My Week at Valley Press

(Note from JM: presenting a guest post from a young lady named Stephanie, who spent the week of 5th-9th November helping out in the Valley Press office. If you missed her fellow intern Madeleine's post about the same week, you can catch it here.)

Having been generously offered a week's work placement at Valley Press, I was very excited to get started and engage in some hands-on work, and become more closely involved with books at their editing and production stage. Having only done internships at larger publishing houses before, I had not yet had the experience of working directly with the books and their contents, and so it was something I was very eager to be a part of.

Much to mine and fellow intern Madeleine's surprise, we were given an opportunity to do so on the same night that we arrived in Scarborough! The manuscript in question was due to be sent to the printers the next day, and so valiantly our fresh, new team of brilliant editorial minds (including Valley Press' own Jamie McGarry and local author Felix Hodcroft) took on the roles of proof-readers and typesetters in order to get the manuscript prepared on time. I couldn't have asked for a more hands-on project than that to kick-start the week!

The following day Madeleine and I were given the opportunity to help edit an anthology of poems soon to be published by an author whose name must sadly be kept in the dark for now.  After a lunch in a nearby cafe at which it seemed Madeleine consumed a lake-full of Haddock chowder (a challenge I gamely predicted she would not manage - see, who's to say interning can't be fun?) we delved into a poetry-filled afternoon, fulled by tea, coffee and biscuits provided by our gracious host.

Proving that great minds do not, in fact, necessarily think alike, Madeleine and I disagreed on our opinions of the vast majority of the poems; however, as a collection we both, including Jamie, agreed that the anthology is definitely something special.  The poet's ability to display his subject matter in such a thought-provoking manner was a breath of fresh air to me; his portrayal of everyday and universal situations from such a unique angle and perspective was certainly impressive. We did attempt to come up with equally thought-provoking ideas for the front cover illustration, but this was something that continued to have us stumped throughout the week. I have to admit, though, that Madeleine had the edge in this task; she came up with a few quite interesting ideas while I struggled to come up with anything nearly as constructive!

Dinner that night consisted of home-made quiche (divine) and cocktails (awesome!) provided by Madeleine's aunt; not that I'm saying that all interns would be given such a treat; but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the good company, good drinks and great food. Madeleine and I agreed that the internship was beginning to feel like a holiday even on our first day - we were enjoying the work and the people and, as Madeleine correctly described it, it felt more like an 'editorial retreat' than an work placement!

Tuesday saw Jamie, Maddy and I taking a trip to The University of Hull, Scarborough Campus to give a talk to some undergraduates taking English degrees (at which a previous intern was coincidentally sitting in the audience). Jamie managed to quell one student's misconceptions of the poetry publishing world, proving that publishing poetry is a safe and cost-effective venture into the world of publishing, rather than the risky manoeuvre that the student supposed it to be. (Note from JM: that's that sorted then!)  Madeleine gave details of her MA, her past work placements and how she had managed to get to where she was in her publishing career path. I decided to start giving out names of organisations and societies that I'd been involved in which allowed me to gain my work-experience placements, as they were what led me to the opportunities to get involved in interning. As a lovely surprise afterwards, the lecturer Kevin Corstophine took us for drinks and a delicious dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant as a thank you on the behalf of the university. With perks like those I'd give as many talks as they'd want!

(That night we also took a trip to see the new film, Skyfall. Any work placement that involves James Bond films is a successful one for me!)

Madeleine did come up with some magic advice for breaking into the publishing world that kept us tickled for most of the week: "Just live your life." Unfortunately this nugget of wisdom was not shared with the student body, however Jamie and I understood perfectly what she was getting at: live your life, and gain contacts that can help you progress and get your foot in the door. In the world of publishing, networking is everything.

On Wednesday we took a trip to the university at York, where we listened to readings from the very smart and immensely interesting James Nash, author of Some Things Matter, 63 Sonnets (published by Valley Press). We managed to sell numerous copies of his book at the stall that Jamie had set up, and rightly deserved, as his collection of sonnets were witty, amusing, and touching all at the same time. It was a pleasure to hear him read. We were also treated to readings from the brilliant David Tait and the music of Izzy Isgate.

For our second-to-last day, Jamie gave us the opportunity to look at submissions, a task I thoroughly enjoyed. Again, the three of us disagreed on many submissions, especially Madeleine and me, but it just showed that any we DID both agree on were definitely worth a second look. This task gave us an insight into what kind of submissions publishers receive and also what they look out for in terms of content and quality.

Friday was an interesting day for me; as Jamie had to be elsewhere on business, he asked if I could attend an Amnesty International book event at the Guild Hall in Hull (as that is where I live, conveniently!) As a sort of ambassador for Valley Press, I attended the book event where I met many of the authors that had contributed to the anthology, entitled Small Candles, that Jamie had helped produce.  We listened to readings of the poems by their respective authors, and I helped take photos of the readings too. The people were very lovely, providing us all with free tea and cupcakes, and I even got a personal mention in the thank-you speech for my attendance! What a lovely way to finish a brilliant 'editorial retreat'!

Do not underestimate the benefits of undertaking an internship at a small publishing company; in fact, if you want more hands-on involvement and a feeling of really contributing, then I would more than happily suggest Valley Press, and more generally the smaller publishing firms. They are not necessarily just a stepping-stone into bigger things, either, because I undertook two previous work placements at large London-based publishing firms before I came to Valley Press, and I enjoyed this placement just as much, if not more, and certainly took just as much from the experience. Thank you very much, Jamie, for allowing me to take part in such a fantastic work experience placement. I could not recommend it enough.

This week I have mostly been... interning at Valley Press!

(Note from JM: presenting a guest-post from a young lady named Madeleine, who spent the week of 5th-9th November helping out in the Valley Press office - her post can be thought of as a sequel to this classic effort. She accidentally announced one of next year's books in the second paragraph, I will edit the name back in when his book has been officially announced.  Enjoy!)

I was very excited to be part of the prestigious Valley Press team at the beginning of last week. And in fact, the work began as soon as I arrived! Settling down with a cup of Jamie McGarry's finest tea; he, Stephanie (who was also interning) and I began a rapid and enjoyable proof-read for a book that needed to be sent off to the printers quick-smart! What a fantastically immediate and immersive introduction to the world of independent publishing.

With a later start the next day, thanks to all our hard work, we started the process of editing a collection of poems from Leeds-based writer --------------. What an exciting new talent has been found. His poems are vibrant with insightful descriptions and witticisms of a very real and often touching regional world. In the office we had many disagreements on which poems to include in the collection, but this of course was all part of the dynamic nature of good editing. Plenty of brain-storming surrounded the issue of the front-cover design and consequently patterned our week's work. It actually kept me up well into the night trying to find inspiration! Stay tuned to see what will be the final stroke of creative genius from VP.

On Tuesday we visited the Scarborough campus of the University of Hull, to give a talk to the students about the realities and benefits of a career in publishing. We all had different perspectives to lend an elucidating hand to the young scholars; from Jamie's entrepreneurial point-of-view, to Stephanie and I as young publishers gathering our thoughts from our recent voluntary work. Stephanie was on fire with useful contacts and website suggestions, and it was satisfying to feel that we may be able to contribute to the mapping of someone's career path at such a turbulent time for employment.

We also visited York mid-week, and were treated to warm and diverting performances from musician Izzy Isgate, poet David Tait, and Valley Press poet James Nash in celebration of the latter's book Some Things Matter: 63 Sonnets. Manning the book-stall, we sold many copies of Nash's book amongst other Valley Press wonders.

Later on in the week we handled new submissions, of which there were a couple of hidden gems that must stay hidden for the time being!

In and around our hive of activity, we were also treated to the various hedonistic possibilities of the town. Most memorably... lunches at Café Venus and Bonnets, dinner and cocktails, Talking Heads tea-breaks and some (personally) traumatic yet hilarious audio-bursts of Keane, cake-sharing, James Bond, and walks along the beach.

I'll say it twice, and I'll write it again: I couldn't call my week at Valley Press work experience, even though we did put our heads together to get great wads of work to the next stage of publication. I think Jamie should be advertising editorial retreats!

Video: VP at Ilkley Literature Festival

All has been quiet on the blog lately - I've been too busy with production (check out the books page if you've not been keeping up), but the great eye of Valley Press will soon turn back to promotion, social media and the more ethereal elements of publishing, such as this blog.  Starting today, actually, as thanks to the incredible media guru that is Marcos Avlonitis, the entire Valley Press event from this year's Ilkley Literature Festival has been preserved on video, for your viewing pleasure.

You can view the first part in the window below, and probably find the second, third and fourth segments at the end without much trouble (otherwise, click the links in this sentence).  The event features VP authors Jo Brandon, Cara Brennan and James Nash, but starts, as ever, with me trying so very hard to be a decent host.  Enjoy!





(P.S. I'm rather amused that I'm in the background of all the shots, looking like I'm waiting for my laundry to finish - there could be a remix where it's just me sat there, silently for half an hour (perhaps with some lift music playing - 'there was a little spanish flea' ect.)  Send in your attempts at this to win a prize... no, I'm joking.  Please don't).

Valley Press 'Highly Commended' in National Business Award

A couple of weeks ago I reported that Valley Press had been shortlisted for the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards, which (if you read that post) you'll recall was a competition 'to find the best student and graduate entrepreneurial talent across the country'.  This is the post that announces whether or not I can now describe myself as such - the answer is a tentative 'yes'.  VP was 'highly commended' at the North East heat on the 29th February, and can now display the handsome logo you see on your right.

That's pretty much the only prize for 'highly commended', but it's still something to be proud of; apparently there were close to a thousand entries, sixteen of which won a cash prize, and fourteen of which were commended.  So if you like, we can now declare VP is one of the top thirty graduate businesses in the country - not too shabby!  Especially as many of the other companies were serious business players, employing a dozen staff, revolutionising a particular type of technology and turning over in a month what VP manages in a year... and those were just the ones I beat.

This is not just good news for me and Valley Press; by commending VP, the judges have acknowledged that literature (poetry, even) can be the base for successful business activity - a powerful (and unusual) statement from four high-powered banking executives!  Turned out most of them were quite into books, even.  The competition involved me making a two-minute pitch and answering five minutes of questions; during the latter the judges managed to argue briefly amongst themselves whether ebooks or paper were best.  You can't escape that debate!  At the end of the day, when the commendation was announced, VP was described as a 'beautiful business' - I'd obviously touched a few heartstrings, perhaps reminded them of happy childhood days curled up with a tatty paperback.

The VP table at the awards 'do' - I brought the books!

More than anything, the awards formed the basis for a nice day out - I was accompanied by VP author Felix Hodcroft, who did a great job of talking up the operation while I was busy refining my pitch.  The organisers, judges and fellow finalists were brilliant too; unfailingly cheery and friendly.  I noticed amongst them was former The Apprentice and Dragon's Den contender Leon Doyle, a serious player (and seriously tall - when he and Felix stood next to each other, I came up to their chests, and felt like I was back in primary school.  He was one of the ones I beat, by the way - not that I want to rub this in, or anything.)

A wider angle on the table - there's Leon in the back, to the right.

The number of texts, emails and Facebook messages I received on the day was quite staggering - it seems most of the town was rooting for me, particularly after the article on your right appeared in the Scarborough Evening News.  It's rare in publishing that you find yourself competing with anyone in such a direct fashion; poetry awards are decided in secret and announced via email newsletter, and competition between publishers for your custom is done in bookshops with none of us around (unless I'm hanging out near the poetry section trying to influence you, which isn't unheard of).  So in a way it was nice to have a focal point, an us-versus-them moment where people could really get behind VP.  That being said, after the ceremony, me and Felix dropped in on James Nash for a light editorial meeting about his upcoming collection of sonnets, and it served as a helpful reminder of what I'm really in this for - in case all the showbiz got to my head!

Apparently the Enterprise Awards will be a yearly thing, and while winners can't enter again, commended businesses can - so I'll be back, without question, for the 2013 competition!  And until then, back to business as normal; look out for details of new book releases on the blog and on the site soon.

Launch Report: 'Phobia' by Jo Brandon

Friday 20th January 2012, The Carriageworks, Leeds, UK

Host James Nash looks on during an exciting bit of poetry from Jo.

The relationship between Valley Press and dynamic young writer Jo Brandon - one for the ages, hopefully! - began on the 1st May 2011, when I happened across a short biography of her online and noticed she was 'currently working on a debut pamphlet', so sent an exploratory email to see if we could do something about that.  I was sending a lot of these emails at this point, and although some recieved positive replies, it was only Jo (and Jo's work) that inspired enough enthusiasm on both ends to see a publishing project through to completion - and the date of this completion was the 20th January 2012, when Phobia was launched in style at The Carriageworks theatre in Leeds.

Though according to the Poetry Society guidelines, we should call Phobia a 'pamphlet', that is something of a hotly disputed issue in the Valley Press offices - it is a book, and it is a collection of poetry, with only ten pages less than many of our previous publications, about which there was no confusion.  People ordering Phobia expecting a standard pamphlet, hastily stapled by the publisher the night before, will be in for a nice surprise, if I say so myself!  I've taken to calling it a 'pamphlet length collection', and I'd encourage you to do the same.

Jo hard at work signing - that's me in the background.

This was our first launch at The Carriageworks, and I was very impressed by the facilities provided - I suspect they could have been even better if I'd got the technical people on side earlier in the week!  Our host of choice ten times out of ten, Mr. James Nash, was on top form, and Jo told the full story about many of the poems, giving a lot of facts that were totally new to me - though the poem 'Gamophobia' is about cooking, the word actually means fear of marriage, hence the last line: 'see what harm can be done when you heat the ring.'  I must admit, this was also the first time I've seen Jo perform her work live, and I was not disappointed - I've see few people read with more confidence, animation and passion.  Often with young writers (particularly myself!) it's neccessary to talk in terms of 'promise', or 'this is one to watch' - but I really think Jo has got the whole package already.  She should take the poetry world by storm, and of course it's now partly my responsibility to see that through...

You can see a full set of photos from the launch at this link, all taken by the media mastermind that is Marcos Avlonitis.  If you're a regular visitor to the VP site, this name will not be unfamiliar to you - he also did the post-production work on the cover image which graces Phobia, which if you're wondering is an 'icon', probably of Mary, who is mentioned in one of the poems featured on the Phobia page.  I think it's time to admit this is the same Marcos who is credited in the acknowledgements - he's Jo's partner, but what a guy, and what a team they make!  He even set up a sound desk upon our arrival, and has recorded the whole gig; this will hopefully be appearing on the blog in due course, though as the man is a perfectionist this will be after he has removed any trace of noise from the air conditioning vent.  I pointed out to Marcos during the evening that, in the age of media, the man with the top camera, recording equipment and skills to use them is pretty much king - I think he agreed.

I'd like to formally thank everyone who came out to see Jo and James - there was a fantastic atmosphere of encouragement and support, and more than a couple of attendees from Leeds literary royalty, which is always great to see.  Blog readers can still grab the book, signed and otherwise, from the VP site here - you might also like to read about 'Valley Press Fest', which Jo attended the following day, in the report here.  Hope to see you at the next launch!

A News Roundup (July/August Events)

A special post today to summarise some recent interesting developments in the Valley Press world... a couple of upcoming events, first:

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The Dead Snail Diaries - Live!

Venue: Scarborough Library & Information Centre
Date: Thursday 28th July 2011
Time: 6pm-7.30pm
Ticket price: £3, available on the door

As I didn't have time to host a 'launch' for my Snail book when it was first released (too busy with everyone else... Mr. Selfless eh!), I've decided to do a one-off event at the end of July - a reading of the entire book, cover to cover, in Scarborough library.  It might be a bit much to listen to me talk about snails for that amount of time, so I'm in the process of recruiting guest readers to play the various characters.

It would be great to see you there - £3 is (hopefully) a very reasonable price for an evening's entertainment of this calibre, plus you get as much tea and coffee as you can drink, and (if you want) you can have £3 off a copy of the book.  Or buy one in advance and be an educated listener - all the info on the book is here, and there's a Facebook event here for you social-networking fiends.

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Steve Rudd's 'Pulse' - The Book Launch

Venue: The Bell Hotel, Driffield
Date: Friday 5th August 2011
Time: 7.30pm onwards
Free entry

The next VP book is Steve Rudd's epic travel diary Pulse, which will be launched in his home town of Driffield on the 5th August.  It's free to come, and the books will be cheap too, so I don't know what could possibly put you off!  Precise details are still to be worked out (and I'm still hard at work producing the books), but the evening will definitely feature a Q&A with the author, readings from the book, and general milling around admiring the guy's hard work and adventurous spirit - all part of what makes book launches such pleasant ways to spend a summer evening.

Find out more about Pulse here, or see the FB event here.

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As promised, there are just a couple of other things worth mentioning - Sabotage Reviews very kindly took it upon themselves to review our 2010 charity anthology The Day of Small Things, and they appear to like it - have a read here.  Also, James Mcloughlin was interviewed by James Nash on his latest podcast (July 2011), which you can listen to here - he appears about 4:45 in, if you're impatient!

Great to see so much positive 'Valley Press press' - long may it continue.

Encore: Back Story, Launch Photos & Miscellany

Back in the dark, cold mists of January (which now seems like a lifetime ago), only a week or two after I'd made the decision to run Valley Press full time, I got an email from one James Mcloughlin, expressing an interest in 'me and my publishing company' (which at the time, would have elicited a big grin - now I just nod and think 'so you should').  The rest is history - I read his poems, and loved them enough to commission a slim volume, which is out now and available through all good book vendors.  You've got to know him since then through his regular posts on this blog, more of which will be on the way I'm sure.

James' book was officially launched last Wednesday (25th May) in Leeds, and in my humble opinion the event went very well.  We certainly filled the venue, and James did brilliantly... making himself heard over a reggae festival downstairs (who were kind enough to turn down the speakers, actually; good blokes).  He did an especially good job considering he's a modest young man, and no veteran of the public-speaking circuit - though well on the way after this.  He was introduced by long-time Valley Press friend James Nash, who is a veteran and brought plenty of gravitas to the night (without diluting the sense of youth and vigour).  Appropriately enough, it was Mr. Nash who first gave James my contact details, so he was there for the birth and graduation of this particular child of VP (referring to the book, of course).

We also had help from fellow VP author Felix Hodcroft, who read James' darkly mysterious poem 'Lucidity II' - though when I sent it to him, he quipped 'is that Lucidity 2, or the notorious philosophical football team Lucidity 11?'  Public awareness for 'Encore' was also boosted by Andrew McMillan, who not only provided a great endorsement for the back cover, but also posted some of the poems on respected ezine Cadaverine - click here to read the poems and accompanying article. 

I'll finish this post with some pictures from the launch, and a video (which James has kindly uploaded to his YouTube channel), but before then I'd like to thank everyone who turned up on the night or helped with the book's production, and remind people who haven't read this excellent book that it is still available for a highly reasonable price, both as a paperback and now for the Kindle.  Tell your friends!

The crowd assembles, bracing themselves for some great poetry.

James Nash (left) introduces James Mcloughlin (right).

James reads his poem 'Expanding Borders'.

James Nash tackles 'Euphoric Nausea'.

Felix Hodcroft reads 'Lucidity II', also showing off the book.

And as promised, video evidence from the launch - James reading the title poem from his book.  Sorry about the quality, by the way; if anyone would like to donate a decent camera to the Valley Press effort, you know where to find me.  Also, excuse the carry-over from the reggae night downstairs... though I think it adds a bit of drama.  Think of it as a soundtrack.