Yesterday Ebury stepped into the limelight letting colleagues across Random House know exactly that, so we thought, why not share it with our readers.

Here is a picture of all of us standing on the steps of the Tate, near our offices, we are all smiling so you would never realise it was taken very early in the morning.

So that’s Ebury, but here’s an inside look at what makes Ebury such a great place to work.

Victoria Beddow
Digital Marketing Executive

 I remember being at a writers’ conference one year, practically in tears as an editor from California talked about how difficult, nay impossible, it was to get published.

I stumbled tearfully from the lecture room with the distinct impression that there was not a publisher left standing either in Europe or North America. Moreover no one was reading anymore, never mind actually buying books. And if, on the off chance that a few lonely souls were- maybe 5 wheat farmers in Manitoba, this select group certainly wouldn’t want to read anything I had written.

It reminded me of the statistic I used to read years ago which stated that a divorced woman over forty years old had as much chance of re-marrying as she did of being hijacked by Islamic fundamentalists wearing kilts.

I kept on plugging because I like to write. I have been writing my whole life. I wrote 1.5 mysteries, and 1/8 of a romance. The mysteries were about a quirky divorce lawyer who practiced law in Vancouver, Canada and ran off to Mexico to pursue a client. As it happened I was at that time  a quirky divorce lawyer practicing in Vancouver. I thought it would sell. It was funny and had a good  protagonist. Even though it had a great title―a gift from my husband an excellent title ―Tequila Moon, it didn’t sell.

I thought you were supposed to write what you know. All my writing teachers said so. I was mightily disheartened. And then I found my genre.

In June of 2007 my husband and I were in Venice, on a walking tour from the Rialto Bridge. We ended up in the Jewish Ghetto which I confess I had never heard of. Our wonderful guide explained that the ghetto was established in 1516. I looked around the rather spartan campo, and the tall, dark, knife sharp buildings, holding each other up.  and something clicked in my head.

The only way I can think of to explain what happened is to digress for a moment and tell the following story:

Years ago I was at a Border collie/sheep herding event on Saltspring Island, B.C. After the event I was talking to a shepherdess about her her Border collie. The shepherd told me she found Mitzi, at the local pound- the dog had been through several homes and was surrendered because she was too unruly, too wild, had too much energy. The shepherdess said to me, “I put Mitzi  in a pasture with a couple of sheep to try her out. Mitzi had never seen a sheep before as far as I knew, never been in a pasture, had never even been in the country before. I watched her drop into a crouch, give those sheep that long spooky collie stare.  I could see the wheels turn in Mitzi’s head and  the tumblers click into place. Mitzi was thinking, ‘ Now I get it. This is what I am destined to do in this world. I will be good at it. ‘

That’s the way I felt standing in the campo, vast open space, surrounded by tall rickety buildings, wondering how people had been born and died and had sex, and cooked and went to the bathroom. I, who had not cracked a history book since high school, thought ‘I can write about this’.

I started and the more I read about the history of the Venetian ghetto the more I fascinated I became. If I was intrigued readers would be as well. I talked to a friend of mine who teaches Early Modern history about my idea for birthing spoons, I talked to a another woman who was a midwife. And little by little, The Midwife of Venice was born. 

I wrote the first draft in seven months and sent it to my agent, in November of 2008. She wrote back saying, ‘don’t you read the news? Publishing companies are folding, editors being laid off. Nobody reads anything anymore.’

Of course, her message was couched in more polite language. She added, ‘I am busy. If you don’t hear from me, email me in six weeks and maybe I will have read your manuscript.’

So I went into the 2009 new year, crestfallen. Stumbled through a new years party, I was giving in Mexico, trying to keep my spirits up in the time honoured ways, drinking too much and persecuting my husband and friends. Then a few days later, January 3rd,  2009 my agent wrote, to say she loved the manuscript, loved the story and was going to send it out even though the market was lousy. I crossed my fingers and waited. Three weeks later, her email arrived― ‘Bingo’ read the caption. She had sold it to Random House Canada and my future as an historical novelist was born.

The Midwife of Venice jumped onto the Globe & Mail best seller list the week after it came out. Unheard of. Overwhelmingly, wonderful. I heard from all my friends and family and there were parties, and events, and book signings and I was suddenly famous. Not famous like Phillipa Gregory, J.K. Rowling or Lady Gaga but famous, at least in my little neck of the woods.

Oh, and by the way, I was a divorced woman over forty and I did re-marry.

 The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich is out now.

Hanging the exhibition was more complicated and involved way more maths than we realised.  More than once we scrambled for paper and pen to work out correct measurements but in the end we manage to get all the images hung straight (well almost all) and with all our thumbs intact. 

deciding on the order…

measuring…

making sure it is straight…

hammers away…

The exhibition is divided into two parts; the first exhibits some of the more spectacular images of Victorian London from our Museum of London tie-in book Dickens’s Victorian London.  Taken from the Museum’s archive, the images chronicle life in the city as the writer knew it.  From landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s Cathedral to the slums and coaching inns, the markets and the Thames, these images take us on a memorable and haunting journey through the streets of the capital during the Victorian era.

The second part of the exhibition comes from Vintage Classics, in association with the Guardian, who launched a nationwide photography competition to imagine how Oliver Twist’s world would look now.  The winning photograph will feature on the cover of a new edition of the novel published in April and along with two other finalists make up the other half of our Dickens exhibition.

The exhibition is now open to the public and will be available to view until Friday 2nd March 2012 but if you can’t make it just check out a copy of Dickens’s Victorian London and look out for Vintage’s new edition of Oliver Twist in April 2012.

Kasi - Press Officer

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

Saturday 25th February 2012

10.30am-5.00pm

A host of celebrated writers, including acclaimed authors and historians Deborah Moggach, David Kynaston, Sarah Wise and Alex Werner, screenwriter Sarah Phelps (who wrote the recent BBC adaptation of Great Expectations) and one of our most well-known children’s authors Michael Rosen, discuss their love of Dickens’s writing, London in the nineteenth century and the power that Dickens continues to hold today.

The day will also include an ‘I Never Knew That About Dickens Quiz’, hosted by Christopher Winn, author of the popular ‘I Never Knew That About…’ series. The audience will have the opportunity to win a selection of the books discussed on the day, including sixteen of Dickens’ works.

We will be decorating the Foyles Gallery for two weeks surrounding the event with spectacular images taken from the Vintage Classics Oliver Twist cover competition and photography from Ebury’s Dickens’s Victorian London.

All in attendance will also receive a goody bag including a free Vintage Classics book.

For more information you and a schedule of events, check out the Foyle’s website here

Tickets for the day are on sale now at Foyles (£10/£8)

It really is no surprise that we love cake, one look at our bookshelves reveals cookbooks of all shapes and sizes that celebrate their deliciousness. Staff can often be seen flicking through books looking for that perfect recipe, whether it’s a Christmas Cake from Delia’s Happy Christmas, a Chocolate Roll from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible, Pina Colada Cupcakes from Eat Me!, chocolate treats from Miss Hope’s Chocolate Box or an edible gift from Good Food: 101 Delicious Gifts we have the office sweet tooth covered

This week celebrated the birthday of our Publicity Assistant, Charlotte (and fed our cake addiction) with a Strawberry and Cream White Chocolate Sponge Cake from the Great British Bake Off. And the celebrations continue today with some amazing birthday cupcakes baked by Charlotte’s family.

Birthday Cakes like these and the Great British Bake Off has recently bought out the competitive bakers within Ebury and Friday has become cake day with someone bringing in temping goodies on a weekly basis. With new books due out later this year on cake decorating, I can only image the competition will heat up as the year progresses.

One thing though is certain, fitness books will begin disappearing from the Vermilion bookshelves as we attempt to counter the inevitable effect!

Kasi – Press Officer

Serves 8

For the cinnamon-scented whisky ice cream

500 ml double cream
2 vanilla pods
70 g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 egg yolks
50 ml (2 drams) The Famous Grouse
2 shortbread biscuits

For the crème brûlée

500 ml double cream
1 vanilla pod
100 g caster sugar (plus an extra 6 tsp for the topping)
6 egg yolks
25 ml (1 dram) The Famous Grouse

To make the ice cream, place the cream in a saucepan and start to heat. Halve the vanilla pods lengthways and scrape out and reserve the seeds. Add the pods to the cream and bring to the boil, then add the sugar and cinnamon and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl then slowly whisk in the hot cream mixture.

Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into another bowl and whisk in the vanilla seeds. Allow to cool, mix in the whisky and crumbled shortbread biscuits and either churn in an ice-cream maker until frozen or pour the mixture into a freezer-proof container and freeze for 2–3 hours, or until set.

To make the crème brulee, preheat the oven to 140˚C (gas mark 1). Pour the cream into a saucepan. Split the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape the seeds into the cream. Finely chop the empty pod and add to the cream. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Beat the sugar and egg yolks together in a large heatproof bowl until pale and creamy. Bring the cream back to boiling point and pour it over the egg mixture, whisking all the time until thickened (this indicates that the eggs have begun to cook slightly).

Strain through a fine sieve into a large jug, stir in the whisky then pour into 6 ramekins until about two-thirds full. Place the ramekins in a large roasting tray and pour in enough hot water to come halfway up their sides. Place on the centre shelf of the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the custards are just set and are still a bit wobbly in the middle. Remove from the water and cool to room temperature, then store in the fridge until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, sprinkle 1 level teaspoon of caster sugar evenly over the surface of each crème brulee, then caramelize under the grill or using a mini blowtorch. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes before serving. Serve each crème brulee with a generous scoop of whisky ice cream.

Recipe from The Famous Grouse Whisky Companion (Ebury) £9.99

Read more about the book here

Next year is the 200th Anniversary of Charles Dickens’s birth and to mark the occasion the Museum of London are unveiling a new major exhibition and a tie-in book on the Dickens and his relationship to London.

Opening to the public on Friday, I was lucky enough to get a sneak peak at the exhibition this morning at the museum’s press (and publisher) preview. The exhibition is the first exclusively on Dickens since the 1970’s and explores the relationship between Dickens and London and the various elements that inspired his work.

The highlights for me though were the rare manuscripts and first corrected proof copies of Great Expectations, David Copperfield, Bleak House and Dombey and Son, as well as Dickens’s bank ledger and writing desk and chair. It was amazing to see all the editorial marks in the margins of the proofs, marks that are still used by editors when editing manuscripts today.

But the exhibition isn’t just about the man himself and the final products but his inspiration. Through stunning photographs, many which are beautifully reproduced in our book Dickens’s Victorian London, as well as paintings and artefacts from Victorian London, various elements of the city and its people point to what inspired so many of Dickens’s characters and stories.

Another part of the exhibition worth mentioning is the beautiful costumes from the BBC’s new production of Great Expectations, which is airing in December, that are on display in the museum’s foyer.

A fascinating look at Dickens and his city of inspiration, it is well worth a visit to Dickens and London fans alike.

The exhibition Dickens in London opens on the 9th of December and runs through to 10th of June 2012. The Museum will be stocking copies of our tie-in book Dickens’s Victorian London exclusively until wider publication on the 5th January 2012.

Kasi - Press Officer