John Mitchinson

John is a writer and publisher. He was Waterstone's first marketing director before becoming MD at the Harvill Press and then Cassell & Co. In 2001 he joined TV producer John Lloyd to set up QI Ltd (www.qi.com). They are currently producing the 13th series of the BBC TV show, and their bestselling QI books have been translated into 29 languages. His latest venture is co-founding Unbound (www.unbound.co.uk), the UK's first crowd-funding platfor of book which won the 2011 Futurebook Innovation Award for Best Startup and was shortlisted as Independent Publisher of the Year at the 2013 and 2014 Bookseller Awards. John has published a diverse list of authors that includes The Beatles, Michael Palin, Haruki Murakami, Alan Garner, Richard Ford, A.A. Gill and last year's surprise Christmas bestseller, Shaun Usher's Letters of Note. John is a Vice-President of the Hay Festival and fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. In his spare time he keeps pigs, sheep, chickens and bees.