I was 26 and working for a book publishing company just outside of San Francisco. My job in marketing meant that I met with advertisers occasionally. Unfortunately for the ad reps, we had such small budgets for each book that we never really spent money, except maybe once or twice a year in the largest industry magazines. One of those magazines had just hired a new publisher, and he was doing the rounds of all the publishing houses in New York and California, meeting the important people who made decisions. And also meeting me.

When Rob walked into my office for the first time, he was wearing a suit and tie, something that no one wore there ever. Bay Area publishing? We were lucky if people had real shoes on. Read More>