In the third episode of Always Take Notes, Simon and Kassia interview Laura Barber, publishing director at Portobello Books and editorial director at Granta. Laura discusses the differences between the two imprints she works on; how books can be both bought off-proposal from agents or — less often — commissioned by publishers; and the kinds of writing that she finds exciting.

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Always Take Notes is presented by Kassia St Clair and Simon Akam, and produced by Olivia Crellin, Ed Kiernan and Elizabeth Davies. This episode was edited by Ed Kiernan. Zahra Hankir is our communities editor and deals with all things social media. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar. Thanks to The Two Chairmen pub in Westminster for hosting our live events.