# Jamie Byng > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jamie_Byng > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jamie_Byng.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Byng > Source revision: 1353746609 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **James Edmund Byng** (born 27 June 1969) is a British publisher. He works for the independent publishing firm [Canongate Books](/source/Canongate_Books), where he is the CEO and publisher.[1] ## Early life Byng grew up in the village of [Abbots Worthy](/source/Abbots_Worthy) in [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire), England.[2] The second son of the [8th Earl of Strafford](/source/Thomas_Byng,_8th_Earl_of_Strafford) and his first wife Jennifer May, he is a brother of the author [Lady Georgia Byng](/source/Lady_Georgia_Byng), and through his stepfather, Sir [Christopher Bland](/source/Christopher_Bland) (the former chairman of the [BBC](/source/BBC), [British Telecom](/source/British_Telecom) and [Royal Shakespeare Company](/source/Royal_Shakespeare_Company)), he is the half-brother of [Archie Bland](/source/Archie_Bland), print journalist and former deputy editor of *[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)*.[3][4] ## Education and family Byng was educated at [Winchester College](/source/Winchester_College), an independent boarding-school for boys in the [cathedral city](/source/Cathedral_city) of [Winchester](/source/Winchester) in Hampshire, [Southern England](/source/Southern_England), followed by the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh).[5] While attending the university, he ran a [funk](/source/Funk), reggae, and [rare groove](/source/Rare_groove) night club named "Chocolate City" (after the [Parliament](/source/Parliament_(band)) classic) at The Venue with his first wife, [Whitney McVeigh](/source/Whitney_McVeigh),[6] with whom he has two children – a daughter Marley and son Leo. Whitney McVeigh is the daughter of a [socialite](/source/Socialite) mother and her father is an American banker.[7][2] Byng and McVeigh separated in 2001, and in 2005 Byng married literary agent Elizabeth Sheinkman,[8][9] with whom he has two children, Ivy and Nathaniel.[10] Byng separated from Sheinkman in 2016 and married Silvia Gimenez Varela in 2021 and they have one child.[citation needed] ## Publishing career After graduating, he convinced Scottish publisher [Stephanie Wolfe Murray](/source/Stephanie_Wolfe_Murray) to give him a job at Canongate, then a respected but still somewhat marginalised Scottish company founded in 1973,[11] which he joined as an intern.[12] When Canongate was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1994, Byng, then in his mid-20s, instigated a buyout, aided by his business partner Hugh Andrew, his stepfather (former [BBC](/source/BBC) chairman [Sir Christopher Bland](/source/Christopher_Bland)) and then father-in-law (co-chairman of the multinational investment bank [Salomon Smith Barney](/source/Salomon_Smith_Barney)).[5] His first move in overhauling the company's image was to establish the ultra-hip Payback and Rebel Inc imprints, dedicated to championing cult authors.[13][5] *[The Pocket Canons](/source/The_Pocket_Canons)* (1998) published in partnership with [Matthew Darby](/source/Matthew_Darby) was Byng's first runaway success: selected books from the Bible individually packaged with new introductions by the [Dalai Lama](/source/Dalai_Lama) among others. In the wake of the two-million selling, Booker-winning *[Life of Pi](/source/Life_of_Pi)* (2001),[11] Canongate won Publisher of the Year at the [British Book Awards](/source/British_Book_Awards) in 2003, reportedly posting pre-tax profits of more than £1 million for that year. Byng is the initiator and chair of [World Book Night](/source/World_Book_Night),[14] an event in which on 5 March 2011 (following [World Book Day](/source/World_Book_Day) on 3 March) one million books – 40,000 copies of each of 25 carefully selected titles – were given away to members of the public in the UK and Ireland. It entailed 20,000 "givers" each distributing 48 copies of their chosen title to whomever they chose.[15] ## References 1. ["About us"](https://canongate.co.uk/about/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230801014657/https://canongate.co.uk/about/) 1 August 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Canongate.tv. 1. ["The real Byng"](https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/the-real-byng-2465430). *The Scotsman*. 2 June 2006. Retrieved 15 May 2024. 1. Jane Martinson, ["List addict prepared to tick off BT television"](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/feb/10/digitalmedia.citynews) (interview with Sir Christopher Bland), *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*, 10 February 2006. Retrieved 4 September 2012. 1. ["GQ and ei's 100 Most Connected Men 2014"](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/gallery/100-most-connected-men-2014), *[GQ](/source/GQ)*, 8 December 2014. 1. ["Jamie Byng: Great giveaway by the bad boy of books"](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/scotland-travel/jamie-byng-great-giveaway-by-the-bad-boy-of-books-x9f0vhvbrvb), *[Sunday Times](/source/Sunday_Times)*, 5 December 2010. 1. Emily Bearn, ["Whitney McVeigh may have social cachet and an illustrious client list, but there's nothing superficial about her commitment to self exposure on canvas"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160310020850/https://business.highbeam.com/5729/article-1G1-209790841/naked-talent-whitney-mcveigh-may-have-social-cachet), *[Evening Standard](/source/Evening_Standard)*, 16 October 2009. 1. [Stephen Jardine](/source/Stephen_Jardine), ["Canongate .. I liked it so much I bought the company"](http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/books/canongate_i_liked_it_so_much_i_bought_the_company_1_893485), *[The Scotsman](/source/The_Scotsman)*, 23 September 2003. 1. ["Elizabeth Sheinkman and James Byng"](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/fashion/weddings/03shei.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. 3 July 2005. 1. ["Jamie Byng news and features"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210524043044/https://www.tatler.com/person/jamie-byng). *Tatler*. Archived from [the original](https://www.tatler.com/person/jamie-byng) on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2020. 1. ["The Diary: Jamie Byng"](https://www.ft.com/content/edf27448-893c-11e1-bed0-00144feab49a), FT.com, 21 April 2012. 1. Libby Brookes, ["Posh and books"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/nov/01/bookerprize2002.thebookerprize), *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*, 1 November 2002. 1. Fox, Killian (6 March 2016). ["Interview: Jamie Byng: 'Listening to letters being read out is quite something'"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/06/jamie-byng-letters-live-quite-something). *[The Observer](/source/The_Observer)* 1. ["Triumph of an odd couple"](https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/books/triumph-of-an-odd-couple-1-626653), *The Scotsman*, 26 October 2002. 1. Natasha Lunn, ["Jamie Byng: This Man Will Make You Read More"](http://www.redonline.co.uk/red-women/blogs/jamie-byng-this-man-will-make-you-read-more), *Red*, 31 March 2015. 1. ["World Book Night"](https://worldbooknight.org/). *worldbooknight.org* ## External links - Sam Leith, ["The Tao of Mr Jamie Byng"](https://www.mrporter.com/en-gb/journal/the-interview/the-tao-of-mr-jamie-byng/3091?setupsession=false) (interview), *Mr Porter*, 22 February 2018. - ["The SRB Interview: Jamie Byng"](https://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/2012/03/the-srb-interview-jamie-byng/), *[Scottish Review of Books](/source/Scottish_Review_of_Books)*, 2 March 2012. - ["Porter Anderson meets Jamie Byng"](https://www.thebookseller.com/feature/porter-anderson-meets-jamie-byng), *[The Bookseller](/source/The_Bookseller)*, 29 May 2014. - Vicky Allan, ["Canongate's Jamie Byng balances the books for 21 years"](https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/arts_ents/13770757.canongates-jamie-byng-balances-books-21-years/), *The Herald*, 19 September 2015. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jamie Byng](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Byng) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Byng?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.