The U.K. publisher has survived waves of digital disruption and is now launching a U.S. list.
How have you managed to survive the ups and downs in this period of change in publishing?
We got very lucky in the beginning. Publishing Diana: Her True Story, which became the bestselling book in the world, was extraordinary. We were a company of only 10 people at the time. We’ve never relied on agents to bring us books—we dream up our own books. Having just been distributed in the U.S. for years, we’re now going to publish in the U.S. with Two Rivers. We’re starting with 34 titles this fall and expect to publish 70 next year. My wife and I have done it all together from day one.
Are you concerned about the current decline in reading?
I’ve been told the end is nigh for books for a long time. I remember someone telling me the CD-ROM would replace books in 10
years. It is the case that there’s an attention-span gap. If you want to capture attention, you’ve got to get in there fast and loud. But books have to have depth. They’re different from a temporary source of information, especially now.
What are your thoughts on the future of books and AI?
The book is still the best technology for getting ideas across. It’s physical. It’s permanent. You can get lost in it. The book becomes part of your life. I think AI will take away a lot of the dogsbody work. But it can’t create
something new. It can’t write Catch-22.
