We can now announce that the first title to be published by Dial Publishing in 2007 will be, The Syntagma Story — How a Cashstrapper Became a Serial Magazine Publisher by John M Evans.

Since Dial’s previous existence as an educational and textbook publisher, I’ve toyed with a number of scenarios for relaunching the business in the book trade. However, as Syntagma Media’s print publishing arm, it seems logical to start with the story of its creation, especially as Syntagma was started as an experiment in bootstrapping an internet business with the aim of writing a book about it.

Nowadays, with the plummeting cost of hardware, software and bandwidth, it is possible to build a substantial internet company using careful cash-flow techniques and funded by expertise and hard work rather than VC money. A credit card is vital in the beginning, but if you’re good at what you do and you have a sustainable vision, even that source of funding will fall away.

The book will delve into the secrets of internet success, both financial and technical. But it will mainly look at the flaws in the concept of “blog networks” and how the author converted the idea into a series of network magazines.

Syntagma Media is to sponsor the new Stratford International Festival of Literature in Shakespeare’s Stratford on Avon, England, next year.

The Festival organizer, Steve Newman, is aiming to create a cultural phenomenon along the lines of the Cheltenham and Hay-on-Wye literary bashes, which attract people like Bill Clinton, Martin Amis and others.

The event will be held over a long weekend next autumn / fall and will be sponsored by Humdrumming Ltd in addition to ourselves.

If you fancy coming, we’ll keep you informed of plans and booking arrangments. Join the mailing list by shooting an email to info(at)SyntagmaMedia(dot)com.