If you have been part of this community for a while, you’ll know I am keen to share whatever I can about the process of writing and getting a book published.
It is hard enough to get a book published when you know what you are doing, and it can seem like an unscalable wall when you don’t.
Having published 12 books, co-authored another 4, and taken the photographs for 20 or so, I can help1.
As part of this, I’ll be talking to other people who can shed some light.
I’m delighted to say that Rowan Yapp, Head of Lifestyle at Bloomsbury, is joining us for a live zoom conversation.
Rowan is highly respected in publishing, having established and grown a high calibre list of non-fiction writers: Bloomsbury’s food list includes Tom Kerridge, Paul Hollywood, Olia Hercules, Ella Risbridger, Angela Hartnett and River Cottage.
I am Head of Bloomsbury Lifestyle where we publish lifestyle and cookbooks that are excellent quality and relevant to modern readers. Our cookery list includes standout brands like Dishoom and Tom Kerridge, as well as exciting new voices like Poppy Cooks and Georgina Hayden. Our lifestyle books range from big stylish books through to on-trend gift-books.
In 2023 I co-created the wellbeing imprint, Tonic, with an emphasis on invigorating books for better living. Launch authors included Griefcast founder Cariad Lloyd and walking expert Annabel Streets.
Previously I worked for ten years at Penguin Random House in the Vintage Division where my cookery authors included Rukmini Iyer’s bestselling Roasting Tin series and the incredible Nigella Lawson. I also published gift and general non-fiction with authors such as Lucy Mangan and Simon Amstell.
What
A live zoom conversation with Rowan, who has agreed to talk with us about any aspect of how to go about getting a book published.
We’ll be talking about how to approach publishers, what to avoid, what makes a good proposal, what she’s looking for, how to stand out and much more.
When: Thursday 22 February at 9.30am GMT
Format
This will be a Zoom meeting, lasting 45-60 minutes
Cost
It is free.
Attending
This event is for paid subscribers.
And once you are subscribed, you have to register (see below) to attend.
Please only register if you are definitely attending - numbers will be limited.
I mentioned this before Christmas, and a number of you expressed your interest and your place is reserved for a week from today. Please still reply to this so I know you are definitely attending.
How do I register
If you are already a paid subscriber, you will have received this by email, in which case please reply to this email saying you’d like to attend: if there is a place available, I will reply confirming your registration and send the zoom link.
If you are a free subscriber, you’ll need to upgrade (click the button below) to become a paid subscriber. Once done, please reply to this email saying you’d like to attend: if there is a place available, I will reply confirming your registration and send the zoom link.
If you are not a subscriber to The Imperfect Umbrella, and are looking at this online:
subscribe as a paid subscriber (click the link above)
once you have subscribed, email me and - if there is a place available - I will reply confirming registration and with the zoom link
Questions
We want this to be as useful as it can be to you. While we have things we know will be interesting to cover, the more of this that responds to your needs, the better.
If you are attending, you can email me a question for Rowan and we will try to cover the topics raised. As you might imagine, we’ll prioritise the most frequently asked questions and cover the most popular topics, but also include the most interesting one-offs.
Lastly
In order to protect attendees privacy and encourage relaxed openness, I will not be uploading a film of this after the event.
I hope to see you there.
Mark
Rowan a very wise and creative publishing head!