Always Take Notes

Kassia interviews Nicola Solomon, chief executive of the Society of Authors, the British trade union for all types of writers, illustrators and literary translators. The SoA specialises in protecting authors' interests in negotiations and disputes with agents and publishers. Nicola discusses freedom of expression, explains how the publishing industry has changed over the past century and how to get a fair book contract. www.societyofauthors.org/ You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Simon and Kassia interview Peter Frankopan, a historian at Oxford University and director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research. His latest book 'The Silk Roads : A New History of the World' proved a No 1 bestseller all over the world, topping the nonfiction charts in India, Pakistan, China and the UK, where it remained in the Top 10 for 10 months. Peter discusses what it feels like to be at the centre of a publishing whirlwind, the unlikely circumstances in which he first got his literary agent, and his views on the current political scene. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook at facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and James Edgar designed our logo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Simon interviews Giles Wilson, the founding editor of the BBC News Magazine and now creative director at Harpoon Productions. Giles discusses how and why the BBC started commissioning longer written pieces online, and the future of longform journalism in the UK and beyond. The three stories Giles mentions are: * Reykjavik Confessions www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/…ec_7617/index.html * The Village and the Girl www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt…-a0eb-4ef064900f92 * The Uncatchable www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/…ec_8700/index.html You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook atfacebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting our live events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the third episode of Always Take Notes, Simon and Kassia interview Laura Barber, publishing director at Portobello Books and editorial director at Granta. Laura discusses the differences between the two imprints she works on; how books can be both bought off-proposal from agents or — less often — commissioned by publishers; and the kinds of writing that she finds exciting. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, on Twitter @takenotesalways, and on Facebook atfacebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Ed Kiernan. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting our live events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the second episode of Always Take Notes, Simon and Kassia talk to Imogen Pelham. Imogen is a literary agent at Marjacq, an agency based in London, where she represents both literary fiction and non-fiction authors. She explains the mysteries of book advances and the different ways she sells novels and non-fiction to publishers. Imogen also spoke about how to get into the industry, and gives tips to aspiring authors and agents. You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, @takenotesalways on Twitter, and facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Kassia St Clair and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Olivia Crellin. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting our live events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the first episode of the Always Take Notes podcast Simon and Kassia interview Jonathan Beckman, the deputy editor of 1843 (the lifestyle and culture magazine from The Economist) and author of the award-winning 'How to Ruin a Queen.' Jonathan previously worked at the Literary Review, where he ran the Bad Sex Awards – indeed that's how Kassia first met him… You can find us online at alwaystakenotes.com, @takenotesalways on Twitter, and facebook.com/alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Kassia St Clair and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Elizabeth Davies. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices