Piatkus Books started as a small U.K. publisher focused on supplying books to libraries. Judy Piatkus founded her second publishing company in 1978, while still in her 20s. This episode tells the story of the company's founding and early days, up through its growth into fiction, international sales, and £10M in revenue before selling in 2007, just ahead of the global financial crisis.

People Discussed

00:00 | Judy Piatkus — Founder of Piatkus Books; author of Ahead of Her Time
06:42 | Edwin Buckhalter — Co-founder with Piatkus of Severn House (sold to him in 1978)
13:14 | V. C. Andrews — Bestselling Gothic/romance novelist
13:19 | Danielle Steel — Prolific romance novelist and perennial bestseller
16:51 | Mary Berry — British baking icon; author of multiple Piatkus cookbooks
19:25 | Nora Roberts — American author and perennial bestseller
19:25 | J. D. Robb — Nora Roberts’s pen name for the “In Death” series
14:33 | James Patterson — Thriller writer, covered in Episode 7 and Episode 8

Bibliography

Ahead of Her Time (2021) by Judy Piatkus:
https://www.amazon.com/Ahead-Her-Time-Judy-Piatkus/dp/1786785315

The Great Crash 1929 (Piatkus 2008 edition) by John Kenneth Galbraith:
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Crash-Market-Plunged-Depression/dp/0749909870

“Marketing James Patterson” (2002) — Harvard Business School case by John Deighton:
https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/505029-PDF-ENG

Episodes Referenced

Episode 9 - Covering Ingram Book's start as the Tennessee Book Depository
Episode 8 - Covering James Patterson's Marketing on Along Came a Spider, including Patterson's view of book clubs.