George Walkley
@georgewalkley.com
Independent consultant, MBA, NED, Chair @midascampaigns.bsky.social, board @bdspublishing.bsky.social, @brisunipress.bsky.social, AI/Policy @independentpublishersguild.com, advisor @xigxaguk.bsky.social. Opinions on strategy, AI, books, games my own.
I'll be there with friends and some teasers for the Kickstarter that @tomabba.studio, @davidmbarnett.bsky.social and I will be launching in January. Hope to see you around the show, it's been ages!
November 28, 2025 at 9:50 PM
I'll be there with friends and some teasers for the Kickstarter that @tomabba.studio, @davidmbarnett.bsky.social and I will be launching in January. Hope to see you around the show, it's been ages!
100%. Also, at the other end of the successful entrepreneurial journey, it’s a shame to see a reduction in relief on sale of businesses to employee ownership trusts, which I’ve seen work really well to take those businesses into a second generation.
November 26, 2025 at 6:42 PM
100%. Also, at the other end of the successful entrepreneurial journey, it’s a shame to see a reduction in relief on sale of businesses to employee ownership trusts, which I’ve seen work really well to take those businesses into a second generation.
What Tom said. It's a brilliant piece and the line about even the poxed getting compassion is devastatingly, unanswerably good.
November 26, 2025 at 5:19 PM
What Tom said. It's a brilliant piece and the line about even the poxed getting compassion is devastatingly, unanswerably good.
Occasionally, when I want to depress myself, I imagine I had invested in GW shares what I had spent on their products over the last thirty years (also works for Apple).
November 24, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Occasionally, when I want to depress myself, I imagine I had invested in GW shares what I had spent on their products over the last thirty years (also works for Apple).
It would be reassuring if this were seen as a good start rather than drawing a line under the matter.
November 21, 2025 at 5:59 PM
It would be reassuring if this were seen as a good start rather than drawing a line under the matter.
This is in large part why I liked the LOTR films but couldn't bear the absurd three part Hobbit: LOTR was quite congruent with my mental picture and Hobbit somehow wasn't.
November 21, 2025 at 4:33 PM
This is in large part why I liked the LOTR films but couldn't bear the absurd three part Hobbit: LOTR was quite congruent with my mental picture and Hobbit somehow wasn't.
They are lovely looking documents. I treasure mine. The Chamberlain's Office at the Guildhall can supply frames for them.
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
They are lovely looking documents. I treasure mine. The Chamberlain's Office at the Guildhall can supply frames for them.
Yes, indeed. I say further down the thread that I would be really interested in perspectives from non-fiction authors as well (to be fair, that was outside the scope of the research I was writing about, so no criticism of the authors in saying that).
November 21, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Yes, indeed. I say further down the thread that I would be really interested in perspectives from non-fiction authors as well (to be fair, that was outside the scope of the research I was writing about, so no criticism of the authors in saying that).
I think I've seen this movie. Suspect the real life version doesn't have as neat an ending, but hope you're doing OK.
November 21, 2025 at 12:12 PM
I think I've seen this movie. Suspect the real life version doesn't have as neat an ending, but hope you're doing OK.
Finally, thank you to @clemicollett.bsky.social for engaging very promptly to answer my questions. The report is definitely worth reading here:
www.mctd.ac.uk/wp-content/u...
www.mctd.ac.uk/wp-content/u...
www.mctd.ac.uk
November 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Finally, thank you to @clemicollett.bsky.social for engaging very promptly to answer my questions. The report is definitely worth reading here:
www.mctd.ac.uk/wp-content/u...
www.mctd.ac.uk/wp-content/u...
What I really hope this report does is demonstrate that this is an important subject for further research: I'd love to see a larger, generalisable study, and also to understand the perspective of non-fiction writers (reminder: not in scope of this, so not a criticism of this research).
November 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
What I really hope this report does is demonstrate that this is an important subject for further research: I'd love to see a larger, generalisable study, and also to understand the perspective of non-fiction writers (reminder: not in scope of this, so not a criticism of this research).
But those are slightly different things. Regardless, the research captures important lived experience and attitudes, which may indeed be broadly representative. But it's possibly more nuanced than some of the communication and reporting suggest, particularly if readers don't get past the headlines.
November 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
But those are slightly different things. Regardless, the research captures important lived experience and attitudes, which may indeed be broadly representative. But it's possibly more nuanced than some of the communication and reporting suggest, particularly if readers don't get past the headlines.
For clarity, the report is always clear about its data. But the dissemination of the research uses headlines like "half of published novelists say...", with the nuances somewhere below the fold. From a comms perspective, I understand why people don't say "half of 258 survey respondents say"...
November 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
For clarity, the report is always clear about its data. But the dissemination of the research uses headlines like "half of published novelists say...", with the nuances somewhere below the fold. From a comms perspective, I understand why people don't say "half of 258 survey respondents say"...
A 2-5% sample size is by no means inappropriate for social research—but only with a random sample. As a non-probability sample, this is indicative, but it's harder to generalise out to a population.
November 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
A 2-5% sample size is by no means inappropriate for social research—but only with a random sample. As a non-probability sample, this is indicative, but it's harder to generalise out to a population.
The size of that sample isn't the issue so much. It's hard to know population size: some industry estimates suggest ~70-80k authors in the UK, @societyofauthors.bsky.social has 12.5k members, though both include non-fiction authors as well. Say 5-10k novelists as a ballpark?
November 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
The size of that sample isn't the issue so much. It's hard to know population size: some industry estimates suggest ~70-80k authors in the UK, @societyofauthors.bsky.social has 12.5k members, though both include non-fiction authors as well. Say 5-10k novelists as a ballpark?
The methodology section of the report doesn't give any detail on recruitment and sampling. @clemicollett.bsky.social was very responsive to a question and confirmed that recruitment included robust steps to confirm the validity of responses. But the survey data comes from a convenience sample.
November 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
The methodology section of the report doesn't give any detail on recruitment and sampling. @clemicollett.bsky.social was very responsive to a question and confirmed that recruitment included robust steps to confirm the validity of responses. But the survey data comes from a convenience sample.
The report is a mixed methods study combining focus groups, a survey, case studies, interviews and a forum. That's a great approach for exploratory and descriptive research, but it's potentially less suitable for population-level inference.
November 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
The report is a mixed methods study combining focus groups, a survey, case studies, interviews and a forum. That's a great approach for exploratory and descriptive research, but it's potentially less suitable for population-level inference.
This looks like it should be accompanying a feature in early 90s NME.
November 20, 2025 at 9:53 PM
This looks like it should be accompanying a feature in early 90s NME.
Haven’t played TOV but I enjoyed Donnerschlag from the same publisher and have my eye on their other, Eastern Front Traces games. Really like VUCA Sims ethos, production values and the historical context in their rulebooks.
November 15, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Haven’t played TOV but I enjoyed Donnerschlag from the same publisher and have my eye on their other, Eastern Front Traces games. Really like VUCA Sims ethos, production values and the historical context in their rulebooks.
Thank you! Super to see you today. Thought the rest of the conference was excellent, hope you enjoyed it.
November 14, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Thank you! Super to see you today. Thought the rest of the conference was excellent, hope you enjoyed it.