Catch-up and New Interview with J.M.

Hello there - first of all, apologies for the lack of blog posts lately, I've been discovering just how much work really is involved in running a publishing operation... turns out, lots.  I feel confident now, however, that I stand astride the mountain of things to do, having not conquered it exactly but got in the right position to conquer it.  There have been countless events and book launches since my last post (feels like it anyway), particularly in June - some highly successful, some miserable failures, and a rare one or two that turned out pretty much as planned.  We don't have any more 'live dates' scheduled now till 8th September at the Poetry Book Fair, so the next month-and-a-half will be a rare chance for me to get everything up to date and catch my breath.

While all this publishing and eventing has been going on, no-one (except possibly my mum) has expressed a desperation for blog posts, so they have fallen by the wayside - the last really interesting post by me was March 3rd.  I promise to remedy this situation in the remainder of 2012, and maybe even shed some light on what went on during these past few months.

Cover for the last Inpress catalogue.

I assume you've been keeping up with our publishing programme while I've been 'away' - if not, check the homepage.  My next job is to make pages for all the books coming out in the second half of 2012, ideally before the release of the next Inpress catalogue, which will (for the first time) feature our titles.  And in this manner, we arrive at the meat of this post; the catalogue also features an interview with yours truly on the subject of - you've guessed it! - Valley Press, and you lucky blog readers don't need to wait till the catalogue has been printed to read it, as the full version is featured below.  The questions were asked by Inpress chieftain Rachael Ogden.

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RO: What was the impetus behind setting the company up?

JM: I have had a peculiar interest in publishing throughout my life – at the age of 6, I was filling exercise books with stories, then adding ‘front matter’, a blurb and even a barcode.  I can’t really explain this behaviour (then or now), except to say it must have been hard-wired from birth!  I continued to experiment with publishing whilst at university, under the name ‘Valley Press’, so after graduation – having struggled for eight months to find any sort of gainful employment – I felt I had no choice but to get some more books printed and give it a proper go.  The rest is history.

RO: What is the primary focus of the press?

JM: Up to now, Valley Press has been responsible for a certain type of poetry – the word ‘accessible’ springs to mind, but never simplistic or banal.  Poetry that would satisfy someone with a wide knowledge of the medium, but also work that anyone could get something from; poetry that doesn’t exclude.  That’s my particular passion and area of expertise, but as readers of this catalogue will see (blog readers: just imagine it), during the next six months I’m experimenting with a few other genres – in the hope me and VP can continue to make ends meet.

RO: What do you think small independents contribute to the publishing landscape?

JM: Well for a start, more books – which is never a bad thing (until it comes time to move house, of course!)  More opportunities for authors to get their work in print, and more opportunities for readers to discover new books, and new ways of discovering books.  Also, with independents there is a great scope for specialisation, of topic and of region, which does wonders for our literary diversity.

RO: What are your aspirations for the company?

JM: This is an easy one – I would like to put in place an infrastructure that could take any book, edit and produce it to be the very best it could be, and market it in such a way that it was brought to the attention of (or perhaps, put in front of) everyone who could gain something from it.  I think at heart, this is the goal of all publishers – no-one really goes into this for the money!

I know this catalogue reaches people in many areas of the industry, so I’d like to say – if anyone has any tips, advice or questions for me, I’d love to hear from you on jamie@valleypressuk.com.  I’m still at a quite early stage in my career, and when I started I knew absolutely nothing; so I still have a lot to learn, and I find a good way to speed that process up is to be honest and ask.

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What I'm really looking for at the end, I think, is an offer of a better (i.e. less stressful and more lucrative) job!  Anyway, hope you gleaned some small enjoyment from that - if you've heard all those particular thoughts and stories before, you're obviously a keen follower of VP and won't mind a bit of repetition.  Pretty soon, the story of my early childhood book creation (and subsequent unemployment) will be as familiar and enjoyable to you as a black-and-white lunchtime film on BBC2.  I expect.  Anyway, see you shortly, for more enlightening chapters of the Valley Press story!