Valley Press Friday Digest, #19 (Final, Sunday edition)

Readers, the day you've all been dreading is finally here - it's time to retire the 'Friday Digest' format. I've really enjoyed writing these posts over the last four months, and I'm sure it's been good discipline. Sometimes I had the time and inclination to write a lengthy, stirring essay, sometimes I just rushed off links to things I'd seen on Twitter, and sometimes I quite literally phoned it in - but I always got it done. Eventually. But not any more.

I believe some sort of regular communication with the public is essential for a publisher, but I'm not quite achieving that with this current format. I haven't been able to reconcile writing these posts with sending out a newsletter; this seems to make the newsletter irrelevant, and yet I know the newsletter is more important than the blog - or do I? The point is, I need to go away and rethink my basic 'news dispersal' plan, and more importantly how to start building a genuine digital community around VP and EP. Answers and suggestions are always welcome.

Before I call it a day though, what have I got to report from this week? Well, me and Emma had a wonderful time at the Free Verse Poetry Book Fair on Friday - lots of sales and good discussions at what they are calling the 'Poetry Christmas'. Here's a representative photo:

Last 15 minutes of the book fair! Get your last books now! pic.twitter.com/UkVU9oIZlj

— Poetry Book Fair (@PoetryBookFair) September 6, 2014

Also, it would appear Love and Eskimo Snow has been nominated for the People's Book Prize, which (as you can guess) is a book prize voted for by the people. I really dislike 'marshalling the troops' to go and vote for stuff - but we won't get into the muddled psychology behind that just now. There's been a bit too much of that on these Digests as it is! The important part: if you would like to support this excellent VP novel, you can do so here.

That's all for the time being - I'll see you on the new newsletter/blog/whatever when I figure it out. If there's anyone out there who's read all nineteen of these posts, top to bottom, my sincere thanks to you - and of course, there's still time to catch up if you'd like...

Valley Press Friday Digest, #18 (Sunday edition)

Despite appearances, this blog is not just here as a source of one-way Valley Press propaganda - I do occasionally drop in some hints of the larger struggle, and of course you can tell how things are really going by reading between the lines. If the post appears on Friday (as billed), full of good news, that's because I've had a good and relatively easy week; if it appears on Saturday, with very little substance to it, it's been an overly busy and boring week. This post is going up on Sunday afternoon, and was, at one point, full of hand-wringing and woe-is-me rhetoric. It has been a difficult week.

That being said, there have been a couple of bits of good news - one I've agreed not to tell you about, and the other you have probably already heard: the arrival of the new Dead Snail Diaries from The Emma Press. She's done a spectacular job, as hoped; the physical object is a beautiful and intriguing bit of work, and definitely worth £8.50 of your money. Huge thanks are due to Emma and Rachel for their top-notch efforts on both art and text.

I took a few minutes on Friday, when the books arrived, to think how I had suddenly attained the status of 'legitimately published author' - to consider what a strange road it has been from writing the snail poems in 2009 to their appearance in this new volume, and try to imagine how pleased 2009-era Jamie would have been to see it.

I've not perhaps been able to appreciate it as much as I should, as the rest of the week has been such a horror - blighted with all sorts, including illness and a lack of phone signal/internet connection. This whole month has been one I'd like to erase from history, or perhaps go back to the 1st August and have another go at; I have, quite simply, achieved nothing. But it is unquestionably over now; tomorrow is September, and we've got the Poetry Book Fair to look forward to on the 6th. Onwards and upwards!

Valley Press Friday Digest, #17

I shall keep things short and to-the-point in this week's digest. The big news is of a new signing: in January 2015 Valley Press will publish All, the second collection of poetry by Canadian-born, Yorkshire-based poet Robert Powell. We've done some great work on both text and cover so far, and are approaching a final manuscript - the poems are phenomenal, of course, and you won't have to take my word for it as I will be sharing some of them on the blog in the coming months. You can see to your right how the cover currently looks - that's a cup full of sunflower seeds. I'm thinking of putting a picture of some fully-grown sunflowers on the back ... or is that too obvious?

Robert (pictured below) will be familiar to some of you as the director of Beam, the arts, architecture and education charity that run the Wakefield Literature Festival - surely one of the best festivals of its kind. They have recently announced their programme for this year and it is phenomenal, check that out (as a priority) here.

Talking of priorities: after months of clinging onto the cliff-edge of my inbox, I've finally let go - there are dozens of unread emails and letters, more arriving all the time, and I can't seem to fully catch up. Unless I'm also going mad, the oldest unreplied-to email (dated 1st August) is from the Lithuanian embassy, wanting to work with Valley Press - so if you too are waiting for a response, at least you're in good company.

In an effort to curb the flow, I spent a couple of hours this week starting an expanded Frequently Asked Questions page, which will hopefully grow over time and result in noticeably less email traffic. Quick-minded readers may comment: 'but if you'd spent those two hours actually replying to emails, the problem would have been solved!' - sure, temporarily, but what about the next time this happens? Plus, I was really in the mood to write some FAQ answers; I'm sure you know what that's like. See you next week.

Valley Press Friday Digest, #16 (Saturday edition)

Slightly delayed digest this week - I forget exactly why, so please insert your own excuse into the following gap: ___________________

Done? Thank you. I hope it was a good one, I know you're not easily convinced.

The big news this week was the arrival of Helen Burke's new book, which I've been going on about for ages, most notably in this post. It's not strictly out until October, but I'm printing early this time, both for promotional purposes and because Helen has a big reading tonight at Keats House, so it seemed silly not to get some copies printed. You can now pre-order the book (and read a generously-sized preview) on its homepage; I've decided to send out pre-orders in September, so you won't have too long to wait, should you wish to order through VP.  (Hint: you should.)

Here's the obligatory photo of the book as an object:

I spent much of this week looking for a Woman - the magazine, that is, though I did have some fun going into shops saying: 'Excuse me, do you have a woman?' 'Could you point me in the direction of a woman?' 'I need a woman', etc etc.  This was not just for humorous purposes (though that is always a worthy outcome); Sarah Holt was in the latest issue discussing her search for a publisher, an article which I found quite touching. I forget sometimes how difficult it can be for authors to find a publisher, and how much it means when they do. Publishing is a sacred thing; we must respect it and our responsibilities. (Such as, letting you know you can pick up a copy of Sarah's book here).

The larger article was about overcoming adversity and gaining success; 'We had the last laugh' was the title. Victoria Beckham had the first page to herself, and Sarah was joined in her section by Holly Willoughby, Matthew McConaughey and Carol Vorderman. Did you know Carol recently quit ITV1's Loose Women to pursue her dream of flying a plane solo around the world? You do now!

I don't know about the legality of reposting the article here, so what I'll do is close my eyes and start pressing buttons randomly on the keyboard - if something should happen, so be it. See you next week!

Valley Press Friday Digest, #15

Absolutely nothing to report this week - mostly been doing freelance work. Here's a picture of some instructions for a watch that made me laugh... I can't promise it'll be the same for you. See you next week!

Valley Press Friday Digest, #14

Hello again, readers. It's time for another of my 'weekly digests', and I'd like to follow the format of last week's post exactly, if it's all the same to you - announce a 2015 book, share a couple of minor bits of news, and finish with another poem from Helen Burke's new collection (probably the last one I'll share - I want to leave some mystery to it!)

Photo by Marcos Avlonitis

• In March 2015 Valley Press will publish Seahouses, the first collection of poetry by noted medical historian Richard Barnett, pictured to your right. Think you've heard that name somewhere before? Richard contributed two poems to our Pocket Horizon anthology, so he's the second PH 'alumnus' to graduate to own-book status (after Kelley Swain) - and perhaps not the last. You may also have heard of his book The Sick Rose: Disease and the Art of Medical Illustration, published this year to rave reviews (including by Will Self in The Guardian, who said the writing was 'superbly erudite and lucid' - I'm still pondering whether I can use that comment on the Seahouses back cover!) When Richard sent me his manuscript, my expectations were pretty high, and he exceeded them by miles - it's exceptionally good. I'll just give you one line for now, as a tease: 'tomorrow we will keep bees for all the wrong reasons'.

• If you want to read an even lengthier blog post by me today (and why wouldn't you?), the Young Poets Network have posted an interview I did for them in May. I must stress that the questions are all from different people, which is why they're so random - several people have commented to me that the interviewer has quite an odd approach, thus necessitating a patient explanation by me of exactly what the deal was there.

• A short, fair review of John Wedgwood Clarke's In Between appeared this week, by Greg Freeman on Write Out Loud - you can read that here. He calls it 'modest but enjoyable', which may not make it onto the cover for the reprint, but is quite a nice thing to say.

• Sarah Holt was interviewed this week for Woman magazine, about the experience of writing and launching Love and Eskimo Snow. The interview is set to appear in the August 12th issue, so make sure you grab one - as I certainly won't be scanning it and posting here (wink wink).

• And so to end, another poem from Helen Burke's forthcoming collection Here's Looking at You Kid, which I've just finished typesetting - hoping to go to print next week. My head is full of these poems at the moment, which is why I keep posting them... in the hope that they will take residence in your brains too. This is perhaps the funniest one (there's some serious stuff too - but you don't want that on a Friday night!)

French Cat in French Window

So. I am a French cat in a French window and you
are just passing by – you take my photograph –
why wouldn’t you? – because I am beautiful.
I am beautiful – and you are English – that’s how the cookie crumbles – yes, life can be unfair. Life can be a dog.
I am licking my arse – and I am still beautiful – don’t try
it yourself. I can’t be responsible for hospital bills.
I am a French cat in a French window – you are on your
way to – how you say it – Yorkshire?
I am on my way to Montmartre to buy a little sardine
on a bed of couscous – perhaps a little wine, if the year
she seems a good one. You look very pale – as if
your whole world, she is not coloured in and has no
way of turning the other cheek – and looking up at the moon
and singing in the night. At midnight.
That is when the French cat comes to life.
I myself run a little café in the Bois de Boulogne. I even
let a few English sit at the tables there. But, at this moment
I am cleaning my bottom – with the care of an artiste –
and you take my photograph.
I feel a little sorry for you – but even so, as you click your camera
I will turn my arse right around to face you.
This is – how you call it? –
the French Resistance.

Valley Press Friday Digest, #13

After last week's digest, which I think we can all agree was a new low, you'll be arriving at this one - lucky number thirteen - secure in the knowledge that some kind of improvement is inevitable. I'm hoping that the following will see you through the next seven days: I have rustled up one genuine bit of news, one submissions update and one poem. Enjoy!

First of all, I'm pleased to announce my first confirmed, 'on the dotted line' signing for 2015: the second novel by Nora Chassler, a writer currently based in Scotland, raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It's the latter that provides the setting for the new novel, which - after literally a month of debate between author, publisher, and pretty much everyone I know with a pulse - is officially, definitely titled Grandmother Divided By Monkey Equals Outer Space. I won't tell you anything else about it just yet, other than to say it is a work of literary fiction with an intense focus on character and the little details of life; you are in for absolute treat when Valley Press publishes it next March.

[Nora's first novel was published by Two Ravens Press, who have a small bio for her here - Nora also has her own website here. That's Nora in the photo above.]

This leads us nicely onto the topic of submissions, which have been coming in steadily since they were re-opened at the start of May - I've probably been getting about two enquiries a day. I've sent out plenty of bad news and one or two bits of good news, but I plan to really tackle the pile towards the end of August. Nora is the first 2015 author to get to an announceable state, but I have an unprecedented eighteen books lined up for 2015 in one form or another - and I'm going for a total of twenty, so two more submitters are going to be getting some good news over the next month or so. I plan to 'leave everything on the field' next year, as they say, so watch this space to see how it goes.

I've spent much of this month working on Helen Burke's new collection, as profiled in Digest #9. At time of writing I've completely finished editing and organising the poems; it's now just a matter of arranging the notes section and deciding which illustration goes where, and then getting the author's go-ahead of course. I'll finish this post with one of my favourite short poems from the book - see you all next week.

Baxter’s Crime

Baxter, the dog, is being dragged down the lane.

Again.

I feel sorry for Baxter, in fact, most days –

I feel a bit like him.

Pulled this way and that.

Someone behind me with a lead that I can’t see.

Baxter has no idea what his crime is.

(Nor have I.)

Just that he is a dog who takes his time, perhaps.

He investigates. Sniffs too long in all the wrong places.

I can never hear the words – just that she is shouting,

snapping and snarling.

I imagine the teeth are bared – the hackles grizzly and raised.

But Baxter I feel is undeterred.

He will go on being Baxter.

He will go on going on.

There is no cure for being free of mind and will.

Baxter, my friend, my alter ego.

Baxter – I love you.

Go on being, Baxter.

(Run amok – remain a dog with pluck.)

You bark at your side of the wall

and I will bark at mine. 

Valley Press Friday Digest, #12 (Nonexistent edition)

Couldn't manage it this week readers - today turned into a long celebration of my future sister-in-law's graduation, and I'm posting this with minutes to go before midnight! Some lovely publishing stuff for you next week, I promise.

Valley Press Friday Digest, #11

Last week I broke the news of Kate Fox and Alfie Crow's forthcoming 'Grand Depart' novella, and in the days since then it has been both written and published - you can pick it up on Kindle here for just 99p. It comes highly recommended! Here are a couple of quotes from the authors about the experience of writing Tour de Force:

Alfie Crow: 'My mind is absolutely exploding after such an intensive week of writing, but I love the challenge of writing something that responds to such a big event. I’ve always been quite a quick writer anyway, but there’s nothing like a deadline to focus the mind.'

Kate Fox: 'I originally trained as a radio journalist and really enjoy responding rapidly to things as they happen. Plotting a comic crime novel is still a very new thing for me and I quite often have no idea of where we’re going to end up, but somehow Alfie creates all these intricate plot twists. I enjoy being able to put things I’ve actually witnessed into a piece of writing people can enjoy straight away; and the Tour de France has been such an amazing success for Yorkshire it feels like we’re celebrating it, in our own strange way!'

And today I can announce some more news: they're planning a third novella in the 'Makin News' series (making it a comic-crime trilogy), to be released on the 1st October. Here's the blurb, with everything they've told me about it so far: 'Jess and Reverend Ray find themselves accidentally influencing the Scottish Independence vote when they discover some important relics during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.' The title is The Forth Estate. And you want even more news? We've agreed to produce a paperback edition of the entire trilogy in time for Christmas! Watch this space for more info.

The main bit of business today is Miles Salter's examination of who might win the 'Next Generation Poets 2014' award - but before that, some Twitter highlights from the week.

Analogy for topical novella me, @valleypress & @alfiecrowwriter made in a week-like building a house in a week but not dangerous or illegal
— Kate Fox (@katefoxwriter) July 7, 2014

This may be the single greatest article I've ever read about business: https://t.co/V2WFUN3brg @blissbombed
— Valley Press (@valleypress) July 4, 2014

Listen to the premiere of You'll Find Us in the Parks by Leeds poet @MHStoppard and Hull art-rockers @Glass_Delusion http://t.co/fHRmirjby5
— Adult Teeth (@adultteeth) July 10, 2014

Come to Reading Town Hall for the #OpenForArt trail! I'm here with @valleypress books &a creepy mannequin looking on. pic.twitter.com/JZupw9nT1C
— The Emma Press (@TheEmmaPress) July 5, 2014

@sarahholt01 @valleypress Thank you for this lovely parcel! It was my pleasure to be involved and I love the story! pic.twitter.com/oEA84tn22o
— Sarah Olley (@s_olley) July 6, 2014

That's 2013 intern-extraordinaire Sarah Olley at the end there, receiving a special signed copy for her work on Love and Eskimo Snow. Not only did Sarah work on the book during her time in the VP office, she took it away with her and edited it for months afterwards, in her own time, sometimes while in the middle of university exams! She is going to get one seriously good reference.

So finally, here's what Miles has to say about the 'Next Generation Poets' search:

Who will make the Next Generation Poets list? (Yes, I know, the whole nation is obsessed with this issue. But it’s interesting to play Guess The List.) The aim of the list is to give a bit of profile to poets that  are going to dominate the scene over the next ten years or more. At the moment, new poetry is headed by a gang of very talented young women writers. Foremost among these is Helen Mort, who has had such a stunning last 18 months that she’s now almost part of the poetry landscape – Division Street was shortlisted for T.S Eliot Prize and the Costa Prize. Alongside Mort are several excellent women poets, including Emily Berry (winner, Forward Prize Best First Collection for Dear Boy, one of the most striking collections I have read in the last few years), Rhian Edwards (Clueless Dogs was published by Seren and won Wales Book Of The Year 2013) and Hanah Lowe, another exciting young writer (Lowe’s debut Chick was shortlisted for Forward first collection in 2013.)  It’s hard to see how any of these four will be omitted from the list. Other strong female writers include Emma Jones (Faber), Rebecca Goss (Goss’ collection Her Birth about the life and death of her baby daughter, won accolades and press attention and was also shortlisted for the Forward Prize), Abi Curtis (two collections with Salt), Tara Bergin (Carcanet) and Hannah Silva (Penned In The Margins). Other contenders include Helen Ivory and programmer, water dweller and enthusiast Jo Bell. Any of these could potentially make the list. Sadly missing will be the excellent Liz Berry, whose debut Black Country is about to hit the shops, but misses the list deadline by just a few months, which is a big shame, as she deserves the ‘Next Generation’ tag as much as anybody who is currently writing.

As for the lads (the female writers are so strong in poetry at the moment that the boys come in second place) – I suspect that Luke Wright will make the list, as he’s something of a force in British poetry, performing to thousands every year, selecting the poets for Latitude Festival and frequently rubbing shoulders with John Cooper Clarke. He’ll be joined, most likely, by fellow Penned In The Margins writer Ross Sutherland (author of the acclaimed Things To Do Before You Leave Town) Daljit Nagra (several collections with Faber and much loved by the poetry establishment), Nick Laird (several collections with Faber), the witty and wry Luke Kennard (Salt), Adam Riordan and Sam Riviere (whose 81 Austerities was shortlisted for the Forward Prize in 2011). Jacob Sam La Rose is another strong candidate. Given that Salt has said it’s giving up on poetry, will they even bother to submit? Hmmm…

Several poets will not make the list, simply because of the dates that bracket selection: 2004 to 2014. This means that the fantastic Clare Pollard (on the panel of judges), Jacob Polley and Antony Dunn won’t be on the list, as their debuts came before 2004, and neither will Andrew McMillan, whose debut is due from Cape in 2015. I’ve only named a few of the many terrific writers who are out there, but the good news is with so many great young writers all operating in the UK at present, it’s safe to say that the future of poetry is in good hands. We’ll find out the full list on 9^th September 2014.

 

[ Miles Salter is a writer, musician and storyteller based in York. His second collection of poetry, Animals, is published by Valley Press. You can see Miles read one of his poems here. ]

Very good and thorough work there I thought - Helen Mort's publisher may as well open the champagne now, as far as I'm concerned. Readers should note that Miles later thought to add Jack Underwood, and I'm confident Lorraine Mariner will be there. Other than that, here's hoping it's full of VP poets! See you next week.

Valley Press Friday Digest, #10

I shall jump straight into today's 'Friday Digest' with some exclusive breaking news:

• Kate Fox and Alfie Crow, authors of last year's The Glasto Code, are working on a sequel set during the Yorkshire leg of this year's Tour de France, which Valley Press will be bringing to you in ebook form - for just 99p! - very soon. As with last year's Glastonbury effort, Fox & Crow (as we can possibly refer to them from now on) have written a rough outline of a mystery novel, and will fill in the gaps with actual events and observations from a real-life event, in this case 'Le Tour Yorkshire' (which is avoiding Scarborough for some reason). The new novel will be called Tour de Force, and the cover is below. Web pages coming soon.

 

• Though the Tour cyclists are heading to York, they probably won't have time to check out the city's snickets, passageways, courts and yards - but we know a man who has, and if you too would like to, York Curiouser have produced a helpful map of all the places John wrote about in In Between, where the poems are currently on show as pieces of (temporary?) graffiti. Here it is:

• There's been even more JWC-related excitement this week: the York poems have been made into a sort of immersive audiobook, which you can listen to here. Also, don't tell anyone (I haven't), but we found out yesterday that John's full-length collection Ghost Pot will be part of New Writing North's Read Regional campaign for 2015. That's two years in a row that Valley Press authors have been represented - quite a result!

 

• We also found out this week what happens when you clear your Gmail inbox on your smartphone:  

 

Proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel for email sufferers - @TheEmmaPress pic.twitter.com/vEi5YR03Hd
— Valley Press (@valleypress) July 1, 2014

• Both me and Emma cut a great swathe through the jungle of our email inboxes this week; so congratulations to... us? After much discussion we decided there's no way around it: we won't ignore them, and we won't hire someone else to answer them, we just have to knuckle down and work through all our incoming correspondence - it's a crucial part of what makes EP and VP such friendly and accessible operations. As for the authors of the five messages I still need to reply to, at time of writing... stand by!

 

• Congratulations also to all our friends who had their ACE grants renewed this week, especially our mutual sales agency Inpress, and the organisation behind Bridlington Poetry Festival (which I know I'm always going on about, but it really is good). Looking forward to the next three years working with you!

 

• I seem to be in a congratulatory mood, so congrats also to Sarah Holt, whose Love and Eskimo Snow made this list of 'Top 10 Holiday Books' for this summer (between John Green and Joey Essex - what company!) Peculiarly for a book with 'snow' in the title, summer looks to be the big season for Sarah's novel - the front-of-store promotion in branches of WHSmith Travel starts next week, so look out for it if you go in one. Oh, and well done to Matthew Hedley Stoppard, who has a poem in the latest edition of Magma, and read at the launch this time last week.

 

• Next week on this blog: Miles Salter is working on a list of who he thinks are the favourites to be named in the 'Next Generation Poets 2014' list (which I've mentioned previously), and I intend to post that in next week's round-up - should be very interesting. Last week I told you all about Helen Burke' forthcoming second collection, but I forgot to tell you how it got its title - it comes from the opening poem, which I will reprint below as a finishing flourish to this instalment of the blog. See you next week!

Here’s Looking at You, Kid

I noticed from an early age that the sun
asked permission to be on our street.
‘Is the sun allowed here?’ I once asked me dad.
And even though he knew it wasn’t,
he pulled his collar high and looked all round –
then put it in his pocket just for me.
Even though he knew to own this bright
this dangerous thing would bring me
perils, as well as joy. 
(Better to have a little sun than none at all.)

And we walked home, like two happy dogs
and the sky was duck-egg blue and the grass
was full of four-leaved clovers
and dad winked – and we laughed to think
he had the sun in his pocket.

‘Here’s looking at you, kid,’ dad said.
‘Here’s looking at you.’

Valley Press Friday Digest, #9 ('Here's Looking at You' edition)

Last week I took to Twitter to share this quote:

"Poems are, for me, a way of riding the carousel horse clean off the carousel." – Helen Burke
— Valley Press (@valleypress) June 17, 2014

So where's it from? Well, I'm pleased to report it's from the introduction to Helen's second collection of poetry, Here's Looking at You Kid, which Valley Press will be publishing in 2014 - you heard it here first!

You can't buy, or even pre-order Helen's new volume yet - we're still putting the finishing touches to the text - but I'm telling you about it today (just like I discussed a November title in digest #7) because I've realised the following:

1. I spend at least 75% of my working week on titles that won't be released for many months in the future.
2. I have been avoiding talking about these titles because I felt it was wiser to talk about books that are out, and you can actually buy now.
3. As a result of points 1 and 2, I will struggle to fill these blog posts on an average week (as we saw in digests #4 and #5) - because I can't tell you about 75% of the stuff I'm doing!

I could (and perhaps will) remedy this by putting the webpages for books online earlier in the production process - in fact that's quite a good idea, why didn't I think of that before! Someone make a note! But it's getting fairly late in the day, so for now I'll just concentrate on telling you more about what should be our seventh book of the year.

The official release date for Here's Looking at You Kid is the 17th October, though I plan to print copies well before that; part of the new Valley Press publishing strategy is to print and promote titles early, when it can still make a big difference (I'll let you know how that goes). I want to say right away how excited I am about this book - people have been falling over themselves to praise Helen's first volume, The Ruby Slippers, over the last few years, and I think this new offering is even better.

Part of the reason for that is how this collection was brought together: it is filled with 'Poems by Request', a fact which (as you can see below) gets a mention on the front cover. Helen is a poet constantly on tour, and she makes time at each stop to take 'requests' from the audience, for favourite poems from her oeuvre. The new collection brings these together (minus any already in Ruby Slippers); poems selected by the public and tested on audiences all over the world. Each one is someone's favourite - but which will be yours? (That's not a bad line actually... must add that to the blurb.)

So here's what looks likely to be the final cover:

I got this on my sixth attempt, which is pretty much 'par for the course' for VP book cover designs. For those who are interested, here is a rogues' gallery of all six:

The main problem I had was that the cover illustration (which is by the author - the book is fully illustrated, by the way) is the same aspect ratio as a Valley Press book; meaning if I reproduced it full-size, it would fill the whole front cover exactly, leaving no room for any text. So then, how to crop or shrink it for best effect? The other problem was how to combine the undeniably fun, hippie-esque ethic of the book, with the fact that actually it happens to be poetry, thank you very much, and poetry book covers must be serious. (Serious-ish.) I hope you like what we ended up with.

Helen was my very first 'signing' as a full-time publisher, so working with her again is like stepping back in time, in a sense. I started Valley Press over the new year, 2010/2011, and when I properly sat down to work, one of the first things I did was to write to Helen and ask if she'd be interested in doing a full-length collection (I'd read some of her self-produced pamphlets, and seen her read a couple of times - I considered myself a 'fan'). I spent my £200 'will it work' grant from the Prince's Trust on the first print run of The Ruby Slippers, and after the launch event at the Poetry Cafe, duly reported back that it had worked, and I did have a business idea worth pursuing, after all. Here are a couple of pictures from that launch, more-or-less exactly three years ago:

Oh, and for extra kicks, the launch poster:

It was all so exciting back then ... everything was a 'first', in this case the first VP event held outside Yorkshire. I sold copies of the book on the train, both there and back, to the people I was sitting across from - magical days! And you know what, I feel exactly as excited about the new book, having written all this. So I should put that to use and work on it! (See you next week.)

Valley Press Friday Digest, #8

After last week's excitement, a more standard and humble post for you today. If you want to properly get your 'weekly blog feature' fix, check out the first installment of Emma's 'Poem Club'; but if you must hear from me, read on...

• The Bridlington Poetry Festival, which I have been warbling on about for the last two weeks, has now come and gone - it was really excellent, of course, and all the readers (especially those affiliated with VP) did a wonderful job. I have singularly failed to get a decent photo of any of the events - I will post my best effort below, a shot of John Wedgwood Clarke reading from Ghost Pot. Fortunately there was a proper photographer there too, so some good snaps may emerge of the other readers in time.

 

 

• Last time I discussed the festival, I mentioned how one of my Wendy Cope books had already been signed by her, twenty-eight years ago, possibly precluding further personalisation - but as it turned out, she was happy to write something for me in 2014 as well. Here's the result of that:

 

• We're nearly done already, but I do have two interesting links for you - first, an in-depth interview with the above-pictured Mr. Clarke about his new pamphlet In Between. It's fascinating stuff, though they have slyly avoided mentioning or linking to the book! Fortunately you won't find me making that mistake. Then, I was delighted to find Opera di Cera listed on the Poetry Society's 'What to read this summer' list - follow that link for a great little review by long-time VP friend Ian Stuart, who calls OdC 'a sort of Milk Wood from hell', one of the best and pithiest descriptions of the book so far.  See you next week for more news.

Valley Press Friday Digest, #7

Last week on the blog, I promised to fill you in on my 'most difficult decision' of the year. I'll get to that, but first, some news on a new title:

• I've had many ideas for anthologies over the last few years, including: an anthology of poets on the Yorkshire coast, an anthology of poets from a particular city, an anthology that was basically lots of pamphlets stuck together, themed anthologies (though I must now pay my dues to the true queen of this genre), an anthology comprised entirely of poems about snails, a very small and cheap anthology, and an anthology edited by VP author/poetic genius Felix Hodcroft. Any of these might still happen, but one has finally reached the point of being announceable - in fact, a combination of those last two ideas. A Pocketful of Windows, edited by Felix, will appear in late November 2014 and retail for just £3.99. I'll offer some suggestions as to the contents in the coming months, but in the meantime, here's the provisional cover:

• The Bridlington Poetry Festival is now in full swing, and my tickets for all the Saturday events are safely stashed away... somewhere. (I'm hoping eventually, when challenged for a ticket to a Yorkshire coast poetry event, I'll be able to point to my face and say: 'this is my ticket'.) I'll report on how it went next week, but as this is my last chance to plug team VP, you'll find Mike Di Placido, Miles Salter and Patrick Lodge reading on Saturday night, 8.30-9.30pm (headlining?) They're joined by Wendy Pratt, one of the few Yorkshire coast poets who 'got away' - by the time I first discovered her, she'd been published elsewhere - but I do rate her very highly. Then on Sunday, John Wedgwood Clarke is joined on stage by Northern Irish poet Michael McKimm from 11am. All the other events will be great too - I  hope to see some of you there.

• Oh, one more thing about Bridlington - Wendy Cope is reading, and on digging out my copy of her first collection Making Coca for Kingsley Amis, I realised I had purchased it second-hand (for 99p!) and in a strange twist of fate, it is already signed to someone called Julia, 26 years ago - shortly after the book was first released. I'm considering getting it signed again, to me; will this make the book into an interesting historical artefact? Here's my tweet, with photo:

Dug out my Wendy Cope to be signed at @BridPoetryFest - it's already been signed, 28 years ago! Shall I try anyway..? pic.twitter.com/lUWEiZoqJT
— Valley Press (@valleypress) June 13, 2014

• While we're posting tweets: I was sitting on reception at Woodend over the weekend (as I occasionally do), and witnessed the events below:

Someone visiting Woodend has just spent about 40 minutes by the VP book stand, examining each title carefully... lovely. And still going!
— Valley Press (@valleypress) June 8, 2014

...but she didn't buy one! Should have introduced myself, tried the 'pity' approach...
— Valley Press (@valleypress) June 8, 2014

• Some news from the world of Love and Eskimo Snow: the book got its first review, which I have summarised on its homepage (strategically removing the bit where the reviewer said she thinks the title is a little weird!) Also, Sarah wrote this great article for Novelicious about where she writes - I especially liked the bit where she described the books in her writing room as having 'biceps'.

 

• In Between is now officially 'out there' - I sent off the pre-orders yesterday. A lot of people have commented that they've seen the poems on the walls of the passageways/yards they describe; not a bad way of advertising really! I wonder what people who don't know about York Curiouser make of them? Here's a photo of John with one of the painted poems, taken by Alan Fleming:

 

• Okay, so now we've got all the news out of the way - what was my 'most difficult decision', and, as teased in last week's post, how did I get out of it? It was brought on by the Poetry Book Society, who last month launched their search for the Next Generation Poets 2014 - looking for the twenty 'most exciting new poets' from the UK and Ireland, who have had their first collection published in the last ten years. No less than fifteen Valley Press poets were eligible, so when I heard about it, I automatically thought - oh, I'll enter everyone, then!

 

• But, when I came to fill in the forms, I read the small print: a £20 entry fee applied per poet, meaning to enter everyone would cost £300. After picking my jaw up off the floor, I started to figure out what I should do - being an unsubsidised, entirely independent press has its advantages (I wouldn't have it any other way), but it does mean we have a certain lack of £20 notes to throw around (to say nothing of £300 cheques). They also wanted seven copies of a book by each poet, which in itself is not cheap. I wrote to the PBS asking about the charge, and it seemed they had applied it both to raise funds for the massive PR campaign that will follow the announcement of the winners, and to encourage presses to choose - 'we never thought anyone would want to enter all their writers', I was told, which left me wondering if I was just peculiar. If we equate the books we publish with our children: did the other editors have no problem choosing which of their 'children' was most eligible for 'best child of the last ten years'?

• So, I tried for a few hours to decide who I should enter, and how much I could justify spending on this - how much I could physically afford, in fact, as I need to do a large, un-budgeted-for reprint of Eskimo Snow this month, to cover the WHSmith order I mentioned a few weeks back. Eventually I realised there was no way I could choose: all the books have their strengths and weaknesses, but I love them all regardless - and for those fifteen poets, this would be their only chance to make one of these 'Next Generation' lists. I didn't want to be responsible for standing between anyone and a chance to be selected.

 

• Eventually, I came up with a solution, and here's what it was: I asked the poets to vote amongst themselves who they thought should be entered, with an understanding that I would fund entry for the writers who received the most votes. There was some grumbling, of course - 'passing the buck' was mentioned - but I was really pleased with this solution. Not only did it get me off trying to choose (and thus, to explain to anyone why I didn't choose them), but I also feel it replicates how the winners will eventually be chosen: a collection of people will read some poems, and some author bios, and vote for who they think is most suitable for the award. It won't be based on one person's thoughts, it will be decided by committee - and so it's only fitting that our entries were too. I won't be revealing who won the vote: that's not the point, and you'll find out anyway when they appear on that 'Next Generation' list - won't you? Fingers crossed!

Valley Press Friday Digest, #6

After two quiet weeks, we come to my recap for the first week of June - which has been a lot livelier, as you'll see below...

• In Between arrived this week, and is looking good! See below for a tweet from the York Curiouser festival announcing the arrival of their copy. I'll post out VP website pre-orders next week, in time for the official release date next Friday.

@jwedgwoodclarke 'In Between' has arrived #poems about snickets in #York published by @valleypress pic.twitter.com/OmTjwO4ESX
— Hazel C & Lara G (@YorkCuriouser) June 5, 2014

• Other tweets from the York Curiouser team that you may be interested in: a competition, which is still open at time of writing, and a picture of one of the poems from the book literally installed in a snicket - very cool.

So we're nearing 500 followers so 500th deserves a free copy of @jwedgwoodclarke new #york poems about snickets please RT
— Hazel C & Lara G (@YorkCuriouser) June 5, 2014

Starting to install #poems on #York by @jwedgwoodclarke pic.twitter.com/krlP00fOfF
— Hazel C & Lara G (@YorkCuriouser) June 6, 2014

• On a tangentially-related note, the marvellous Bridlington Poetry Festival (established, of course, by Mr. Wedgwood Clarke in 2010) is coming around again, starting on June 12th. The dream team presently running things, Antony Dunn and Dorcas Taylor, have put together an epic programme (perfect, in fact), which features Andrew Motion, Wendy Cope, "our own" Don Paterson, four VP authors, and a football-team's worth of other much-loved poets. This, for me, is the mid-year Christmas... I'm gutted that I can't make it to the weeknight stuff (due to transport issues), but you never know what might turn up!

• A huge milestone for Valley Press this week, as I achieved my long-held dream of having a permanent presence in Scarborough Library. As this appears to be the week I embed tweets, see below for my announcement of the new stand, with photo. (Confession: I'm going back in tomorrow to add a little sign saying 'for sale', to make it clear that these are not actually library books - though many of them can be borrowed elsewhere in the library.)

Delighted to report that a selection of Valley Press books are now on sale at Scarborough library - see pic. pic.twitter.com/2M9Jn2o8EO
— Valley Press (@valleypress) June 2, 2014

• Last week I was hopeful that a review, and some photos, would emerge of Eskimo Snow's Edible Book launch - and the folks at Novelicious have not let me down. You can read their eloquent thoughts on the event here.

• This week in links: I found this great little article from the designer of the Sixty Watt Las Vegas cover, talking about the process behind it. I enjoyed this joke, this exchange of tweets between Cara Brennan and a happy customer, and reading about the amazing new Foyles bookshop. I accidentally asked for, and thus received, this illustration of a topless man (will explain another time!) And I can't let this week go past without linking to Jeremy Paxman's call for an inquisition of poets, George Szirtes' awesome comeback, and Todd Swift's ongoing raging against this injustice (start five posts down and work up, if you're reading today).

• Next week on the Friday Digest: To avoid having an enormous post after two short ones, I'm saving the most interesting thing that happened this week ... how I was faced with the most difficult decision of 2014 so far, and then how I managed to get out of making it ... for discussion in next week's blog. Intriguing huh?

Valley Press Friday Digest, #5 ('Jamie's first book' edition)

The Edible Book Launch for Love and Eskimo Snow was a huge success - tickets and books completely sold out! I'm hoping some photos or reviews will materialise soon; but until they do, this is another lean week for Valley Press news ... in fact, that's pretty much it.

I don't want to leave you empty-handed, though, so please see below for a complete scan of the ultimate Valley Press backlist title - The Jelly Turtle, the very first book I ever made, dating from 1994 when I was just six years old. I produced this using the school's Acorn computer, a pair of fancy scissors, and perhaps some help from teacher ... but the words, and the illustrations, are pure Jamie.

Be honest ... did you see that ending coming?

Valley Press Friday Digest, #4

So it's Friday again, and this time I have a new problem - nothing of note happened or was achieved this week. I've been keeping my head down, catching up with emails, doing some freelance work, and working on the remaining 2014 books so they can appear in the next Inpress catalogue. What can I say, the publishing life isn't all glamour!

For some literary excitement, you should check out Emma's post which went up yesterday, offering a first look at the Emma Press Fatherhood Anthology, which will be epic. Also, it seems Kelley Swain can be relied on to have an interesting week, as she was asked (on the back of Opera di Cera) for advice repairing one of Susini's original waxworks, and she was also interviewed on Cambridge 105 radio.

I guess I should take this opportunity to thank everyone who has sent in a submission this month - I plan to work through the pile in the middle of June, maybe around the 13th, so bear with me until then. See you next week!

Valley Press Friday Digest, #3 (Saturday Edition)

It happened again - I put 'write the weekly round-up' at the bottom of my Friday task list, and here I am doing it on Saturday afternoon, in between the weekly shop and some gardening. To be fair, this is only my third effort in this new series, so I'm still getting into the swing of it... perhaps I'll do better next week? Anyway, here's what's been going on in the world of Valley Press over the last seven days:

• Since I published my very first book in 2008, I've been keeping one copy of each edition on a special shelf I refer to as 'the archive'. Whilst gazing happily at it this week, I realised I'd never taken a picture of this shelf and shared it with the world; so I remedied that immediately, as you can see below. Perhaps I'll update this every so often, as it continues to grow?

 

• The next addition to this hallowed stretch of shelf will be In Between by John Wedgwood Clarke, a new pamphlet I announced this week - you can read all about it here. With this publication, John becomes the first person ever to be published by Valley Press three times - we did Sea Swim in 2012, Ghost Pot in 2013, and now this small but perfectly-formed new title, due out on June 13th.

• In Between is a short sequence of poems considering the 'snickets, passageways, courts and yards' of York, in particular how people 'have shaped and been shaped by these transitional places' (a lovely turn of phrase I can't take credit for). These poems were commissioned by the York Curiouser project, and were first seen written in chalk in the locations they describe (if you follow me). Photographer Chris Jones captured some of this work, as you can see below, and on his website here.

• There was some great news for Love and Eskimo Snow this week, as a deal was struck with WHSmith Travel to feature the book in a 'buy one get one half price' offer during the summer, starting in mid-July. WHSmith Travel are the branches in train stations, airports and motorway service stations, so if you find yourself in one of those after the 17th July, ask the staff where you can find that summer book with the word 'snow' in the title - you'll be led straight there, I should think!

 

• And finally: I spent as much of this week as possible editing on paper, outside, as the weather has been lovely. However, by now I am running out of work I can constructively do whilst on a deckchair - so suggestions are welcome. Some excitement was provided on Thursday by the arrival of a new printer at Valley Press, my first wireless one; and yesterday I enjoyed reading this post on Rebecca Goss's blog, which happens to feature an excerpt from Opera di Cera not previously seen online - so head over there and enjoy that, and I'll see you next week. On Friday!