk and the usa.
The project is the brainchild of jamie byng,a publisher at cognate books. She had founded publisher canongate in 1973 and almost didnt respond because the firm was struggling with its team of seven. In 2011, canongate ceo jamie byng founded world book night to. She is a member of front street writers, a program where high school students are. Their goal was to assemble some of the top authors in the world and have them retell a myth or legend in their words how they would tell the story. Our passion for the books we publish often spills beyond their pages. He works for the independent publishing firm canongate books. Pgw welcomes canongate back in north america ingram. Lazy publishing, says canongates jamie byng, is just a disservice to what books can be. Byng snaps up tale of expublishers drugs battle the. And letters live, inspired by shaun ushers letters of note and simon garfields to the letter, has become an ongoing celebration of the art of letterwriting through performance.
That she did was the best business decision she ever made. Canongate was named the british book awards, publisher of the year in 2003 and 2009. James edmund byng born 27 june 1969 is a british publisher. About canongate independent, awardwinning book publisher. Slightly disappointingly, he is sipping herbal tea.