What better time to announce that you're publishing a book no more than a few hours after its been announced to the world in The Times? None, I'd wager. Biteback are publishing the book that's set Twitter alight. Sunder Katawala of Next Left tweeted earlier:
@DPJHodges might u write one of yr excellent pol comms advice columns for our The Purple Book allies? They're getting talked about...
We noticed The Purple Book people getting talked about too, so we felt the need to 'blog ourselves up', OK so that was a rubbish pun on 'big yourself up'. And yes, I'm too middle class to say that. Actually, the pun had a whiff of middle class about it. I digress. Sunder's comment is my effort at pointing out that people (take the Indi and LabourList and Liberal Conspiracy, for example) are talking about our upcoming book, The Purple Book, due for publication on the 28th August. There are many tweets in fact, mostly favourable:
@TomBage
Well, I'm quite looking forward to reading The Purple Book
And some that can't be reproduced here...
Ahh OK you twisted my arm, here's one and I've replaced the expletive with the word 'love', that way no one will have any idea what the original tweet was:
@aaronjohnpeters
Love me the extent of Labour's identity crisis is ridiculous with all this Blue Labour, purple book rubbish - not a party of government
Anyway, you get the point, people are talking. While we at Biteback favour publicity and press coverage, there's nothing that quite beats word of mouth (even if it did all start with press coverage).
And so, I hearby announce that we're publishing The Purple Book, edited by Robert Philpot. And if you want to know what all the fuss is about, read on:
Leading Labour figures will re-examine traditional Labour ideas to come up with fresh policies for the party’s revival. The Purple Book calls for the Labour Party to rediscover the non-statist strand of its history and thought and develop a progressive agenda with the redistribution of power to individuals and local communities at its heart. This agenda stretches beyond the state and public services, to the economy and the workplace.
With contributions from some of the leading lights of the New Labour movement, The Purple Book identifies four strands of renewal for the party, positing a new role of the state, new models of capitalism and growth, and new ways to build a fairer society and stronger communities.
It calls for policies that meet the challenges of restoring growth to the British economy; increasing the number of high-value jobs; addressing the stagnation in real incomes for working families; ensuring value for money and accountability in public services; and keeping the tax burden as low as possible.
The Purple Book takes the Labour Party back to its roots in an attempt to show a progressive and winning way forward.
Contributors will include Tessa Jowell, Liam Byrne, Alan Milburn, Liz Kendall, a former aide to Patricia Hewitt, and John Woodcock, who once worked for John Hutton, among others.
The Purple Book will be available from 23 September 2011, priced £12.99