Book Review

Ahead Of Her Time: How A One Woman Startup Became A Global Publishing Brand is the inspiring memoir of female entrepreneur Judy Piatkus, who acquired the book series that inspired the global #1 Netflix hit, Bridgerton. She founded her business, Piatkus Books, in her spare bedroom back in 1979. Determined to empower women’s voices as a single-mother with a child with learning disabilities at a time when being a self-made, female entrepreneur was rare, Judy defied expectations. Through her determination, Judy influenced, shaped, and gave rise to the cultural and professional perception of personal growth and mind, body spirit publishing.

Ahead Of Her Time: How A One Woman Startup Became A Global Publishing Brand is Judy Piatkus’s memoir and is a fantastic insight into building a company and brand identity, and what enables a team and a business to succeed. This empowering memoir includes:

• Unique story of a female entrepreneur who, from the 1970s to the 2000s, built a global publishing brand while looking after a family, including a child with severe learning disabilities.

• How Judy discovered bestselling authors such as Nora Roberts, Julia Quinn (author of The Bridgerton series, whose first book, The Duke & I is a #1 global Netflix hit), Danielle Steel, Jon Kabat-Zinn, David Allen and Dr. Christiane Northrup.

• The discussion of Judy’s pioneering values-led management style (e.g. flexi-working and transparent communication) is very timely given the changes resulting from lockdown.

• In-depth insights into how to build a publishing company and grow a brand, and what enables a book to succeed.

• How Judy’s can-do attitude will inspire those struggling today in a very difficult job market.

• A foreword by Anna Sofat, Voice of Women’s Wealth, Founder & CEO Addidi Wealth and Associate Director, Progeny Wealth

Author quotes

When I left the publishing industry at the end of 2007, the first Kindle had gone on sale just a month earlier, Apple had not yet launched the iPad and few people in publishing knew what an app was. It was a very different world. Fast forward to 2021 and for me  the changes are almost overwhelming. 

In writing my business memoir about my journey founding and selling Piatkus Books, I have realized just how far we have come. 

About the author

Judy Piatkus is an entrepreneur, publisher and business coach specializing in conscious leadership. She founded Piatkus Books from the bedroom of her home in Loughton, Essex in 1979. The company began as publishers of hardback fiction for the library market, before building a range of general non-fiction titles. Piatkus became renowned for being pioneers in the area of personal growth, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s Piatkus explored a wide range of subjects such as reflexology, aromatherapy, tai chi, mindfulness and meditation, reincarnation, and other topics that were relatively unfamiliar in the UK at that time. Judy Piatkus was regarded as a risk-taker within the publishing industry, unafraid of taking risks and trying out new ideas. She grew the company to become an international brand, before selling it in 2007, just before the global financial crash that she had shrewdly foreseen. She is now a keynote speaker, an angel investor, and a coach and mentor to start-ups. In 2011 she founded Conscious Café, a network that brings people together for connection and discussion. 

www.judypiatkus.com