It feels a little like we are changing the guard here at Osprey Publishing - although technically the guard is not changing - we are just shaking things up a bit!
Over the last couple of years there have been some massive changes in the Osprey offices - we bought Shire, Angry Robot and Old House, and before we knew it we were each all juggling about 3 different jobs, and desperately trying to think about Japanese Aircraft Carriers, before taking some time out to work on a book about the Women's Institute, before leaping into a rip-roaring tale of space marines and tentacled alien beasties. Which was all great fun...but it was a little difficult to maintain focus.
Accordingly we have embarked on a rather ambitious reshuffle - partitioning our various imprints off more formally so that members of staff work on one imprint, and can give their full attention to that one imprint.
So what does that mean for Osprey?
Well first off, Richard Sullivan - who blogs here from time to time* - is stepping up to the position of Managing Director for Osprey. That essentially means that he will be steering the good ship Osprey, and preparing us for the future - from ebooks to apps he is tasked with nurturing everything that Osprey already does well, whilst looking to expand the Osprey remit and futureproof us against all the technological changes that are happening in publishing today. Sadly i fear that his blogging output may drop significantly... although fans of Napoleonic history should be pleased. Richard has been the chief supporter of all things Napoleonic for years (He still claims that Napoleonic Armies was his idea) - so expect a raft of new Napoleonic titles being approved in the future.
Rebecca Smart who has been the MD of Osprey for the last four years or so is becoming CEO of Osprey Group - which of course includes Osprey, Shire, Angry Robot and Old House.
Secondly, our loyal blogmaster, Joe McCullough is branching out from his marketing responsibilities. Although he is going to continue to look after the blog and he will remain responsible for all of the marketing of our wargaming products, he is also going to take on the project management of another exciting project...which for the time being must remain a secret. It is going to be huge though, so keep an eye out for an official announcement here in the coming months.
And lastly, little ol' me, Mike Ramalho. After a bit of a sabbatical away from Osprey I am coming back into the fold to look after the sales and marketing for Osprey. Which means I will be blogging more, looking after reviews, PR, advertising and loads of the other bits and pieces that is needed to make sure we get as many of our books into as many bookshops as we possibly can.
As for our Editorial department - well they never stopped working on Osprey, and are going to carry on creating brilliant books!
So that is the latest news from here in Oxford - if you want to have a bit more of an insight into day-to-day life here at Osprey you can follow our new MD on Twitter (@OspreyRich). You can follow me too on @mike_ramalho. And Rebecca is on @RebecSmart . And of course you can follow Osprey on @OspreyBooks
(* Currently Richard is averaging about 3 months between writing blogs. Just saying -ed.)