Bloomsbury Publishing has been in business for almost forty years. Last year it earned £361.0 million. Over the past five years it’s taken in more than £1.4 Billion. It’s one of, if not the most successful publishing ventures of the past century. How does this work? I asked Founder and Chief Executive Nigel Newton.

Here we talk about, among other things, Frank Newton — Nigel’s prospecting, race car-driving grandfather; about Peter, his wine-making father; about book publishing and stock picking; the acquisition A&C Black; The Garrick Club; ‘romantasy’ and Sarah J. Maas; Liz Calder; floatation in 1994; aspiring to be mid-sized; Christopher Little; J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter being a fluke; Amazon observing territorial copyright; AI licensing agreements as unforeseen backlist windfalls; suing AI companies; ideal publishing companies; surviving medically; Emotional Intelligence; The History of Bloomsbury Publishing coming out in April, 2027 to celebrate 40th years in business; Anthony Blonde’s book - not The Truth about Publishing. It’s either The Publishing Game (1971) or The Book Book (1983) (for sure I own at least one of these, and I’m going to say, almost 100%, it’s signed); foreign rights; and how to lead a happy, fulfilling life.

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