A fascinating and funny look at what really goes into the making of a book
Sunday Times
A masterpiece
Daily Mail
Inject this straight into my veins!
Lucy Mangan Engaging, informative, and fascinating!
David Bellos, author
Is That a Fish in Your Ear?
Beautifully written, unbelievably well informed and utterly fascinating - I adored it.
Shaun Bythell, author
The Diary of a Bookseller
Chock-full of the kind of anecdotes that are catnip for booklovers
Financial Times
A revelatory account of how books get made, and a delightful hymn to human collaboration. No really: you'll be entertained on every page!
Rebecca Gowers, author of 'Horrible Words: A Guide to the Misuse of English' Bibliophiles will really enjoy this ... Rebecca Lee takes you on a journey - a book's journey - and there's never a dull moment. She moves skilfully back and forth between fascinating book-making history to delightful modern-day anecdotes from both her own experience and other experts in the book-publishing profession.
Hana Videen, author of 'The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English' A bibliophile's paradise, a trove of inside stories and fascinating facts. The journey made by words, from the mind of an author to the printed page, is surprisingly complex and often hilarious, and Rebecca Lee is the perfect guide.
Henry Eliot, author of The Penguin Classics Book Everything you could want to know, and a whole lot more you didn't even know you wanted, about the history and process of writing. Fascinating stories, secrets and nuggets of advice from inside the belly of the publishing beast. You'll finish this book wanting to get started on your own, and knowing exactly how to go about it.
Edward Brooke-Hitching, author
The Madman's Library
A book full of good words about how words get good. Drawing on wide reading and long experience, Rebecca Lee shines a light on the talented people who work behind the scenes to bring the best possible version of a book to its readers. Revealing, readable and fun.
Tom Mole, author
The Secret Lives of Books
Any bibliophile will find many enjoyable nuggets in this compendium of book chat
Stephen Poole
Guardian
An engaging little eye-opener about the publishing business, full of tasty nuggets about books, writers and their editors
Sunday Times
Many enjoyable digressions ... An engaging guide to the behind-the-scenes work involved in getting a book published ... Insightful
Independent
From ghost writers to grammar, from translation to typesetting, she proves a lively and engaging guide to the long process of making a book, tracing its history from the ancient world to the modern day. ... A funny and illuminating peek into publishing below stairs.
Mail on Sunday
Excellent and much-needed ..... I am not sure I have ever read anything as good on the process of getting a book into print. ... A straightforward masterpiece.
Daily Mail
A very amiable, freely digressive omniumgatherum of book-related bits and pieces ... Interesting and unexpected
Sam Leith
Times Literary Supplement
Cheerful, clearheaded
Buzz magazine