Thank you to everyone who came to the Start Something that Matters Launch Party last night! TOMS did a great job of laying on the event. Staff from across Random House gathered in our canteen to celebrate the launch of Blake Mycoskie’s Start Something that Matters - the inspirational story behind TOMS shoes.

To give you some background… TOMS started in 2006 as the company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need - Since 2006, TOMS has given over 2 million pairs of shoes to children in need.

Blake Mycoskie, the charismatic entrepreneur behind TOMS, tells us how he achieved his goal – incorporating something he was passionate about whilst finding success in the process.

It really is an incredible story and we’re very excited to be publishing the book here in the UK. I hope you’ve all had a chance to have a look at the copies we gave out last night!

We had an incredibly enthusiastic response to the event last night– and I know that we’ve all been enjoying looking at each other’s customized TOMS!

Just some logistical details about looking after your shoes: Seal the colour, by putting a dry tea-towel over the shoe and ironing over it.

Video Clip

Last week I joined Ebury Illustrated Senior Editor Imogen Fortes and author Juliet Sears on a photoshoot for Juliet’s book, The Cake Decorating Bible, which we are publishing next year.

Armed with a long list of shots to get through, we meet at the studio early to make the most of the light. On the list of shots was some step-by-step sequences, to show readers exactly how techniques are done, as well as finished images for some of the recipes. Many of the cakes were pre-baked but Juliet spent much of the day icing and decorating them, some in parts, for shooting.

Lucky for me this meant that there were delicious cupcakes, cakes, icing and cake decorations in every stage all in need of eating once their photo had been taken.

We also had some fun building mini sets for the final shots with the boxes of props that had been delivered. It was such a busy and fun day that I thought you might like to have a little look at what we got up to…

Kasi - Press Officer

What’s your most Awkward Situation? Tell us in the comments below or tweet us using hashtag #awkward before the end of today to win one of 20 copies of Danny Wallace’s new book, More Awkward Situations for Men.

Three part interview premieres on Corey Taylor’s website on July 5th

“I’ve been threatening to write a book for a long time, but since every Tom, Dick and Harry writes an autobiography, I didn’t want to just do that. My approach to writing is the same as my approach to music: I don’t want to do what everybody else is doing,” says Slipknot and Stone Sour front man Corey Taylor about his upcoming book, Seven Deadly Sins. That Metal Show’s Jim Florentine recently conducted an in-depth interview with Corey about the book, his life, and his music, and the conversation will premiere on Corey’s website http://www.thecoreytaylor.com, starting on July 5. Much like the book itself, it’s a riveting and personal discussion, and we’re airing it in three parts so fans don’t miss a word of it. The three parts of the interview will premiere on three Tuesdays in July (July 5, 12, and 19) on Corey Taylor’s website, each at 5pm eastern time.

Seven Deadly Sins is Taylor’s candid, outrageous manifesto reflecting on the subject and nature of sin. The book will be released July 12 in the U.S and July 14 in the U.K. Read more about it here.

Check Corey Taylor’s website for other worldwide release dates.

See a short clip of the interview here.

Last week saw the launch of Walking the Amazon – Ed Stafford’s breathtaking account of his world-first expedition along the length of the Amazon River from source to sea.

Waterstones Piccadilly’s 5th view was bursting at the seams with over 120 of Ed Stafford’s friends, family, and fellow Leicester man and England Rugby coach Martin Johnson.Watch a video from the launch event below:

Ed and his walking partner Cho were much in demand, posing for photos and signing copies of Walking the Amazon. Cho has fulfilled his dream of living in the UK and has been living a quintessentially English life with Ed’s Mum in Leicestershire, playing Rugby for the local team. A lively auction of expedition memorabilia and signed prints by the expedition photographer Keith Ducatel also took place to raise money for Cho’s return to Peru, raising over £1500.

Ed’s not only a remarkable man but also a fantastic writer. His blunt and self-effacing honesty shines through Walking the Amazon and he gives a real insight into the psychological pressures as well as the excitement and adventure of a daily routine which involved wading through swamps full of piranha, fishing in caiman-infested lakes, passing through some of the most notorious drug-trafficking zones in the world and staying with indigenous tribes.

If you’d like to get your hands on a signed copy of Walking The Amazon we have 10 to give away to the first ten people to email Jenny on jrowley@eburypublishing.co.uk.

After London events at The National Geographic Store and Escape the City, Ed is now off on a national tour, which he will be blogging about on MSN Travel. You can catch Ed at the following venues:

• Tues 14th HALIFAX Victoria Theatre;
• Wed 15th DERBY Assembly Rooms ;
• Thurs 16th SALFORD The Lowry;
• Fri 17th LLANDUDNO Venue Cymru;
• Sat 18th DURHAM The Gala;
• Mon 20th BUXTON Opera House;
• Wed 22nd TELFORD The Place;
• Thurs 23rd MALVERN Malvern Theatres;
• Fri 24th BRECON Brychieniog;
• Mon 27th INVERNESS Eden Court.

Today sees the publication of Tom Aikens’ third cookbook, Tom Aikens Easy. Tom is a well known name in foodie circles and his last two books Tom Aikens Cooking and Fish have been received brilliantly by both Tom’s fans and press. Easy sees a bit of a change of direction and Tom brings us 200 simple yet tasty recipes that are perfect for the busy home chef.

Last week Tom kindly agreed to be filmed cooking some dishes from the book. As if to illustrate that Easy really was an apt title for the book Tom cooked 6 dishes from start to finish in just under two and a half hours!

Tom cooked Sardines with Shallot Chutney, Peppered Goats Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Figs and Walnuts, Spring Vegetable Tarte Fine, Salmon Baked with Juniper and Lemon Thyme, Spatchcocked Poussins with Lemon, Green Olives and Rosemary and finally Chocolate Pain Perdu – PHEW!

The recipes really were simple and fast and all made with readily available ingredients that you can pick up from the supermarket.

Watch Tom preparing the Peppered Goats Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Figs and Walnuts:

Perfect for this lovely weather we are having and really, really yummy (she says peering down at her increasingly large tummy!).

Louise - Marketing Executive

My week just gets better and better. On Wednesday I was filming Tom Aikens cooking from his new cookbook Tom Aikens: Easy and today I was filming with the wonderful Anna Hansen cook delicious dishes from her stunning new book The Modern Pantry.

Anna’s book The Modern Pantry is out in June and we are all giddy with excitement about it at Ebury towers. We’ve already become addicted to her delicious food after she kindly did delicious cakes and biscuits for our sales conference (the Ginger Crunch is already a firm favourite of the Ebury bakers) and the spreads from the book have had us all drooling.

Today Anna was filming 3 videos of her cooking some of her most famous dishes for us to share with you all soon. I spent Wednesday night pouring over the recipes and ordering up all the ingredients we needed for the shoot. Everything was available to buy on one online grocery site which I though was pretty good except that the tub of ice cream I had ordered up turned out to be theatre interval sized! Still, we had everything and were ready to go.

Anna cooked her signature dish first, Sugar Cured Prawn Omelette with Smoked Chilli Sambal which was really pretty simple to make. You marinate the prawns for a day in advance but its quick to prepare and so worth it. Brilliant and really different. All Anna’s tastes are really fresh and clean but with amazing fusions of taste. The sort of thing you’d never image you could create at home, but I can testify to the fact that you can (it was filmed in a team member’s kitchen)!

She then went on to make her version of the popular classic honey comb ice cream flavour ‘Hokey Pokey Ice-cream. If you don’t know what this is, its like the inside of a Crunchie and its crazily fun to make. You heat all the sugary lovely ingredients, add bicarbonate of soda and watch is woosh into a massive load of honeycomb goodness. The one we made today looked like it might consume the whole house for a moment but it stopped growing just as we thought it might escape everywhere (Anna knew it wouldn’t of course!).

Finally Anna made her Crunchy Beetroot, Puy Lentil and Mint Salad with Pomegranate Molasses and Orange Dressing. Quick to put together and full of rich earthy flavours set off by fresh mint and orange flavours, it really is worth trying and looks stunning (impressive for a dinner party I reckon).

We finished off and Anna went back to The Modern Pantry restaurant and from there she was going on to Meza in Soho where there is currently a Modern Pantry Pop Up. If you can’t wait for the cookbook you should go along, but the book will be out in June – just 3 short months…!!! I went back to the office armed with a huge block of Hokey Pokey to get the Ebury staff started on their next addiction!

The videos for both Easy and The Modern Pantry will be available online soon, so watch this space.

Louise, Marketing Executive

Is it possible to:
Reach your genetic potential in 6 months?
Sleep 2 hours per day and perform better than on 8 hours?
Lose more fat than a marathoner by bingeing?

Indeed, and much more. And it is all revealed in The Four Hour Body.

Tim Ferriss Four Hour Body is already proving a big hit in the US and we are proud to say we will be publishing it here in the UK on 4th Feb – you can pre-order now on amazon to get your hands on a copy as soon as it is out.

If you are elsewhere in the world, our international editions will be released on the below dates with Europe, Asia and the rest of the world (excluding Canada) in January:

• Australia – 3rd Jan 2011
• New Zealand – 7th Jan 2011
• South Africa – 1st Feb 2011
• India – 10th Jan 2011

Meanwhile you can see the trailer for the book below.

Immodesty Blaize’s second book, Ambition, was published in October and to celebrate we sent some spectacular showgirls out into central London. Did you catch a glimpse of them? If not, we’ve got some great pictures of the activity below…

Read an extract from Ambition

Watch Immodesty read from Ambition