I’ve just had a delightful meeting with Emma Cahill co-founder of publishing house Snowbooks. They describe their approach thus:
We publish far fewer titles than some publishers- but this makes for very, very good books. We give ourselves enough time to make sure each book is as well written, well edited, well designed and well produced as it can be. And we only publish books which are good enough to raise the hairs on the back of our necks…
I liked the sound of this, and Emma had come heartily recommended by my friend Jack Yan. I went to kick around the idea of doing a book with Jack. What followed was a long, rambling, entertaining conversation. Emma’s plan for taking the idea forward was simple… let’s have more, deeper conversations. I could tell she meant it. This is about as human and intelligent a description of a “business process” as you will find and beats the pants off the usual parade of matrices, boxes and trademarked “tools” and “instruments” I’m used to seeing.
What a relief to find another person in business who actually recognises the value of conversation and building relationships. And her company seems to really get authenticity: they’re publishing what interests them, they’re not following publishing conventions they don’t like, and – best of all – they really want to engage with their authors instead of keeping them at arm’s length.
Watch this company!
