5 books for a beginner publisher

We’ve been given lots of book recommendations so far in our four weeks at UCL – but where does a beginner publisher start? Lucky for you, I’ve found 5 books that I think will allow an easy way to begin to understand what publishing is all about!

1. The Professional’s Guide to Publishing by Gill Davies and Richard Balkwill

If you’re to read one book on this list, this should be it. This book covers everything: from editorial and production to sales and marketing. For anyone looking for a more practical guide to the publishing world, this might be your go-to.

2. Hit Lit by James W. Hall

What makes a bestseller? Hall looks at 12 bestsellers of the 20th century such as To Kill A Mockingbird and Jaws to examine what exactly makes a bestseller. This book is an extremely fun and easy read, whilst still giving valuable insights into the world of the bestseller.

3. The Naked Author by Alison Baverstock

This is a very interesting book to read for publishers, simply because it comes from the author’s point of view. This answers all sorts of practical questions, such as how book design actually works, to how to copywrite effectively.

4. Eats Shoots and Leaves

Struggling with the copyediting side of our publishing degree? Eats Shoots and Leaves is a simple way to come to terms with punctuation, as well as being witty and delightfully British, to boot.

5. The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time by Keith Houston

And finally, this is an absolutely gorgeous book that gives a history of the book in all of its glory. Containing full-colour illustrations and a delightful break-down of the parts found in a book, this is a book that is sure to educate and entertain (as well as potentially help with the Publishing Contexts assignment!)

All of these books are available at the UCL library. Go forth and read!