Friday, 22 December 2017

This week at Valley Press, #86: 'Our 2017'



Dear readers,

It's that time of year when we can easily find ourselves looking backwards... 'another journey round the sun, and what have I achieved?' is the phrase spoken on many a wintry, late December street corner. So I suppose we may as well embrace it fully, with a brief run through everything that's happened at Valley Press this year, in case you missed any highlights (and then we'll end by looking forwards, another fine tradition).

I was astonished to find, flicking back twelve months, that in December 2016 I was the only employee of Valley Press; a 'sole trader' in every sense. I was more or less on paternity leave too; just keeping things ticking over. Then, after my traditional end-of-year pondering (which also led to me first going into full-time publishing in January 2011), I emerged into 2017 set on starting 'Valley Press Ltd.' and staffing up as thoroughly as possible.

I was soon joined by Jo Haywood and Tess Dennison (pictured above on the left, at our Christmas party), with Jo taking on... well, just about everything, in her role as 'Assistant Publisher', and Tess running the submissions department like she'd been doing it all her life. We heard from Tess in this newsletter in late June, you may recall, by which point we had Vanessa Simmons on our team (pictured above on the right). Starting as 'Events Manager', Vanessa's role will be expanded next year to encompass 'Education' projects, connecting VP and our authors with schools and universities – look forward to that.

Staff-wise, I mustn't forget the contributions from our various publicists throughout the year, most notably Suzannah Evans (who has now moved on to greener pastures), and of course the phalanx of interns who joined us during the summer months (twelve in all, many of whom graced this newsletter with guest posts). A month ago we were joined by Sasha Hawkes, a veteran of the London publishing industry, with a decade of experience at places such as Scholastic, Quadrille and Nick Hern...  she'll be taking care of the 'bread and butter' of publishing in the production department (as 'Production Editor').

All these new people needed an office, and after a temporary stint above a curry house (which I may have glossed over at the time), my 'dream office' in the building that's always received the Valley Press post, Woodend, became available and we made ourselves at home there from the start of June. I can't imagine life without it now (or without the team). The new office has plenty of room in it, which is handy as it meant we could find a spot for the Yorkshire Coast 'Culture/Arts Business of 2017' trophy, and mine for Scarborough's 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year' (thought I'd slip those in).

But did we manage to publish any books? Well, not until the summer actually – we try to work a few months ahead of schedule, so having spent the autumn parenting and the winter building the new team, I'd failed to line up anything between January and June. But when we got going, my goodness did we get going! There have been 15 new titles published by Valley Press since July, not bad considering we managed 20 in the whole of 2016 (with Arts Council money, and Rosa and Laura backing me up).

Those 2017 titles started with Helen Burke's Collected Poems, the product of 45 years of writing and 30 months of publishing – then moved on through our first Chinese translation, Nora Chassler's inimitable feast of 'fragments', our definitive anthology of Yorkshire Poetry, and new collections from Cath Nichols, John Wedgwood Clarke, Oz Hardwick, and Wendy Pratt. There were tears when we lost Helen Cadbury, months before the launch of her poetry debut Forever, Now; but what a privilege it was to publish that magnificent book.

One title I didn't mention in this year's newsletters was Paul Sutherland's New and Selected Poems, which originally came out in September 2016 (just as my 'paternity leave' started, earlier than expected) – so in November, we gave it a fresh cover (by local design agency Fitzpatrick Design) and re-launched it to a world of eager readers. Antony Owen made it a 'choice of 2017' in a recent edition of the Morning Star, saying Paul 'shows us his strength not only of character but of his lyrical writing quality.' Agreed!

We also published debut pamphlets by Caroline Hardaker and Ian Stuart, and were proud to put those wonderful new poets on the shelves. Then we were well and truly Britpopped while working on a comprehensive guide to that musical era, before receiving an education in why Verse Matters from Rachel Bower and Helen Mort, and meeting the Prideaux Angels just a week ago. Not a bad year's work! Well done to all involved.

And 2018? It'll be bigger and better; you should expect nothing less than a deluge of fascinating, unexpected literature bursting forth from our corner office in the heart of Scarborough, as we lead up to our tenth birthday in October. I can also reveal exclusively, right here right now (as a reward for anyone who has read all the way to the end) ... our second 'Grants for the Arts' bid was accepted by Arts Council England, and we will be receiving £40,000 worth of funding for our publishing efforts over the next twelve months.

What can I say to that?! Perhaps just: I promise we'll use it wisely, and I hope you can agree it's in safe hands. See you next year, lots of love, and thanks for reading.

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

Friday, 15 December 2017

This week at Valley Press, #85: 'Nearly there'



Dear readers,

The year is winding down, and as of today, Valley Press can begin to do the same. Our penultimate book of 2017, Verse Matters, was successfully launched in Sheffield last night at another emotional, inspiring event (pictured above). Manning the book stall in a charming space known as the Holt, I met a lot of brilliant new writers that I'll be wanting to keep an eye on – and so should you. The anthology is absolutely crammed with talent, young and old, with poems and prose from the first-time-published sitting comfortably alongside brilliant new work from a handful of featured 'A-listers' (if poets can aspire to such a term!)

There's still time to grab a copy or twelve before Christmas, and of course if you use discount code HAMPER (valid until noon on Monday 18th) you'll get 15% off and be entered into a prize draw to win £200 of fine VP publications. After that, please remember to get any and all Christmas orders placed by midday on Thursday 21st, before we close the office and the post elves hang up their satchels for a few well-earned days of rest.

The hamper offer also applies to our final book of the year, which I can (at last!) reveal is titled Prideaux Angels (pronounced 'pre-dough'). It's a beautifully-illustrated children's story, based on a series of promenade performances at Prideaux Place, Cornwall, happening from tomorrow up until Boxing Day (details here). You can only get this book at those performances or through our website it's an exclusive, a limited edition (only 500 copies of this version will ever be printed), and actually very attractive indeed:


Credit goes to Kimberly Campanello for writing a story that is charming and festive (with just that hint of darkness that is essential for a Christmas classic), and that works both as a dance piece and as words on a page; no easy task. Then there's renaissance man Simon Birch, choreographer and illustrator for the project – we're delighted to add both of them to our ever-growing roster of Valley Press authors. Find out more about the book via its homepage here, and do consider making one of the performances if you live nearby.

Next week's newsletter will be the last one of the year, and I'm planning a 'lap of honour' reviewing the highs and lows of 2017 ... except, missing out the lows, because who wants them so close to the holidays?! I may have one last bit of big news too, so hang on in there and watch this space (and as ever, thanks for reading).

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

Friday, 8 December 2017

This week at Valley Press, #84: 'Your five a day'



Dear readers,

Another late newsletter this week – can you believe I've barely had a minute to myself since the last one went out? One of the things I've been doing tonight (besides publishing) is building another book tree, pictured above, this time at our local chapel and made out of non-VP books. They have a Christmas tree festival every year, and the theme this year is 'words that end in tree'; so after last week's pun, Mrs McGarry volunteered us to construct an actual 'poet tree'. Maybe you can spot some of your favourites? (If not, you might like to visit the 'optome-tree' someone built to our left, covered in pairs of glasses.)

This week, rather than lengthy anecdotes, I have five interesting links for you. Feel free to pick and choose which ones you click on, in line with your interests... or show the full extent of your love of Valley Press by engaging with all five!

Firstly, we launched Helen Cadbury's Forever, Now this week at York Explore. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, beginning to end; I felt so honoured to be involved with the book and the evening (as did the rest of the VP team). YorkMix have captured some of the spirit in their thoughtful write-up; for me, it was the first time I'd ever truly experienced 'bittersweet'... happiness and sadness pulling at your heart simultaneously. A truly unforgettable evening. If you missed out, I'm pleased to report we have more events planned for this book in 2018 (details coming soon).

Secondly, there's news that John Wedgwood Clarke will be teaching a five-day course on 'The Poetry of Rubbish' with the Poetry School in the new year. If you can't get to Exeter to take part, there is at least this wonderful long interview on that subject which they published a few days ago, a great companion piece to Landfill.

Thirdly, we were excited to see that the 'Travelling Man' chain of shops (more commonly known for comics and games) have taken a liking to Caroline Hardaker's Bone Ovation. Not only they did they post this glowing short review, they're also stocking it in all their branches, pitching it as a kind of stocking filler for the more thoughtful, quirky gift recipient in your life. Which I'd very much like to second!

Fourthly (is that a word?), lurking in this article about the reading habits of the 'great and good' is a tiny review of Madame Bildungsroman by the novelist Regi Claire. She says Madame B 'offers a brilliant perspective on existence through fragments and aperçus: ambiguous, acerbic, moving and searingly intelligent.' Once again, couldn't have put it better myself... though I did have to look up aperçus; it's an "illuminating or entertaining comment." One to add to your vocabulary; all part of the service here at Valley Press.

Finally, the latest episode of the 'Friday Morning Meeting' podcast (featuring myself and Emma Wright) is now online here. As this is the last one of the year, we've made it a Christmas special framed around the three spirits of A Christmas Carol... and then there's a little discussion of the value of coding skills at the end. Put on the spot to illustrate this episode, I cooked up the picture below starring Emma in the Cratchit/Kermit role and me as Scrooge... I laughed when I saw the result, and I include it here in case you do too.


All of which adds up to a full newsletter, in my eyes... which means you'll have to wait another week to find out about that final, secret Christmas book we're still working on. I'll get to it next week, for definite. It'll be worth the wait!

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

Friday, 1 December 2017

This week at Valley Press, #83: 'Poet Tree'



Dear readers,

I'll get this out of the way early: I won that award last week, so am 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year' in the Scarborough area for 2017. Perhaps the best part (besides the trophy, which you can see here) is having confirmation that I am a) an entrepreneur, and b) young, both of which have I have occasionally doubted in the last few months. In fact, with the announcement that I will become eligible for a Young Person's Railcard again in April, I feel younger than I have for some time!

Richard Askew (designer of the VP website, and last year's winner) noted that, since its inauguration, this award has almost exclusively been won by people in the creative industries, which I think bodes well for the future of Scarborough as a 'creative hotspot'. If you've never been to our part of the Yorkshire coast, you're missing out – it's got everything you could need, plus the sea and dramatic landscapes. Think of an excuse and get yourself over here! It's good enough for David Dimbleby...

* * *

Returning to the job in hand, we have a competition running at the moment in which you could win £200 worth of Valley Press books, just in time for Christmas. It's actually a competition/offer, so everyone wins really! If you buy a book through our website before noon on December 18th, using the code HAMPER, you'll get 15% off your order and you'll be entered in a draw to win every single one of these brilliant publications:


They've been selected so there's something to appeal to every friend/family member you could possibly encounter during the festive season... assuming you don't just keep the lot for yourself, of course. You'll notice all of our hardbacks are in there, including the limited-edition, signed and numbered versions of Madame Bildungsroman and Take This One to Bed. We've also included both of our titles which are suitable for young children, if you can tear them away from whatever strange bleeping, whizzing items they acquire on the 25th.

Please note that the VP office will be closing at 5.30pm on the 21st December, so make sure any orders are placed in plenty of time for our last post trip that afternoon (but ideally, before the 18th so you can enter the prize draw mentioned above). We'll re-open on January 2nd, probably well after lunchtime I'd imagine...

* * *

One last thing: assuming blizzards haven't frozen the city solid, we'll be in Waterstones York from 7pm today (Friday 1st) for Ian Stuart's Quantum Theory for Cats launch. Ian is presently employed as a Ghost Trail guide, and also dabbles in voiceover work, so you're guaranteed a good show and some fantastic readings; do try and make it if you can.

Bearing in mind his experience, I drafted Ian into Tom Townsend's studio (check out his new single, very groovy) on Wednesday to record an audiobook version, which will hopefully be available in the next few weeks. For a sneak preview, there's a video here of Ian reading the title poem... hope it gives you a quick laugh. Only some knowledge of quantum mechanics is required to get all the jokes, but I know you're well-versed in such things. If not, you soon will be!

Next week: our last, surprise, festive publication of 2017 will finally be revealed. *drumroll*

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher