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About Apt

Apt specializes in culturally significant projects, particularly in the arts and literature.

Peter

Managing Director Peter Collingridge has worked in the publishing industry since he left Edinburgh University with an MA in English Literature in 1997, and joined Canongate Books. After working in each department of the house, he became responsible for Canongate’s second web site in 1998, launching an author-based internet radio station in 1999; pioneering “pop promos for books” (funded by the Scottish Arts Council) and partnering with early social network cycosmos.com. He ran and edited www.canongate.net, described by The Guardian as “a publisher’s site that feels like a cool club stocked with well-read friends rather than a lazy corporate exercise”. The site was widely seen and cited as one of the most successful publisher sites of the time.

In 2001 he moved to Screenbase Media, a film and web production company, where he grew the client list to include over 20 publishing clients. He produced more than 25 projects, and received a nomination for a Nibby in 2004 for Innovation in Publishing. His promo for Life of Pi has been seen by more than 2.5m people worldwide and described as “the future of book marketing” by both The Guardian and The Bookseller. He also became interested in the development of the ONIX standard, and the more nuts-and-bolts elements of the book business. He attended ONIX steering group meetings at the London and Frankfurt Book Fairs and is a major advocate of web and publishing standards and accessibility. He also spent two years researching and producing a web application for rights management. Peter’s Screenbase publishing clients included Walker Books, HarperCollins, Atlantic Books, Edinburgh Book Festival, Literature North East, Books From Scotland, David Higham Associates, Serpents Tail, Curtis Brown, Trolley, Word Power and Scottish Book Trust. Peter set up Apt in 2005 to focus on consulting to the publishing industry, and many of his Screenbase clients followed. He has written for The Bookseller, spoken in 2007 (and 2008) at their Reaching Readers Online conference, blogged on technology and publishing, and produced and consulted on a broad range of web and marketing projects for publishing clients.

James

Producer James Bridle joined Apt in 2007, and was previously an editor at Snowbooks, where he used viral and social media to draw readers to a small, independent publisher that is now seen as one of the leading examples of publishers who exploit and innovate using web 2.0.

James also created booktwo.org, a website exploring the intersections between literature and technology, bkkeepr, a tool for social reading online, and London Lit Plus, an annual literary festival based on the principles of open source media. James’ background is in literature, computer science and artificial intelligence.

Awards, Talks & Press

The Evening Standard named Peter and James among London’s 50 Most Influential People in Publishing in 2007. Both Peter and James have been shortlisted by The British Council for their UK Young Creative Entrepreneur Award in Publishing, and in January 2009 completed a two week study tour of the Indian publishing industry.

Peter and James have both spoken at industry events. Peter is a regular at the The Bookseller’s Reaching Readers Online seminars and book fair panels, while James talks about bkkeepr and other things whenever he can, such as at Creative Review’s Click! conference.

Peter has written numerous articles and contrinbuted to The Bookseller and the trade press, as well as the national newspapers. (Subscription may be required for some of these – sorry about that):

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