Baking and Book Covers

Wednesday was a very busy day.

As part of my publishing course we are involved in 'live projects', attempting to produce two books in both print and electronic format. In order to raise funds for this, we held a bake sale on Wednesday at our campus. The idea was instrumented by our brilliant marketing team, headed by Kelly Hamister, and we all brought in baking to tempt the people of Merchiston. The result was a feast for anyone with a sweet tooth. We outdid ourselves - authentic American chocolate chip cookies, rock cakes, chocolate truffles, and Chinese onion biscuits (which were delicious!).

Some of the sweet treats we served up

The marketing team went with a vintage theme in honour of one of the books we hope to publish. They dressed up for the occasion and they had music, which created a brilliant atmosphere. Passers-by were certainly intrigued and by lunch a lot of the baking had been sold. By the end of the day quite a few of the treats had sold out. I'm very happy to report that the bake sale raised £241! I don't think any of us expected it to be such a huge success and we are all very proud of our marketing team. This money will go towards our marketing materials, such as bookmarks and promotional teabags.

That evening I attended the 'Do You Judge A Book By Its Cover' event at Blackwell's on South Bridge. I must confess to being ever-so-slightly obsessed with book covers. One of the things I love most about physical books is how pretty they look lined up on my book shelf. Since starting my publishing course this interest in cover design has grown as I've learned just what goes into making a book look the way it does. InDesign and I may have our issues, but I enjoy the creativity involved in designing a book cover. So, when I heard about this event, I was determined to attend.

The book at the heart of the event was Far Rockaway, by Charlie Fletcher. The paperback cover was designed by Astrid Jaeckel, a student from the Edinburgh College of Art, as part of a competition held in conjunction with the College. Both author and illustrator were present at the event, along with Anne McNeil from Hodder, Jonathan Gibbs from Edinburgh College of Art, and Janet Smyth from the Edinburgh Book Festival.

The discussion was based around Far Rockaway but it threw up a lot of ideas and discussion about book cover design in general. Anne McNeil stated that the jacket design should encompass the heart of the book and reach out to potential readers. I found it interesting when she spoke of the collaborative process involved in designing a book's cover. Until I started this course I didn't give much thought to the process. My only exposure to it was while on work experience at Luath Press. The designer would come in for meetings with authors on a Tuesday, and though I saw the author, designer and publishing team sitting together at these meetings it always seemed to me as if the designer was the one directing everything. The more I learn about publishing, however, the more I am realising that departments have to collaborate and that no decision can be made without consultation.

One of the main things I took away from the event was the importance of the market. McNeil spoke at length about the influence of bookshop trends and the decision that is often taken to make a cover more 'commercial' so that it will be easily identifiable to the readers. This is something I can relate to. Just today I spied a book in a book store and the style of the cover immediately alerted me to the fact it was a historical romance in the vein of Philippa Gregory. So, you see, there is so much more to a book's cover than the image. It is a fascinating process, one based on careful consideration and involving more than just the designer. It is, I would argue, one of the most crucial decisions made about a book. I know that attractive covers have influenced my purchases in the past.

I have my suspicions that I am just a nerd, but if you think about it I'm sure you will be able to think about book covers that you have loved and loathed. Let me know which ones. We can maybe start a club!

Annette xx

'Jellicles Come to the Jellicle Ball'

Last Friday I went to the Edinburgh Playhouse to see Cats. It bought the tickets as a Christmas gift for my mum because she loves the musical to pieces. I can't even remember when I first became obsessed with Cats. I was probably about 9 or 10 and the DVD of the specially recorded performance had just come out. Mum bought it and we watched it over and over. I quickly got my hands on a copy of the original soundtrack and soon I knew the words to every song. My friends and I even used to stage 'productions' of it in my bedroom. I saw it in the theatre for the first time about ten years ago and this is the second live production I have been to see.

Maybe it is the immediacy of the memory or maybe it was because we were in the second row and had the most amazing view ever, but this is my favourite production so far. It was spellbinding and the cast were terrific. I can't praise them enough.

The most amazing set ever

Look at that stage! We spent ages picking out pieces of the rubbish. My favourite was the huge tin of Felix. The opening with the flashing cats eyes took my breath away. It is one thing to see it on a DVD, but to experience if for real is thrilling.

And then the cats came out. I simply love the fact they interact with the audience so much. It makes it all the more fun. As I said before, the entire cast was wonderful, but I have to mention my personal favourites. First of all, Oliver Savile as Rum Tum Tugger blew me away. The Tugger is one of my favourite cats, and Savile had all the panache, sex appeal and haughtiness that the role demands. He got him down to an absolute T. When he swooped into the audience to ask one of the ladies to dance we were all cheering and his air guitar with his tail at the curtain call was hilarious. Melissa James was an amazing Bombalurina. Her facial expressions were spot-on especially during the Macavity number. From now on she will be the standard by which I measure all other Bombalurinas. On the night one of the understudies was playing the role of Mistofelees. I think it was Joel Morris, but I could be wrong. At any rate, this was the best performance of Mistofelees I've seen. His expressions of wonder and pride when he brought Old Deuteronomy back from Macavity's clutches were perfect. That particular number was a stand-out. The whole audience were singing and clapping along and the pyrotechnics were amazing.

The role of Grizabella is, of course, the most important and while I don't think anyone will ever be able to banish Elaine Paige from my mind, Joanna Ampil in this production was spectacular. She put her heart and soul into the performance and her rendition of Memory was breathtaking. I could feel every emotion while she was singing.

But, the show for me was well and truly stolen by Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. I am probably ridiculously biased here. They have always been my favourite Cats right from the very first time I watched the DVD. In fact, when I was a kid I wanted to be Rumpleteazer. I'd still say that if I was an actress that would be my dream role (closely followed by Christine in Phantom). I adore the DVD interpretation of them, but the actors playing them in this production stole my heart. I have to confess to being totally distracted by their every antic in the background during Gus the Theatre Cat and Mistofeeles. They played them with such humour and affection. Their little hugs and kisses on the cheeks were adorable and I must confess to doing an inward 'aww' when, during Gus the Theatre cat, Mungojerrie put his hand on Rumpleteazer's heart when Gus sings 'I'd a voice that would soften the hardest of hearts.' They were perfect and future Mungojerries and Rumpleteazer's will have a lot to live up to!

It was a brilliant night and I urge you all if you haven't seen it yet to get yourselves down to the Playhouse. The cast make this one production you don't want to miss! I fancy going back to see them myself.

Annette xx

Venturing into Blogging

Not quite sure how to start this so I'm just gonna dive right in. My lecturer is always telling us to start blogging, but I've resisted so far because I'm not sure I actually have anything interesting to say for myself. Then my friends, Clare and Lauren set up a blog to document their challenge of meeting the 13 goals they set for themselves for 2013, and it inspired me so much I decided to try blogging for myself (you can follow these two amazing girls and chart their progress here: http://wakeupyourluck.blogspot.co.uk/). They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, so for this first post I'm gonna list my own goals.

1. To be more proactive - I'm not one for putting myself forward. I like to fade into the background and not be noticed. But this year I want to push myself into taking on bigger roles in the projects I'm involved in and to do things that would normally scare me. I'm always complaining about not having done anything with my life thus far. Well, that's because I haven't really tried. This is the time to do something about that.

2. To exercise more - I'm a Libra and we have a natural affinity for lounging about. Unfortunately this leads to putting on weight, so in the interests of losing weight and being healthy, I want to at least try and work out every week. I keep talking about joining an exercise class, but I never do it. I want to try zumba, so let's see if I can motivate myself into joining the class at the local gym.

3. To take the first step in getting a job in publishing - I'm (hopefully) already half-way there through doing my MSc, but I want to do more. Part of my course involves a placement and I really want to try and organise more work experience, especially in London. It's my dream to work in London and all the publishing houses I am interested in are there. If I can get some work experience at one of them that would be amazing. It would also fulfil my first goal. I'm always saying I want to go to London but I never have, making cost an issue. A placement there would force me to step out of my comfort zone.

So, those are my goals. There are only three because a) I want to be realistic and I think the fewer there are, the more likely I am to fulfil them, and b) I couldn't think of any more! Let's see if I can see them through over the year. Wish me luck!

Annette xx