The panel were impressed by the fact that, in what are hard times for all publishers, newcomers Maven Publishing are so successfully making their presence felt. They are doing so with a highly targeted strategy: their aim is to open up the science of human behaviour to a much wider audience. This is clearly reflected in the company’s publications and their presentation and design.
Maven books have a look of their own that the panel found very appealing. Inside, text and notes are presented with admirable legibility that owes much to the wide interlinear spacing; on the outside the books are conspicuous for their bright colours and typographic covers.
Oeps! – the Dutch translation of Kathryn Schulz’s Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, about what she calls wrongology – has a white cover. The title is placed between an unusual pair of curly brackets (or are they quotation marks?), which creates the impression of a trophy: the author regards making mistakes as a talent.