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).

Miles Cain to Judge Sentinel Poetry Competition

Miles pondering the mysteries of the universe.

I've recently received word that Valley Press author Miles Cain will be judging the next poetry competition run by Sentinel Magazine, the closing date for which is the 5th April.  First prize is £150, so you may want to give it a go - all the details can be read on their website here.

I think readers of the VP blog have a decent shot at the prize.  Think about it: you like what we're doing, we like what he's doing (which occasionally is the same thing), so there's every chance he will like what you're doing!

In other Miles news, he will be reading from The Border and doing some musical numbers at Taylors Cafe & Books (Bar Street, Scarborough), on the 28th April from 8pm, supported by Felix Hodcroft.  Entry is free, so you've no excuse really - I'll be doing more promotion on this gig in April, but I thought this post was the perfect moment to give you a 'heads up'.  See you there!

Valley Press Fest! - London

Friday 27th January 2012 - The Horseshoe, London, UK

At the end of January, myself and three plucky authors took our Valley Press 'wares' to the nation's capital, and put them on stage at an unlikely (but superb) venue, The Horseshoe on Clerkenwell Close.  I had been recommended The Horseshoe by the landlord of a different venue; this original venue was recommended to Jo Brandon by Tom Chivers, the guy who runs Penned in the Margins - one of the few publishers who could claim to be doing a better job than me, with similar resources - though he is five years older!  So it was recommended by a guy who knows a gal who knows a guy who I reckon knows what he's talking about; I took this as reassuring and pressed on with the booking.  It was excellent though, not to mention affordable; a bit like the 'Queen Vic' off EastEnders, but more poetic (on this occasion at least.)

As with all the recent events, a complete (and completely ace) photographic record has been provided for us by Marcos Avlonitis - see the whole set of photos at this link.  Really, do have a look; I was calling this guy a genius from the moment he first turned up at a gig, and his photos have just been getting better and better since then.  We actually did some posed snaps this time too, starting with the one below, which shows the entire starting lineup...

The protagonists: Norah Hanson, Jamie McGarry, Jo Brandon and Steve Rudd.

As you can see, I took a rather-more-overt-than-usual part in this gig, reading a poem from the Snail Diaries between each of the other writers' 15 minute sets.  The mindset behind this can be best compared to Sir Alex Ferguson being so invested in a Manchester United FA Cup Final that he can't bear it anymore, and races onto the pitch to take the deciding penalty himself.  I had invested an amount of money very close to £100 in setting up and promoting this London event, and I'm sad to say that's a sum of money Valley Press can ill afford to fritter away at this time of year - so I headed for the pitch, determined to do my best.  And it worked!  Although it's probably not considered polite to mention money on a polite publishing blog such as this, I ended up doubling my investment by 10pm.  We live to survive February!  (I bet Tom Chivers doesn't have to sweat over this sort of thing... but then he is five years older.)

Norah passes on some literary wisdom to Steve.

The London event actually turned out to be the most successful night for Valley Press of 2012 so far - the paying guests seemed to love it, and the authors were so enthused they vowed to reunite for a similar show in Newcastle next month; so look out for news on that.  As ever, I was filled with pride and delight as proceedings proceeded - though having run myself pretty much into the ground with events in the last couple of weeks, I find myself looking forward to a launch-free February!

Before I go, here's one last surprising development - due to the miracle of technology, for the first time ever you too can enjoy this leg of VP fest, wherever you are in the world!  I recorded the whole hour of entertainment on my trusty dictaphone, and present the file for your listening enjoyment below (or download the file, for iPods and so on, by right-clicking here, then click 'save as').  I'm the posh-sounding bloke who talks at the start, desperately trying to think of what to say, before falling back onto snail poems with relief - everyone else is introduced by name.



So enjoy that, and keep an eye on the homepage to hear news of future events.  Thanks for coming out, London - we'll see you again soon!

Valley Press Fest! - Scarborough

Saturday 21st January 2012 - Taylors Cafe & Books / Scarborough Public Library, Scarborough, UK

The official poster.

The genesis of 'Valley Press Fest' came in three stages: 1) Jo Brandon told me she was happy to do one more event while she was 'up North' for her launch, 2) a realisation that the strong sales I'd been enjoying before Christmas might not continue as strongly into January, which ideally could be compensated for with a big 'VP day', and 3) I noticed that the word 'Press' rhymes (a bit) with the word 'Fest', which is a perfect word to use when you are holding one day with multiple events.  Rejected ideas include 'Valley Presstival', and my old collaborator Howard Staveley's suggestion, 'Valley Press Conference' (see what he did there?)

Jo Brandon and Deirdre McGarry.

As I mentioned on the day, one of the great strengths of VP (which is still a very young operation, lest we forget!) is the sense of comradeship between authors - a real sense of working together, of a whole that is greater than the sum of its (already great) parts, and maybe even a sense of family... a slightly dysfunctional family perhaps, with me as everyone's strange cousin, but a family nonetheless.  The people performing on the 21st January were united by a love of literature, poetry in particular, and also by a shared experience... though everyone's road differs, they'd all experienced the 'Valley Press process' to get their books into print, so had a lot of experiences to compare.  I'm very much trying to foster the idea that the success of anyone helps everyone, and I think that's been taken on board.  As I looked around during the signing, and saw everyone talking to each other and getting on, I can honestly say I've never felt prouder.

Anyway, that's the sentimental bit taken care of!  The day had two parts, a signing (with short bursts of reading) in the new Scarborough independent bookstore/cafe Taylors, and a two-hour reading in the library.  Let me draw your attention immediately to the photographs of the day, taken by Marcos Avlonitis who I've raved about at length elsewhere - the man's a genius, enough said!  You can see some scattered around this entry, but also full sets on Facebook, from Taylors here and from the library here.  He's really captured the day, if you ask me - having a professional photographer on hand is invaluable, I plan to never go into battle without one again.

Steve Rudd and James Mcloughlin debate some important literary issues.

Our time in the cafe was an interesting experiment... not many books sold (five, if anyone's counting - apparently everyone was waiting to get them later!) and the people enjoying tea and coffee were a bit baffled at first by the onslaught of poetry, but I think they came around to the idea in the end.  Our progress was further hindered by me experiencing a problem at the bank on the way there, meaning for the first 15 mins there were just a lot of authors with no books!  When I did get there, I spent much of my time looking at submissions... I didn't see that coming!  People were quite right in thinking if they caught me off-guard, face-to-face, they'd have a good chance of getting their work read.  We'll see if anything comes of it... I told them to drop the final copies in at the front desk at Woodend in July, which allowed me to make good my escape.  But we will have to open submissions again soon, without a doubt - I'm spending much of my time at present thinking of the most effective way to receive them, the way that's easiest for me and least painful for the writers.  Any ideas, feel free to comment below!

Norah Hanson in full flow.

I was really impressed by everyone's performances at the library; it was well timed, and there wasn't a weak link in the chain... where are all those mumbling poets I occasionally see elsewhere (often after having paid several pounds!)?  Not here, apparently!  We also met one of my targets, which was to fill the room we half-filled last time... however, as I made this event free as well as waiting four months, I can't be sure which change led to the increase in numbers... it's just not scientific!  Anyway, as I say, the reading was a great success, and though we were chased out by the caretaker (apparently the library closes at 4pm on a Saturday, and not a second later), I think everyone went home satisfied.

I'd like to announce now that the next big Valley Press event will be in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, Sunday June 17th, all day at the Spa Theatre - put it in your diaries now, and I'll do more thorough advertising nearer the time.  I'd also welcome ideas; we have seven hours in total to fill on that day, and as of yet nothing planned!  Whatever we do though, if it's half as good as the 'Valley Press Fest', I'll be a happy man.  Hope to see you then!

A week after this event, some authors headed south for Valley Press Fest London - you can read all the details on how that went here.

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!

Three Great VP Events for January 2012

Note: since this was first posted, the venue for 'VP Fest London' has had to be revised - see below.

Hello blog readers!  Some exciting posts are coming your way in the next couple of weeks - I've been spending the Winter cooking up a lot of exciting stuff for this year, starting with the following three events:

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Jo Brandon's 'Phobia' Book Launch - Leeds
Friday 20th January, 8-9pm at The Carriageworks

Phobia is the first solo publication from one of the brightest rising stars in British poetry.  A former editor of the Cadaverine ezine, Jo's poems are skillful examinations of fear and hope, vulnerability and strength; rave reviews are flooding into VP HQ, and you can be there at the start by attending the free launch event, hosted by James Nash.  All the details can be read on the book's official page here.

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Valley Press Fest! - Scarborough
Saturday 21st January, 11-1pm at Taylors (Bar Street), 2-4pm at Scarborough Public Library

Two events, two venues, seven of the finest writers ever assembled in one room - and completely free to attend! The day will start with a signing at Taylors of Bar Street, Scarborough's new independent bookshop and cafe, and move on to a reading at Scarborough Public Library in the afternoon. For full details, and a list of the authors appearing, consult the website at http://www.valleypressuk.com/vpfest/

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Valley Press Fest! - London
Friday 27th January, 7pm at The Horseshoe

VP comes to London for the southern leg of 'Valley Press Fest'; held in the function room of The Horseshoe (Clerkenwell Close), the evening will feature readings from Jo Brandon, Norah Hanson, Steve Rudd and VP founder Jamie McGarry (in a first ever London appearance - also known for expertly writing in the third person!) Tickets are just £2, and will be available on the door.  More information can be found on the event's Facebook page here, and will be on the 'VP Fest' page next week.

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Hope to see some of you at some of these!

Launch Report - 'Love Letters & Children's Drawings'

Hello!  It's been a while since I wrote to you on the blog - the day-to-day neccessities of publishing are taking up more and more of my time, leaving little space for luxuries such as blog writing, which you'll agree is a shame.  The plan is to develop my 'time management' skills to the extent I'll not only be able to keep up with the blog, but also handle the two books a month I've arranged throughout 2012 (what was I thinking?!)  Anyone with time-management tips to hand should get in touch immediately.  I've made a good start - I'm writing this on a train to Leeds.  Anyway, onto business...

Last weekend we launched the nineteenth Valley Press book, Love Letters & Children's Drawings by Norah Hanson.  If you haven't had time to read the blurb/bio ect, please feel free to do so now and come back - I'll wait for you.  Done?  Great.

It was decided this time to hold two launches, to try out a new theory of mine - namely that since Friday night and Saturday afternoon events produce such different crowds, holding an event at both those times would result in two healthy turnouts.  This scheme, combined with Norah's astonishing existing popularity, and the proximity of Christmas (thus, people buying multiple copies), lead to this being the highest-selling launch of any book so far.  I don't wish to brag, but I was absolutely bowled over by the response - we had sold 85 copies by the end of the Saturday event, and at the end of the first week we're close to 150 - big business for a small poetry press.

You should have seen it, readers.  Both launches were held in Hull, the Friday night one in upstairs in Fudge restaurant - it was standing room only by the time we started, people were crammed shoulder to shoulder, sat on tables... I even had to let people sit behind the book table next to the cash box!  The Saturday one, held in the Endsleigh Centre (run by a very friendly nun, Sister Catherine) was slightly more civilised, but still attended by a swarm of keen poets and locals.  As I was busy hosting the events, this time, there is no photo record of either day, though I was sent the great photo on the right by Bernard Swift - that's me on the left, not quite looking my best, and still stunned by the turnout.

Norah excelled herself in terms of readings from the book, she had the audience 'in the palm of her hand' (to be cliche), gave them extra and still left them wanting more.  This business can be such a struggle sometimes, that when things go well it's important to savour it (perhaps with a blog post!) - before you move on to the next book, that is, which of course I should.  Back soon with more news.

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P.S. Fans of Jo Reed may be interested to know she currently has an exhibition of her print-work (including this snail) running at the Electric Angel Gallery in Scarborough (who are also stocking a range of Valley Press books, I'm delighted to report!)  More information can be found on their website here.

The Valley Press Reading 2011 - 22nd September

This post is one of the few with no content other than shameless advertising - I'm writing to let you know about the first ever Valley Press Reading, which will be held at Scarborough Public Library on the 22nd September 2011, with a relaxed 6pm start and an optimistic 7.30pm finish.  If my plans all come to fruition (and they have been known to) the reading will feature all eight authors I've published this year; they will be reading from their work, signing books (of course) and possibly answering a few questions.

Nigel Folds, artist behind Lonely Destiny, will be bringing some of the original artwork for the book (ensuring your eyes are as entertained as your ears), and the public will have their first chance to see (and buy?) copies of our seventeenth publication, Miles Cain's The Border (though of course it is available to pre-order here - expect the usual barrage of posts about that one shortly).

If you're a person with a Facebook, you can RSVP in the most convenient fashion on the event page here.  For a map to the venue, try here.  I'm afraid you do have to pay to come - £3 in fact, tickets on the door - but a lot of you already own all the books, and I gotta pay those room fees somehow!  Plus, think of all that great entertainment... to say nothing of the complimentary tea, coffee and biscuits.

I'm hoping this could be a regular thing, twice-yearly, especially if it goes as well as I think it will.  Also, I hear rumours the whole thing will be professionally filmed, so we'll be on our best behaviour (and this means international VP fans might get a look too, at some point).  Either way, wish us luck, and I'll see you there!

VP Live: Saturday August 13th

Valley Press was all over Yorkshire this Saturday, attending the first ever 'VP book signing' at the Scarborough branch of Waterstone's, and performing as part of the 'Poetry Showcase' at Bridlington's Spotlight Theatre.  I was there with my camera to capture some highlights, and thus the photo recap below was born...

The Valley Press table - sadly not a permanent feature in the shop - organised on the day by 'merchandising' whizz and all-round genius staff member Sean Lewis.

The day was a big one for collaboration - I left home that morning with two heavy boxes of books, in a superbly designed wheeled suitcase (almost classifiable as a sled) which had been donated to the VP effort by Jo Reed the previous Thursday.  Steve Rudd was also there during the initial trek, to help with another bag containing sellotape, blu-tac, the signage, a small bowl... all the other important items needed for the day's success.  In addition to this, we recieved several lifts from Helen Burke and her partner Phil (star of her poem, 'Why I Fancy Him'), and James Mcloughlin made a four-hour journey from Southport under his own steam, all to aid the VP effort.  This is what Valley Press is about, of course - great authors coming together to be greater than the sum of their parts, to offer a bit of mutual assistance.  As I considered the people I'd published since May, I felt a great sense of pride.  Here's a photo of all of us, taken by the multi-talented Phil:

One for the scrapbook - five VP authors in one place.  Left to right, James Mcloughlin, Jo Reed, Steve Rudd, Jamie McGarry, Helen Burke.

As part of my continuing interest in raffles, there was one held during the signing - visitors were invited to enter in order to win signed copies of all five books; worth 30p of anyone's money I believe.  The raffle was eventually drawn as we departed at 4pm, by Waterstone's staff member John (who pointed out a flaw with my administration of the raffle, which I won't reprint here, thus relegating the flaw into the fog of history).  The winner of the raffle was David Goh, who I have been emailing recently regarding his book about how to improve your skills at lawn bowling using sophisticated mental techniques.  Should that end up being published, you heard it here first!  His victory must be a good omen for that book.

James Mcloughlin explains something; possibly a sophisticated technique on how to improve your lawn bowling.

James and Steve wait for the rush to start.  I attempted to kick it off by personally approaching every person who came in and informing them of the remarkable gathering currently taking place.

With the signing wrapped up, we bid farewell to James and Jo, and the remaining VP-sters headed to Bridlington for the 'Poetry Showcase', which was hosted and organised by yet another one of the fold, Deirdre McGarry, pictured below introducing us with a glowing monologue which allegedly made me blush.  'Even if you don't read the books,' she said, 'just pick them up, have a feel... they're beautifully produced items!'

There was a very healthy turnout for the 'Poetry Showcase' - even the Mayor of Bridlington turned up (that's him in the red tie and blue sash).  He was an unusually cool and hip Mayor by anyone's standards; I've never seen a politican make such a decent attempt at stand-up comedy.  Behind the performers (not pictured) was a dozen full-size original paintings by Nigel Folds, mimicing the Lonely Destiny launch, and meaning every author published by VP this year was involved in the day.

The only slight problem with this event was that Deirdre had neglected to mention the words 'Poetry Showcase' to me in the run up; it had always been referred to as the 'Spotlight Theatre'.  This put Steve in an interesting position, promoting his travel writing (and armed with nothing else), but I think we got away with it by introducing him as 'a poet who on this occasion will be delighting you with some poetic prose.'  Here he is at work:

Steve was bookended by me reading some of my snail poems (after which it was gently suggested that I retire them, lest I be known only for those two poems - 'it didn't hurt Frost!' was my response) and Helen reading from The Ruby Slippers.  She went down extremely well, in fact people were clamouring to pick up a copy before she even took to the stage!  Here she is charming the crowd:

We returned to our respective homes that night, tired and happy - thanks to all the authors for their contributions, and everyone who came to see us at both venues, it was all highly appreciated!  I'm aiming to top all this on the 22nd September with our Valley Press Reading, 6pm at Scarborough Library - more information on that soon.

Pulse: Launch Photos

Huge thanks to Craig Zadoroznyj for taking a great set of photos at the launch of Pulse, and allowing me to put them on the blog.  I knew they'd turn up sooner or later!  You can have a look at some of his other work here, but not before you check out the great snaps below...

Steve hard at work signing some books.  Note the two ladies to the left - none other than the winners of the raffle, whose unlikely success was documented in my last blog post.

Close-up of Steve signing a book.  I was really impressed by his signing skills - some of the best I've ever witnessed, beautiful work!

Steve fielding questions - a wry smirk here I think.

Steve continuing his Q&A, in this case clearly laughing at one of my great jokes.  To his right you can see one of the photos, 'carefully displayed', and a copy of a 'Pulse' map.

The lovely Edwina Hayes, who charmed us with her extraordinary talents - in the fields of both music and raffle-administration.

Another close-up of that excellent signature.  The atlas behind is an old one belonging to my mum - pre-dating Indian independence!

Pulse: Launch Report

So it's away!  On Friday 5th August, The Bell in Driffield hosted the launch of Steve Rudd's Pulse, the sixteenth Valley Press book, notable for being the longest, most lavish production to date - 312 pages of writing, with a 16 page colour insert (I've got those stats off by heart, very proud).  As of yet only one photo has emerged, which you can see to your right - but if anyone reading this was there and took some snaps, please do get in touch and share them, perhaps for inclusion in a future post?

The spectacular evening started with a song from Ben Parcell (a Green Day cover, no less) and moved on into an extended Q&A with Steve, during which we collectively probed the depths of his well-travelled mind.  We were also graced by international folk sensation Edwina Hayes, who not only performed some of her beautiful music, but also helped no end with the raffle - turns out she's a seasoned raffle veteran!

If you're wondering, the raffle was a last-minute idea, in which visitors were offered the chance to win a signed, one-off A2 print of each of the photos below, as featured in the Pulse insert:

The idea behind getting the photos produced was originally to have them stuck behind Steve as he fielded questions - I always like to give people something to look at as well as hear.  In the end, however, not only did I end up paying twice as much as expected to have them done, the wall behind Steve had been waxed and polished to such an extent that they wouldn't stay stuck for more than a few seconds... the tropical heat that night probably didn't help either!  So they were carefully laid down behind Steve on a table, and offered to visitors as prizes in the raffle.  In a further twist, the winners of the photos were Sarah T. (an important person in Steve's life, and someone who features throughout Pulse) and a lady who was attending the event with her; the chances of that happening (if anyone's interested) were 0.4%.  Clearly there was a certain magic in the air that evening!

I've made some additional notes on the book which I may translate into a review - certainly another blog post - so look out for that soon.  In the meantime, enormous thanks from myself and Steve to everyone who came; I hope you're spending this weekend reading the entirety of his finely-written exploits!

Mega Week: A VP News Roundup

Quiet periods on the blog usually mean the inverse is true for Valley Press, and this week has been no exception!  In fact I hardly know where to start.  I feel bullet points might help.

• This week, the 2000th Valley Press book was sold, which has me most pleased!  Of course, the big publishing houses are disappointed if they sell less than 2000 copies of one book, but we all have to start somewhere.  In fact more than 100 books have been sold this week, through all sorts of avenues... thanks to anyone reading this who bought one, it's much appreciated.  The great thing about the grand sales total is that it can only go in one direction!  (So, yeah... no refunds.)

• This week has seen the release of our latest publication, Steve Rudd's Pulse, which you can read all about here.  The book is being launched in Driffield, East Yorkshire, this Friday (5th), so if you happen to be in town do come along and see it.  Running to 312 pages, Pulse is the longest and most elaborate book published by VP so far, and it's also the first one which I've attempted to sell directly to the public through the VP website - I'm delighted with how that's gone so far. There's a few blog posts upcoming on the subject of Pulse, so stay tuned...

• There have been a couple of VP events this week.  With some help from Felix Hodcroft and Catherine Boddy, I read the entirety of The Dead Snail Diaries in Scarborough Library, and I was delighted by how it went.  Perhaps the most ingenious idea - inspired by my inability to find a cheap projector for hire - was me re-creating the book's illustrations on a flip-chart, in the midst of the performance, in a style that some have compared to Rolf Harris (though this is probably an insult to poor Rolf.)  I had a great night anyway, thanks to everyone who turned up!  VP was also present at the 'Coastival Picnic', organised by one of Scarborough's foremost arts organisations - I was pleased to note the picnic took place behind 'Woodend', so actually in the valley which Valley Press is named after.  A photo of Valley in the valley can be seen above; as well as books I offered a poetry competition, where you had to re-write a classic poem to be on the subject of picnics.  A lot of fun (particularly when an assistant arrived with two bottles of wine). Roll on next year's picnic!

• I can announce two events are upcoming in the near future.  Both on the 13th August, in fact!  There will be a VP book signing in the Scarborough branch of Waterstone's, featuring myself, Helen Burke, Jo Reed, and Steve Rudd - something (or perhaps someone) for everyone.  It will be between the hours of 1pm and 4pm, you can see a nice poster I made for it to your right.  Later that night, me and Steve will be appearing at Bridlington's Spotlight Theatre as part of a 'revue' of the local arts organisations.  Apparently this event has been sold out, so it's a case of either you already know about it and are going, or you don't so you can't!  I guess we'll see you there, if the first case is true.

• Our call for short-story submissions is now closed. Thanks to everyone who sent in stuff - I'm sure Dan Formby (editor) is surrounded by them as we speak, sweating over what can and can't go in.  Look out for more news on that soon, especially if you submitted something.

• Finally, you may have noticed a new book on the homepage... the next Valley Press publication will be The Border by Miles Cain, another first full-length collection by an exciting Yorkshire-based poet, by far my favourite sort of book!  Check out the cover, featuring a stunning photograph by John Illingworth, to your right.  Also coming up this Autumn (and in the exact same genre) are Love Letters & Children's Drawings by Hull poet Norah Hanson (who is in the process of planning three launch events!) and Phobia by Leeds-based poet (until recently) Jo Brandon, who I believe is still recovering from a move to London, where she's destined to hit the big time in short order.  Look out for lots more on those three in the months to come, and also news of a Leeds Writer's Circle anthology which I am due to start working on tomorrow.  Assuming this next week is a bit quieter!

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.

Stone Venus: Launch Report

Last Friday, the 24th, Scarborough's 'Arts Workshop' was host to the launch of the fifteenth Valley Press book, Jo Reed's poetry collection Stone Venus.  And readers, good news - I think I've finally cracked the whole 'launch thing'.  Which is not to say the last two launches weren't successful; it's just that this one was really successful.  The secret was almost certainly holding it in the VP heartland, Scarborough's South Cliff area, where I would estimate more than half the residents have both heard of Valley Press and wish us well... how could it fail?

In the end, a record forty people turned up, and seventeen copies of the book were sold (as well as a few other titles) - a gauntlet for future launches has very much been laid down.  Other lessons I will take from this experience (besides the 'hold events in Scarborough' one) are as follows: 1) that it is possible to produce two books in one month... a bit stressful, yes, but doable, and 2) that you shouldn't leave books lying around unsupervised... unbelievably, while the reading was on, some wise guy slipped copies of both Lonely Destiny and Encore into their bag, in what I believe is known as the 'five finger discount'.  I have mixed feelings about this, but on the whole I think I'm pleased to have produced objects that induce such desire for ownership that people will break the law to possess them.  Now I know how Steve Jobs must have felt when the first iPod was shoplifted.

I should probably say a few words on how the book came about.  In fact, Stone Venus pre-dates most of the other recent projects, starting in early September 2010 when the publishing was very much a hobby, and I had no intention of pursuing it seriously... things have moved fast!  I had known Jo for a few years, she is part of what might one day be called the 'Scarborough set', including the likes of Felix Hodcroft and Nigel Gerrans, and a few others who I hope to get under the VP umbrella eventually.  She had just finished a Masters degree in Creative Writing, at Newcastle University, focusing mostly on poetry, and had produced a vast portfolio of poems - which I was only too happy to look through and edit.  After a bit of collaboration (which we managed despite Jo spending the entire winter in Dubai) we had soon trimmed the manuscript down to a manageable thirty-eight poems; Jo was even kind enough to let me order the poems, which is one of my favourite parts of the poetry publishing process.

In fact the whole process went extremely smoothly - even the cover design was worked out in the end, though with Jo being a professional artist by day, that part of the project did provide the most friction.  In fact Venus has set a new record for different versions of the cover, too... there were eight in total, the process finally ending with Jo getting pretty much what she wanted in the first place.  For the record, my favourite was a couple of editions previously - you can see it on the right.  Not bad eh?

Talking of pictorial content, it would be a poor launch post indeed if I didn't at this point produce a series of photographs documenting the launch... and there's another attempt at capturing poetry on video, though this one breaks additional records for poor quality.  I will definitely be investing the profits from July (if indeed there are any) on a mid-range video camera... suggestions for which model to go for should be forwarded in the usual manner.  Enjoy!

I noticed this welcome sight whilst getting a lift to the venue.  Why don't you have VP poetry books in your back seat pockets?

Here we can see a small portion of the massive crowd... I now look at this and try to spot the thief.  I think that might be him at the back, in the black-and-white striped shirt, with the calico sack labelled 'swag'.

Jo shows off the infamous rock, making the audience laugh by listing other things people think it looks like, besides the Venus de Milo.  Guests were invited to write their suggestions in a small book, and the winner won a free copy - this went to Jenny Thomas, who thought it was 'a failed prototype for a polar bear.'

The flowers on the left include a begonia, propagated from a plant previously owned by Jo's mother, a plant which is mentioned in the collection's opening poem.  Guests were invited to take a clipping themselves as a souvenir - this was a really interactive launch!

Rosie Larner reads her favourite poem from the collection, 'Exit Stage Left'.

Felix Hodcroft tackles 'Minotaur', in his usual dark and dramatic style... cracking stuff.

The Ruby Slippers: Launch Report

On Saturday 11th June, London's 'Poetry Cafe' hosted the official launch event for Helen Burke's poetry collection The Ruby Slippers.  The launch came to be at this prestigious venue entirely thanks to Helen; she had negotiated a gig at the cafe when the book was just a twinkle in my eye. When I heard she'd got it, I immediately suggested it become the launch - and now here I am the week after, reporting on it.

This was the first Valley Press event of any kind to be held outside Yorkshire, and may well be the last - despite the gig being advertised in every conceivable location, and on every poetry listings website Google could trawl up, only one person turned up who none of us already knew (and even he only stayed for ten minutes, eventually excusing himself very politely).  A small rethink will be needed before attempting another launch outside of the VP comfort zone (which is located somewhere in a triangle between Scarborough, Hull and Leeds) but I do not wish to do Saturday's event a disservice - there was a great atmosphere, Helen and our musical guest Julian Willmore were on top form, and I ended up well in profit (sorry to bring money into the equation, but a man's gotta eat!)

Another plus point was the presence of professional musician and photographer Rikki Blue, who set about unobtrusively taking brilliant photographs, some of which I include below (see Facebook to view the full set).  I also include another of my grainy, slightly suspect launch videos, which has become the first content on the brand new Valley Press YouTube channel, open as of today.  Enjoy!

Me introducing the audience to Helen, while she inspects a copy of the book.

Helen pauses for dramatic effect during the first poem.

Reaction to an amusing audience comment during the Q&A.

Helen and Julian Willmore in full flow.

Helen signing a copy of 'The Ruby Slippers'. She has an interesting habit of never signing in the same place twice... no area of the introductory pages is safe.

Helen hands back Sarah's book, freshly signed.

Video of Helen reading the title poem of 'The Ruby Slippers'.