It evolved out of The Friday Thing, an Internet newsletter taking an offbeat look at the week's politics, media activities and general current events, originally written together with Charlie Skelton.
The Project was wholly concerned with finding material on the web and then turning it into traditional books, to the exclusion of normal publishing models.
[citation needed][1] In 2006, The Friday Project announced that it had hired Scott Pack,[2] then Buying Manager at bookshop chain Waterstones, as TFP's Commercial Director.
In his job at Waterstones, Pack was once described by a newspaper as being seen by 'many' otherwise unidentified people as 'the most powerful man in the books trade'[3] for his ability to decide which new titles will be successful.
Positioned as an irreverent commentary on the UK book trade it sparked a number of national press stories[4] and was highly critical of lead retailers Waterstones and W H Smith.