Welcome back to our next edition of “Behind the Books”, where you can meet the team here at David & Charles, and get to know the people that help make our books. Next in this series, is our Managing Director, Mr James Woollam!
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at David & Charles?
I first became involved with David and Charles publishing in 2008 when I joined the company under its previous ownership. Before that I had worked mostly in advertising and marketing. I quickly came to learn and love the publishing industry. We are lucky to work in a business that thrives on new ideas and creative work. Our business is all about finding the point where great ideas meet commercial opportunity. In 2019, I led the management buy-out of the business to return David and Charles to being an independent publisher. It was a difficult, but incredibly rewarding, process and I am proud to be the Managing Director of the independent publishing company we have created.
Mine is a very varied role and encompasses a small part of everything that we do across the company. We have a brilliant management team that lead each area of the business, which makes my job a lot easier.
Unfortunately, I do not have the art or craft talent of so many of our staff, authors, and customers. My mum was a music teacher, and this was always a big part of my life growing up. I still play the piano today and it helps me relax and unwind. I am kept plenty busy by my two daughters who will turn 13 and 11 this year. In the summer I play a bit of cricket for our local village side. Through the winter I follow the Exeter Chiefs rugby team. The Chiefs have a great success story from being a small club in the lower leagues to English and European champions in 2020.
2. Tell us one thing you love about working at David & Charles?
It’s difficult to single out one thing that I love about working at David & Charles. I am passionate about the business and I’m always thinking about the latest problem or opportunity we have. I really enjoy working with all our talented team and creating the best working environment and culture that I can. Probably, what I enjoy most is the creativity of the business; we get the opportunity to develop new ideas and put them into practice every day.
James is currently developing our new site, Bookmarked Hub, in partnership with Search Press Publishing. Bookmarked Hub will be a central place for art & craft book lovers to connect with authors, access exclusive content, and really immerse themselves in the books they love. James has developed this site from concept to creation, and now to launch (coming Spring 2021). The site will allow members to create a free account, mark which books they have, which they wish to buy, access author tutorial videos, news articles, and connect with other readers to share their makes from each book. Featuring everything from Crochet to Watercolour painting, Macrame to felting, there is a category, and exclusive content for every crafter. 
Thanks for reading about James and our team here at David & Charles. You can follow us on social media at the links below, and if you’d like the latest updates on Bookmarked Hub, you can sign up early here: Sign up early to Bookmarked Hub