George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 19/09/2026An important, beautifully written thread. Happily the two RNLI volunteers collecting in the entrance of Waitrose this morning were getting a lot of support: most people seem to have no difficulty seeing this exemplary institution, and its critics, for what they are. 010
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 04/09/2026Technically true but misses a point: are nation and unified sovereign state synonymous? Germany is an old nation with a young state and America is a young state that became a nation. 000
Reposted by George WalkleyStan Pham @thisisspiffy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Your first look at the #Murderbot season 2 cast. Aka, what I did on my summer non-vacation. #PremiumQualityEntertainment 941435301
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 19/08/2026Never felt more like this m.youtube.com/watch?v=GpBF...m.youtube.comGarbage - Only Happy When It RainsYouTube video by GarbageVEVO 121
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 12/08/2026Last year I published research on the size and scope of the UK book publishing industry, based on Companies House data. I've just published the 2026 update, including population statistics, regional growth figures and a measure of London's dominance of the sector. Details on LinkedIn 👉linkedin.comWhat I did on my summer holidays... Exactly a year ago, I published some research on the UK book and journal publishing industry based on Companies House data. I thought it would be interesting to… | ...What I did on my summer holidays... Exactly a year ago, I published some research on the UK book and journal publishing industry based on Companies House data. I thought it would be interesting to rev... 010
Reposted by George WalkleyIndependent Publishers Guild @independentpublishersguild.com · 11/08/2026Is your backlist content fully accessible to all? Our new online 90min course (led by Simon Mellins) on 23 Sept is packed with practical tips on how to turn the intimidating mission of making a backlist accessible into a series of bitesize and achievable tasks. For more info visit buff.ly/zNV3Juj 011
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 10/08/2026Do you know, it’s the damndest thing but three months after regime change in Hungary, my local newsagent is no longer stocking weird conservative political journals (compare image with the one in quote). Did the market dry up, or was it propped up in the first place? 130
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 30/07/2026100 years ago all of my grandparents were children. Go back to the end of the war, and you can pick from army/intelligence, civil servant in the Board of Trade, railway worker, cinema usher. 000
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 22/07/2026Except—the quoted text in the headline is a paraphrase, not a quote from the research, and the 6% seems to relate to a particular, specific usage rather than AI in general. The Creative Access research is useful, but this headline and framing doesn't help. Details: www.linkedin.com/posts/george...linkedin.comPublishing has 'lowest uptake of AI across creative industries', according to new report | George WalkleyThe Bookseller's morning newsletter caught my attention with an eye-catching headline, suggesting that publishing has the 'lowest uptake of AI across creative industries', according to new research fr... 001
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 18/07/2026Deep Dorset. Pre-decimalisation shorthand on the signs. 120
Reposted by George WalkleyNick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 15/07/2026Useful & interesting stuff from George on AI vs publishing in the courts… 052
Reposted by George Walkleymaura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 14/07/2026I respect France's commitment to not working on a holiday. 115111522404
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 14/07/2026This is @nickharkaway.com’s fault but a short thread with thoughts on the new publisher legal action against Google over AI training 👉 000
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 13/07/2026Related to this, I'd love to know what proportion of successful AI experiments/POCs are using an LLM or coding tool to develop a script that runs independently of AI. A lot of the good publishing examples I've seen and built are vibe coded Python scripts or VBA macros. 200
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 03/07/2026It's been a busy week and I almost missed the milestone, but Wednesday marked six years of running my own business. The pandemic seemed to destroy all sense of the passage of time: it seems simultaneously like six minutes and sixty years. 120
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 02/07/2026Good for Lisa Nandy and DCMS. Your periodic reminder that most large publishers are still using the platform. 010
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 02/07/2026For the second time recently, someone at a conference has referenced the emergence of the web in the 1990s "for those old enough to remember" and it is triggering me. 030
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 30/06/2026Great evening at Parliament celebrating British Intellectual Property Day with my @independentpublishersguild.com hat on. Thanks to hosts Sir John Whittingdale, the Alliance for IP, @alcs.co.uk and @plslicensing.bsky.social. 053
Reposted by George WalkleyALCS @alcs.co.uk · 30/06/2026James Frith MP, speaking at Parliament for #BritishIPDay2026: "Whether you're a songwriter or artist, copyright is vital to ensure you are paid for your work. This Government wants to ensure that we continue to encourage and reward investment in human creativity." 071
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 28/06/2026Today, Mel Brooks is 100. Post a gif of your favourite of his films to celebrate.static.klipy.comAbby Normal Scene from Young FrankensteinALT: Abby Normal Scene from Young Frankenstein 030
Reposted by George WalkleyGeorge Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 16/06/2026@hbr.org has a new piece on how AI companies should pay fair rates for content, suggesting that the answer is a Hollywood-style profit share: hbr.org/2026/06/how-.... 🤨 I've written a response comparing this with "Hollywood accounting": www.georgewalkley.com/AI-and-Holly...hbr.orgHow AI Companies Can Pay Fair Rates for the Content They NeedFrontier AI models are trained on the accumulated digital output of humanity, which AI companies acquired essentially for free. This is a problem for both AI companies and content creators. For AI com... 002
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 16/06/2026@hbr.org has a new piece on how AI companies should pay fair rates for content, suggesting that the answer is a Hollywood-style profit share: hbr.org/2026/06/how-.... 🤨 I've written a response comparing this with "Hollywood accounting": www.georgewalkley.com/AI-and-Holly...hbr.orgHow AI Companies Can Pay Fair Rates for the Content They NeedFrontier AI models are trained on the accumulated digital output of humanity, which AI companies acquired essentially for free. This is a problem for both AI companies and content creators. For AI com... 002
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 12/06/2026Excellent piece by @ciaranm.bsky.social on X remaining a government comms channel. There's also a really important lesson here for media and publishing companies—including many of the largest—that continue to use it. Perceived lock-in is the same, as is the remedy. www.thetimes.com/article/e895... 0116
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 04/06/2026Walking across London to beat the tube strike, I can’t help thinking that it would have been safer for riders and society if some of the people who decided to get on Lime bikes had instead walked or stayed at home. 020
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 22/05/2026Is there a worse feeling than hitting send on a newsletter and then spotting the three horrible errors in it. 030
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 08/05/2026On a call and someone just used the phrase “trust recession” and man, that hits. 020
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 08/05/2026Writing something for my newsletter about how @semafor.com used AI to develop a wrap-up of its recent conference and was reminded of this: an artefact from the Palaeolithic era of digital publishing, produced by the organisers of Bookcamp (2009). Lots of familiar names and faces… 121
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 05/05/2026I am generally a fan of James Marriott's writing, but this section of his column today is extraordinary. What is utterly abnormal is the hold X continues to have over the mainstream media and politics. There is a very simple solution to his problem. 000
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 29/04/2026Terminal 3 at ORD at cocktail hour is almost enough to convince one that Malthus had a point. 000
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 28/04/2026"the dire and ever-circling wolves of disrupted circadian rhythm" 010
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 26/04/2026In Chicago, no thanks to British Airways for possibly the worst flight/customer service experience I’ve ever had in a long time: they oversold the flight, my seat was downgraded, staff at T5 were useless, rude—for a service-based, premium brand, making RyanAir look good is a questionable approach. 000
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 26/04/2026Film you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, DC, Marvel, Disney, Pixar, Spielberg, Cameron, Wachowskis, or Ghibli.media.tenor.coma man in an astronaut 's helmet looks up at somethingALT: a man in an astronaut 's helmet looks up at something 000
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 25/04/2026This was surprisingly addictive Which London Underground journey is faster? Test your tube knowledge! I scored 25 on Play Your Tubes Right. edjefferson.com/playyourtube...edjefferson.comPlay Your Tubes RightWhich London Underground journey is faster? Test your tube knowledge! 000
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 22/04/2026A lovely reunion with the @bayesbschool.bsky.social Exec MBA Class of 2016 this evening. Where did the last ten years go? 010
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 22/04/2026The probability of obnoxiously loud people on a train skyrockets as soon as you realise you left your headphones at home. 100
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 19/04/2026"You'll never have to write a CV, you'll just stay here and freeload" says the 17y/o, mournfully, to the dog as I proof-read her application for a summer work experience placement. 120
George Walkley @georgewalkley.com · 13/04/2026Wonder what bearing last night’s news from Hungary will have on funding for political publishing: knowing a little about production and distribution costs, I always wondered what possible commercial rationale existed for journals like this on sale at, e.g. my local WHSmith in Wiltshire. 240
Reposted by George WalkleyAndrew Hill @andrewtghill.ft.com · 13/04/2026How and why did business books break out of their hard covers? Here’s my analysis of the weird, AI-fuelled future of the book, as we launch this year’s FT Business Book of the Year Award with new partner Standard Chartered as.ft.com/r/57cd8af8-c... #BBYA26as.ft.comBreaking cover: the future of the business book[FREE TO READ] Authors are experimenting with new technology and formats to better communicate ideas 122