Introducing The Modern Publisher's Reading List

I had a brainwave recently. I didn't know as much as I wanted to about some bits of the business I work in, and being somewhat bookish I decided I'd read my way around the problem.

I had visions of a recommended reading list for publishers, authors, booksellers and anyone else with an interest in the modern book business; a carefully-curated list brimming with valuable information about where it’s come from, where it might be going and the skills and knowledge we all need in order to tackle the challenges we're facing.

As with so many of these good ideas the reality was more prosaic. I spent five minutes trying to find this mythical list, realised it didn't exist and quickly shelved the idea in the "it's a shame someone hasn't done this already" pile. Then I got a coffee, went to a meeting and never did any of the reading. Lazy boy.

Unlike most of these brain-fart moments though, this idea didn't go away. I work with business books and I try to keep up with the state of the industry, so every so often something would come along that felt like it might deserve a place on the list. So after a considerable amount of procrastination I've finally decided that since no-one else is likely to solve this problem for me, I'd probably better do something about it myself.

My plan - to give credit where credit's due - is stolen wholesale from Josh Kaufman's wonderful The Personal MBA. I'm going to try and read my way through as many relevant books as I can, blog my thoughts on each as I go, and try and come up with a manageable list of recommended reading.

  

Without further ado I'd love to hear your suggestions. What should go on the reading pile? I’m particularly interested in:

-          * Books about the business itself e.g. Merchants of Culture, Michael Bhaskar’s The Content Machine

-          * Books about the wider media business and the cultural and economic context in which publishing operates  e.g. The Everything Store, Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent

-          * Books on the future of business in the digital age e.g. The Curve, The Lean Startup, The Innovator’s Dilemma

-          * Practical how-to books about skills e.g. Growth Hacker Marketing by Ryan Holiday, Contagious by Jonah Berger

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If you have any recommendations please comment here or get in touch via twitter (@richardmlennon). You'll earn my eternal thanks.

I'll post again next week with a long-list based on your suggestions and a bit of my own research, before hurling myself headlong into the reading.

Wish me luck.