Laura Summers co-founded BookMachine in 2010, initially as an informal way for publishers to meet each other at events, and then as a popular site for anyone building a publishing career. The team have now organised over 100 events. In 2017 she launched BookMachine Works, a creative events and marketing agency, specialising in the publishing industry. You can browse through upcoming events on BookMachine.org or join BookMachine from £5/month

How did you get into publishing?
‍I absolutely loved my first job as a TEFL teacher in Spain and when I decided to move back to London, a publishing job working with textbooks seemed like a great career move.

I was a copyeditor for the first two years, before moving into sales and later into marketing.

When did you set up BookMachine and why?
‍A number of years later I relocated to Brighton. I feared losing touch with so many of my publishing friends, so a few of us from Pearson decided that we would organise our own get-togethers each month to keep in touch. Our first event was in a dark pub near Great Portland Street. The rest is history…

How do you help publishers?
‍BookMachine is now my full time job and I work with a team of 10 brilliant freelancers. We organise regular events as part of our Unplugged series. This event series helps publishers tap into the knowledge of our network, and ensures that they remain at the forefront of the industry.

We also run training courses to help publishers with the more technical skills involved in working across the industry.

Then there is the agency arm of BookMachine, BookMachine Works. We help publishers on a day-to-day basis by creating marketing campaigns and running events. For some clients, we drop in on a regular basis to focus on one area of the digital marketing mix. For others, we might fill in a gap whilst they are looking to recruit.

Where do you see the opportunity for publishers over the coming 18 months?

Recent turbulent times in politics have provided an opportunity for all publishers to educate and inform their readership. Whether you are publishing a textbook, a biography, a children’s book or a novel – reading books can help us to make sense of the changes in the world around us.

If you had to offer 5 top tips for marketeers in publishing houses what would they be?

• Look outside of the industry
  ‍We love talking to each other in publishing, but there is only so much we can learn by talking to people with similar career trajectories. Look outside of the industry to hire folks and similarly to inspire strategy, campaigns and an understanding of human behaviour.
• ‍Collaborate
  ‍Most publishing businesses can grow faster by collaborating with others. Rather than re-inventing the wheel with each new list/initiative, why not create an opportunity to collaborate? I am particularly inspired by the collaboration between Penguin and Rework. What a brilliant way for a publisher to reach businesses large and small.
• ‍Invest in your campaigns
  ‍Our most successful clients invest in their marketing campaigns. They know that you need to speculate to accumulate and they use wise analytics and tracking to make sure that the returns are worth the investment.
• ‍Look after your mental health
  ‍Take regular breaks and do some form of exercise. It will provide you with the resilience to manage the natural highs and lows of your working life. Long working hours and huge workloads can take their toll. Prioritise yourself to make sure you can thrive in your role.
• ‍Keep learning new things
  ‍There are endless ways to keep learning new things. Sign up to a course on Linkedin, attend a training day, read or listen to an audio book on your journey to the office, subscribe to a podcast or an industry magazine. The more you learn, the more productive you will become. You will have more to contribute and your confidence will grow.