Elliot & Thompson taps new book on the challenges of modern tech

Elliot & Thompson has acquired Reboot: Reclaiming Your Life in a Tech-Obsessed World by Dr Elaine Kasket.

Publishing director Sarah Rigby acquired world English language rights from Caroline Hardman at Hardman & Swainson. The book will be published in hardback and e-book on 31st August 2023.

The synopsis reads: “Technology is the mediator and middleman in nearly every relationship we have in modern life: parents and kids, teachers and pupils, romantic partners, employees and bosses, midlife adults and ageing parents, we are constantly making decisions about data and devices that affect not only us, but other people.

“In Reboot, psychologist and reformed ‘sharenter’ Elaine Kasket disrupts common assumptions and fears about technology’s impact on us. For each phase of your life, she explores how and why you may be pulled into using and thinking about technology in particular ways, even when those ways don’t ultimately serve you or your relationships. Covering data privacy, sharenting, cyberstalking, remote working, video doorbells, babyveillance, genetic genealogy and our digital afterlife, this thought-provoking book will inspire readers to reclaim their power, aligning their technology use with the kind of life and relationships they want.”

Rigby said: “So often we speak about technology as a powerful, unstoppable force, with us as its victims. What I love about Reboot is the path it lays towards a more empowered, more individual way of responding to technology and its challenges at every stage of our lives.”

Kasket added: ”I may be the first to create a technologically-infused map of the human lifespan [and] I believe I’ve created a book that’s both thought-provoking and helpful. I want readers to shift their attention from things they can’t control – like the machinations of Big Tech – to what they can change.”

Kasket is a counselling psychologist, psychotherapist, speaker and coach. She is the author of All the Ghosts in the Machine: The Digital Afterlife of Your Personal Data (Robinson) which examines what happens to our data when we die. She also produces and hosts the "This is Your Life on Tech" podcast, the storytelling podcast "Wednesday’s Ghost" and "Still Spoken", which is an exploration of how the dead live on through us, through our stories, and through technology. Kasket is currently editing a novel that “takes the experience of online romance to a new level”.