This week at Valley Press, #74: 'Strong language'

Dear readers,

As you can see above (if you squint), Valley Press is safely ensconced at the BBC's 'Contains Strong Language' festival, currently running all over the city of Hull. The lovely ladies from Inpress will be manning the stall today (Friday) and tomorrow, then I'll be dropping back in on Sunday to enjoy a bit more of the heady literary atmosphere.

Meanwhile, you may be wondering what to do with your Saturday, so let me offer a suggested itinerary: start the day in London at the Poetry Book Fair, listening to our Yorkshire Anthology poets (11.30am). Then whizz up to York for Oz Hardwick's launch (2.30pm), which promises to include a slideshow; then hop in your helicopter to catch John Wedgwood Clarke in Hull (4pm). After that, since you're in Hull, you may as well visit the VP stall, and enjoy some of the other BBC festivities!

Someone asked me how long the CSL festival was on for; I replied: 'four days... no wait, a fortnight...' and then just looked confused for a few seconds. Turns out both were right; there's one four-day festival and another straight after. There's also the Turner Prize shortlistees to see while you're there. If you ever think you might visit Hull, this is the time.

However, if you don't like travelling (I quite sympathise), we've got some spoken-word poetry for you right here, right now. I had an email from Helen Burke a couple of weeks ago: 'Am doing a new CD of poems with musician Grammy nominee friend Kevin Keough. Will forward you a couple of the spoken poems, wonder if we might refer to em in next newsletter! Might be handy.'

They are really brilliant actually, a whole new avenue for our pal Helen. You can listen by following these three links: 'Moon Landing' (a brand new poem), 'Moments' (from the Collected, page 227), and then the rather dramatic 'Road Poem / Hustle', two uncollected poems which started life separately, then were combined a few years ago.

Hope you enjoy those, and let me end by wishing everyone involved with this weekend's events the best of luck. I'll see you back here next week, when I'm hoping peace and quiet will have once more descended on the literary world...

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #73: 'Them bones'

Dear readers,

This week I'm pleased to introduce you to a new face: Caroline Hardaker with her debut pamphlet Bone Ovation. Caroline submitted during our now-infamous 2016 submissions period, the one with the 20,000 leaflets that asked 'have you got a book in you?' She had, it turns out, and her book is the first of those 600 submissions to make it onto bookshelves. All three October publications are from that enormous pile, with a half-dozen more coming in 2018. (November's publications are special cases, more about them in due course).

Without any particular hooks or publicity angles to speak of, and as the work of a 'new' author, Bone Ovation soared to the top of the pile purely on the strength of Caroline's poetry. I won't say any more about it (for fear of over-doing expectations!) but I will let you see a couple of poems. Here goes:


The Rains

Each raindrop contains a soul
I’m told, and sleet is nought
but the urgent need of the dead to meet
their loved ones once more in the mortal world.
To stroke their skin, to leave a living trace;
a tear drop – a thin, translucent meridian.

My grandmother never used an umbrella
and would tip back her head and eat the rain.
She said it made her feel alive again.


The Woman is Like the Picasso

You’ll not know her, she looks to the side
all eyes
a spectrum of illicit shades
hair all quantum in sharp directions
but swooning around the face
a moon, in carven perfection,
radiating with flowering action
and reaction
a myriad of connections between
the dazzling colours she’s made.

See that fierce pride under bashful eyes?

Even Picasso couldn’t capture it.
He tried
through abstract and dreams
to channel by subconscious
a force too violent
a face too vibrant to lay down
and his mind filled with it
and fell
warped flat.
Her form so potent for creation
it was like painting the rain in clouds,
lightning waiting.

She is facing away, but she is looking.


Though not officially published until 5th October, we're selling Bone Ovation now – copies are here, we figured we may as well! It's already a fairly reasonable £6.99, and remember that newsletter subscribers get 10% off all our books forever; you lucky souls. If you'd like to read a few more poems (including a great one about feet), head here.

Now then: this coming week is a busy one, so you may want to get your diaries out. You'll remember that if you're in York on Saturday 30th, there's an Oz Hardwick launch event and in Hull there's John Wedgwood Clarke. Also in Hull that day (Thursday to Sunday in fact), Valley Press is taking part in a book fair organised by the BBC as part of their 'Contains Strong Language' festival. It's in Hull College, in the Horncastle Building. Myself and Jo Haywood are hoping to be there on Thursday, and I'll likely be back on Sunday if it's as exciting as I expect – but VP books will be there for the four days.

Also on Saturday 30th, this time in London, we'll be at the Free Verse Poetry Book Fair. I'll be manning the stall most of the day, except for a lunch break; and between 11.30 and 12, when seven of our Yorkshire Anthology poets will be sharing their poems with a packed audience in the Brockway Room. Do pop and see that if you're going to the PBF, and of course, come for a chat with me and Emma at our shared table.

Adding some extra excitement to the week (which is clearly needed), Thursday 28th is National Poetry Day, which means there'll be some kind of poetry event near you, for certain. NPD have taken our Yorkshire Anthology under their wing this year, listing it as an official recommendation (see their write-up here). Which was nice of them!

Finally, you can now see John Wedgwood Clarke's BBC programme Through the Lens of Larkin on iPlayer here; yet another way for you to celebrate poetry this week. If you're reading this as someone who doesn't like poetry (I hear such people do exist), I'd first say: give it a chance? And second, don't give up on us ... we have a mammoth non-fiction book coming before the year is out, and all kinds of novels next year. There's always another book around the corner at Valley Press!

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #69: 'River in the Sky'

Dear readers,

As promised I (Jamie #2) have returned to newsletter duty, and there is a lot to report.

Undeterred by the torrential downpours on Wednesday, myself and Jamie (the Two Jamies?) bravely took to the rainy streets of York, armed with just one umbrella and one coat between us, for a series of top-secret meetings. I can’t tell you the details of these meetings, but one of them included poet Robert Powell, a book that is not entirely written yet, and a boat. Exciting things are happening at Valley Press! It was also during this meeting that Robert gazed romantically out of the window and calmly proclaimed: ‘the river is in the sky’. Poets, eh?

Yesterday saw the return of the Literary Lunch Hour, and this week was a celebration of the Valley Press Anthology of Yorkshire Poetry. Presented by co-editor Oz Hardwick, 15 of Yorkshire’s finest poets descended upon Scarborough as we saw readings from – pause for breath – Patrick Lodge, Sarah Wallis, Carole Bromley, Wendy Pratt, Ian Harrow, Anne Caldwell, Mike Farren, Pauline Kirk, Jane Sharp, Robert Powell, Yvie Holder, Amina Alyal and Rob Miles. This made for an extremely talented – if slightly crowded – room, and you can watch the entire event here.

Next week’s literary lunch hour will be with Nora Chassler, fresh from the Edinburgh festival with a new, subversive book: Madame Bildungsroman’s Optimistic Worldview. In the meantime Laura McGarry will be doing a ‘live-reading’ of the book – posting excerpts of it on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag ‘#readingwithLM’. Madame Bildungsroman is full of snappy philosophical wisdoms, presented in such a way that it almost comes across as Nietzsche’s Man Alone With Himself’s younger, easier to read sibling. If this sounds like your sort of thing, why don’t you buy a copy and join in the debate (which has already sparked a good-natured Facebook argument about racism in Sherlock Holmes)?

Continuing our recent theme of having more videos than books, Kate Fox (of The Glasto Code, Jagger’s Yurt and Tour de Force, among others) was featured on Good Morning Britain today, discussing the pressure on women to have children. If you fancy a change from all of the literature videos we’ve been giving you, you can watch Kate’s debate here.

As just about the last intern at Valley Press this summer, I feel I have a duty to thank Jamie and the team for being so welcoming and helpful (and a special mention to my friends at the post office – I will miss each and every one of you). It is a testament to Valley Press that despite the pressures of being an independent publishing company they are still doing their best to give experience to people like myself. Two weeks ago I arrived as a confused southerner in a strange land. Since then I have I have seen first-hand how books are created, bored you all with my adventures and found myself charmed by the northern grace of a town (and company) that I do not want to leave.

Sadly, I must depart tomorrow. Before I sign off, though, there is one last thing…

Readers, friends of Valley Press, lovers of literature: we need your help! Our ‘readers group’ is now recruiting new members to look at submissions, via email. If you join, every week (ish) you will be sent poetry and novels that Valley Press are considering publishing – totally free of charge! All you have to do is read through them – whichever ones you choose, and totally at your leisure – and then send us your thoughts. Seems like a pretty good deal, right? I know I will be signing up as soon as I leave tomorrow. To join, just email Submissions Coordinator Tess and let her know.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, and rest assured that by the next newsletter the number of Jamies in the office will have returned to one.

Jamie Firby,
Valley Press Intern

This week at Valley Press, #68: 'A tale of two Jamies'

Dear readers,

I’m Jamie – the latest intern to descend upon Valley Press. As you can imagine, having the same name as the ‘boss’ causes some confusion in the office, so you can know me as ‘Other Jamie’, or ‘Jamie 2’.

This is my latest publishing adventure, following on from another internship with Penguin last month. It’s safe to say that being able to go to a picturesque beach at lunchtimes trumps rushing around the manic London tubes in a desperate attempt to make it to work on time, but I am thrilled and grateful to have been given publishing opportunities at opposite ends of the country.

Like interns before me, finding the Valley Press office on my first day was a struggle. After spending half an hour of Tuesday morning hopelessly trying to navigate myself around the sunny streets of Scarborough, I was rescued by the lovely Jo who took me up to the new office.

Since then working for Valley Press has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. Discovering first-hand – and at such close quarters – how a publishing company works is a truly illuminating experience, and even just three days into my placement I have learned so much about the many different facets of an exciting business. Thanks to Jamie and Jo I have already had a go at designing a front cover, tried writing a blurb – and become on very good terms with the staff at the Scarborough post office!

Enough of my own publishing endeavours and onto the important stuff: what’s been going on at Valley Press. Yesterday was the second Literary Lunch Hour, which this week was a celebration of the poetry of Helen Burke and the recent publication of her Collected Poems. Unfortunately, the poet herself was unable to attend the event and so poems were read by our own Jamie McGarry, as well as Valley Press poets Jo Reed, Norah Hanson, VP publicist Suzannah Evans, and a wonderfully dramatic reading from Felix Hodcroft. You can watch the video of this event here.

All of this hustle and bustle with staff and poets meant the Valley Press office was busy all day, at one point turning into some sort of human version of Noah’s Ark with two Jamies, two Jos and two Suzannahs. Next week, however, is set to be even busier as the poets of the Yorkshire Anthology are coming to read their own poems from the book, which will be hosted by co-editor Oz Hardwick. What better way to spend a lunchtime?

Earlier in the week, one of our authors Nora Chassler interviewed Paul Auster at the Edinburgh International Festival in front of an estimated 1200 people! Delivered in the edgy and enigmatic style her own books are known for, Nora and Paul discuss Auster’s latest book, 4321, an 800 page existential epic which has been longlisted for the Booker Prize! Phew, heavy stuff. You can find the whole interview here (it seems we have more videos than books to show you at the moment!)

One final piece of news: this Sunday, 20th August, Daniela Nunnari will be reading her poetry throughout the day at the Ryedale Book Festival – a tree-based literary event at the Yorkshire Arboretum in York. As well as reading from her book Red Tree, she will be running a lunchtime workshop. Details of the event are available here, so why not head down to what is sure to be a day filled with tree-themed fun?

As for me, I have to go now on another trip to visit my friends at the post office. All being well, I will be back again next Friday.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Jamie Firby,
Valley Press Intern

This week at Valley Press, #66: 'Gripped'

Dear readers,

It's Jamie – I'm back, after a three week "holiday" which has (predictably?) resulted in an inbox with hundreds of unread messages. So let me start by apologising to anyone whose valuable words are languishing in there; I'll get through them in due course.

Let me continue by thanking Emma and Harriet for writing the last three newsletters; they really captured the VP tone, and added so much energy that I had to check the caffeine rating on the office coffee! Interns will be with us until mid-September, so expect more communications from them in the near future. (The latest one just started this morning, so I didn't think it would be fair to throw her into the deep end straight away!)

They are paid, by the way – we've done informal internships in the past, but now we're a serious company with a payroll (and considering how they're supposed to work extremely hard all day every day), I knew it was time to get the VP chequebook out. That being said, I imagine the emails with their bank details are somewhere in that inbox deluge... some patience may be required...

* * *

This week saw the final, definitive 'launch' of our Yorkshire Anthology, which is now available in all good bookshops (and many disreputable ones). If you missed out on the event, which also featured music from Miles and Oz's band, you can battle your way through my latest attempt at live-streaming (part 1 here, part 2 here). Lessons learned every time I try it!

You can read an interview with Miles Salter, who did most of the selecting and who originally had the idea for the anthology, in the York Press here. Of particular interest is Miles' concept for the cover, which I vetoed on about forty-six separate occasions – it was to feature 'an abandoned coal town, a half-eaten curry, a York back alley and a drunk reeling along a Hull street'. The jury is still out re: that one.

The Anthology poets will be coming to Scarborough on August 24th, as part of our new events series 'The Literary Lunch Hour' (to be rebranded next time, as people keep asking what's for lunch – the title refers to the time of day only!) Check out the poster below:

You'll notice the first event is this coming Thursday, the 10th August, and features Valley Press legend James Nash. The plan is for James to read some classic sonnets, a few of his Cinema Stories poems, and some brand new material from a new collection due in autumn 2018. As it's the first event, and there'll be some VP newbies in the crowd, we'll also be looking back on nine years of Valley Press history. In a recent conversation, me and James agreed to 'chat like it's an Olympic event', so enjoy that!

Other highlights this week included a blog from forthcoming VP poet Caroline Hardaker, offering more fascinating insights into the publishing process (read it here). One 'fun tip' she offers for submitters is to wait until the end of each submissions window, which means more time to revise your work and 'less time to grip your face in angst'. Agreed; we don't want anyone gripping their own face in such a fashion!

Elsewhere, Remembering Oluwale editor SJ Bradley (who has a new novel out, not with us, but you're still allowed to read it) has blogged about her experience working on the anthology, from first meeting to the famous awards triumph – a brilliant bit of writing in its own right, located here. Apparently she has the 'best anthology' trophy on her desk; must get an intern to steal that sometime...

Finally, Helen Burke was interviewed for close to an hour on Chapel FM, detailing her 'origin story', rather like a literary superhero – you can find that here. Hope to see as many of you as possible at her contribution to the Literary Lunch Hour on August 17th. Thanks for reading, hope this comes at the beginning of a great weekend!

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #65: 'Delightful jazz, etc.'

Dear readers,

I’m back again! (‘I’ being Emma, a Valley Press intern for July, just in case you missed our previous post.) Despite last week’s prediction that you would all be hearing from Rebecca this week, it was decided that since I was all-too-enthusiastic about writing this last week, I would once again be manning the blog-post deck today!

Straight on with the exciting stuff: Nora Chassler's launch took place last week, and Jamie live-streamed it so that all those who couldn’t be there could still get a glimpse of the action. It was as a result of this experimental video capture that a wave of jazz music descended on the office today – if anything, I can certainly say that the video makes for some soothing background noise!

Despite the streaming being in an experimental stage, one thing that Jamie was particularly excited about was taking a question from an internet viewer, and asking it to Nora during the live Q&A. Very futuristic stuff. Word of warning: you will be able to hear the delightful jazz music and the hum of the audience as clear as a bell – but you’ll definitely need to turn your speakers up to maximum volume to hear Nora’s contemplative words! (Oh, and skipping to three minutes in is also essential, unless you fancy watching Jamie’s camera-placement / fiddling / keeping-the-wireless-signal-intact endeavours.)

In related news, the hardback version of Chassler’s idiosyncratic musings is available now – signed and numbered. Only 100 copies will ever be printed, so don’t wait to get your hands on a coveted copy! These sought-after editions are normally £20, but they have been reduced to £15, when the discount code MADAME is applied (you lucky lot!)

Onto the third and final piece of news about Nora: world-famous author Paul Auster is coming to Edinburgh, and Nora will be interviewing him on stage in front of a possible 1200 people... yikes! Auster’s writing thought-provokingly combines absurdism and existentialism with the search for personal meaning – his work is permeated with themes which present some common ground with Nora’s original writing. Join Auster and Chassler at King’s Theatre on 14th August for this significant event to delve into his life and work.

Onto other marvellous matters: James Condon and a team of hyper-talented and creative individuals have fashioned a video, which is definitely one to check out if you want to be charmed by a coalescence of quirky animations and a montage of poems from the Valley Press Anthology of Yorkshire Poetry. If that doesn’t have you on the edge of your seats, all set to purchase a copy, I don’t know what will! The anthology officially launches on 1st August in York – take a glimpse at last week’s post for more details.

On a slightly deeper note: friends, fellow writers, neighbours and colleagues of Helen Cadbury are working to create a memorial to the inspiring author, poet and activist. A 'Friends of Helen Cadbury' group have joined up with the 'Friends of Glen Gardens' with the mutual ambition of raising funds for a poetry bench in a landscaped area, aspiring for this to be “a lasting memorial to our much-missed indefatigable friend.” Any donations would be deeply appreciated.

On a personal note, I have learnt so much during my time with Valley Press. It’s been a whirlwind of adventures: gaining new literary knowledge, reading up-and-coming unpublished literature, typesetting, embarking on numerous trips to the post office, and watching a certain staff member fall off their chair – it’s safe to say my Valley Press experience has been one-of-a-kind. So it’s over and out from me (I can assure you this time!) as I dally unwillingly out of the Valley Press office for the last time. But just before I sign off, I would like to thank both Jamie and Jo so much for having me. That’s all for today, thank you all for reading!

All the best,
Emma Goff-Leggett
Valley Press Intern

This week at Valley Press, #64: 'Spread the word'

Dear readers,

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter by the lovely Harriet (there was no way she was going to let me get away with this one!) today you will be hearing from me, Emma, another Valley Press intern for July. Despite having to check whether, in her own words, her “irritating habit for ‘hilarious’ bracketed-off asides” was too much, Harriet has certainly set the intern newsletter-writing bar high (a dazzling 10/10, in Jamie’s own words… no pressure then!) And as you may already be able to tell, I’m afraid I will not be providing too much relief from that ‘witty bracket habit’ this week! Clearly, we both find ourselves too funny for our own good. Harriet, my partner in crime, has now completed her internship, leaving me to fend for myself (only joking). It’s a good job then, that the Valley Press team are so delightfully lovely, making me feel completely at home here in the office… at least, once I’d actually managed to find to find my way here. Stay tuned.

The commencement of my experience was an interesting one as I found myself all-too-nearly wandering into the former Valley Press office. Little did I know that the team had moved into a delightful new space – thank goodness I can only describe my experience as an upwards spiral from there on (phew!) Now that I’ve actually managed to make my way into the correct office, I’ve so far had a wonderfully exciting experience witnessing first-hand what really goes on in a publishing house – seeing all the individual cogs that fit together to make that Valley Press engine run!

To my surprise, I found that there were a lot more cogs than anticipated. I can’t help but recall being asked by Jamie in my interview back in April something along the lines of: “What do you think goes on between a book being proposed and that book turning into a physical ‘real life’ copy?” I responded rather naively that a bit of editing and formatting probably occurs along the way. It was therefore quite the surprise when on my first day I was presented with a page-and-a-half step-by-step ‘ticklist’ which has to be applied to every book Valley Press receives!  This publishing business is definitely quite an undertaking, yet it is pulled together spectacularly here by such a small team.

* * * * *

Now onto the important stuff: in traditional Valley Press fashion, I have a bit of exciting news to share (there always seems to be something exciting going on here!) The Valley Press Anthology of Yorkshire Poetry, edited by Miles Salter and Oz Hardwick, officially "launches" on 1st August in York. The evening will feature readings from contributors: Antony Dunn, Oz Hardwick, Amina Alyal, Miles Salter, Rob Miles, Dave Gough, Robert Powell and more...  tempting, right? As spectacular as that all sounds, I should probably mention the important bits: the event will take place at City Screen in York at 8pm. Entry is £4 and copies of this landmark anthology will be available for purchase during the evening. The marvellous Jamie and Jo are also going to be there – so spread the word – it’s all set to be a knock-your-socks-off evening.

In other exciting news (it just keeps on coming!), Kate Smith – pictured excitedly below, and who can blame her – has just signed the contract to have her novel The Negligents published by VP in June 2018. So don’t be negligent (yes, that was supposed to be funny), and make sure to look out for that!

A quick reminder that Nora Chassler's Edinburgh launch for Madame Bildungsroman’s Optimistic Worldview will be happening this evening (still plenty of spaces if you want to surprise us!) The evening is sure to be a stimulating one, with a chance to hear readings from Chassler’s edgy and eccentric work, quiz her about her enticing, eclectic thoughts then sit back, relax and enjoy some jazz!

I’ll end by saying that I’ve had the most wonderful and vibrant few weeks so far – as a steadfast book worm, finding myself completely immersed in this inviting world of brand new up-and-coming literature has been a dream, and it’s been great to be able to dip in and out of the wide variety of roles involved in the publishing process. What could be better?

You may be pleased to hear as I sign off that next week you will be hearing from another intern, Rebecca – perhaps she will be the one to finally offer you all some relief from the witty asides?

All the best,
Emma Goff-Leggett
Valley Press Intern

This week at Valley Press, #59: 'Forever, Now'

Dear readers,

I'd like to start today's mailout by announcing a book we're publishing in five months' time; both author and publisher are far too excited to keep it under wraps. Forever, Now will be the first collection of poetry by celebrated crime writer Helen Cadbury – you can read more about the book here (including mini-reviews by Carole Bromley, Antony Dunn and James Nash) and a sample poem can be found here.

You might think it odd that, when introducing someone's poetry, I would mention their success in a very different literary genre... but in this case it can't be avoided, such is the stir Helen has caused since starting her career in crime (so to speak). I usually find that great novelists make great poets; they bring an economy with words (counter-intuitively), strong narratives and carefully-drawn characters, and those who've read Forever, Now so far have agreed that's very much the case here.

The front cover image was taken by Helen herself (we love to get authors involved in their design), and the title comes from Emily Dickinson's quote that 'forever is comprised of nows' – though begins to mean a lot more as you progress through the poems. You'll be hearing a lot more about this book in the coming months, but for now, consider yourselves well and truly introduced.

* * *

Second piece of news: after toying with the idea of running some lunchtime events in Scarborough this summer, I've now gone ahead and booked them. They'll be happening at Woodend, 1-2pm on a Thursday afternoon for six weeks. Here's what I've got lined up:

• on August 10th, James Nash will be sharing his classic sonnets and some brand new ones, as well as discussing nine years of Valley Press history with myself.
• on August 17th, Helen Burke will be celebrating the release of her Collected Poems, performing highlights from forty-eight years of writing.
• on August 24th, a selection of Yorkshire Anthology contributors will be taking a trip through that marvellous volume, led by co-editor Oz Hardwick.
• on August 31st, Nora Chassler will be taking you on a guided tour of Madame Bildungsroman's Optimistic Worldview (and what a view it is).
• on September 7th, Cath Nichols will be launching her new collection of poetry This is Not a Stunt (more on that in a future newsletter).
• on September 14th ... author to be confirmed, watch this space.

I hope some of that sounds tempting. It's £5 to attend, or £4 concession, and you can book the complete series of six for £25 (or £20 concession). Tickets can only be purchased from the Woodend reception, or by calling them on 01723 384500.

In the past I've often been heard to say, somewhat snootily, 'Valley Press is not an events company', and have stuck religiously to the view that publishing a new book is a noble cause that creates an everlasting achievement... while events are fun for an evening and then they're gone. Recently I've come to realise how narrow-minded this is, which brings us to today's third piece of news: the appointment of Vanessa Simmons to the new post of 'Events Manager' at Valley Press.

Vanessa spent nine years as the Events and Communications Officer at York St John University, and handily has a BA and an MA in Literature Studies, so really knows her way around the literary world. Her key missions are 1) to arrange many more events for VP authors, and 2) to improve the quality of existing events... she has some big ideas. In our first conversation about the role, we concluded that publishing a book was like installing a streetlamp, while running an event was like letting off some fireworks; and from now on, Valley Press will be doing both.

* * *

The last thing I wanted to mention is that the increasingly infamous Madame B has now leapt from the pages of her eponymous book and made it onto Twitter. You can 'follow' her unique worldview in 140-character form here, and of course the book (and its luxury hardback twin) can be found here.

Next week: a few words from Tess, our Submissions Coordinator, on how things have been going in that department since she swept in to work her magic...

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #46: 'Off the hook'

Dear readers,

The highlight of this week was our 'don't call it a launch' launch event for the Yorkshire Anthology. Due to the vagaries of my Arts Council project, and the selling schedule of the book trade, the anthology won't be in shops until August 1st – but we needed to 'launch' it in March. And launch it we did, in style! Although the event featured no less than twenty poets reading consecutively, everyone seemed to agree that the hour flew by.

I got an emergency print run to cover the event, and those copies are already pretty much gone: I'll get some more of course, but pre-orderers please note, you may need a wait a little longer for yours to arrive. The scene was captured by anthology contributor David Coldwell, who as you can see was sat with the other readers behind the microphone. The figure at the mic here is me; one of the better photos of me, actually...

This was also the week of my final meeting with Helen Burke about her new book. Slightly magical things tend to happen when you're with Helen, and this was no exception: Helen last saw her late father at 4.20pm on the 13th March 1999, and every year on that day, at that time, he finds some way to drop into her life. This is described to some extent in her poem 'The Last Time'.

Sure enough, as we headed towards the end of the meeting, with all other questions settled, there was one poem out of the hundreds in the book which I didn't have a 'note' for (Helen's books always have a notes section, offering background information on the poems). The poem without a note was 'The Last Time', and as I brought it up on the screen so Helen could dictate the story above, it was 4.20pm on the 13th March. Thought that was worth a mention here.

I won't share the poem now, will save it for another time, but here's an illustration by Helen that might make it into the book – though won't be quite as colourful.

While I was on my way to see Helen, Antony Dunn's 'Animal Rescue' (from Take This One to Bed) went on the Guardian's website as 'Poem of the Week'. You can read the poem, and Carol Rumens's elegant examination of it here – a highly recommended article. It's always wonderful to see a Valley Press poem getting such careful consideration, and the publicity is not too shabby either!

Someone reminded me this week that I never told you the end of the saga about the limited edition hardbacks for Antony's book. When I wrote the last newsletter before Christmas, two months after they were originally due for delivery, I'd given the offending printer a deadline of 5pm on the 21st December to hand over the books – or I'd never accept them, and would be demanding my money back.

After a tense day watching the clock, they were eventually delivered by the printing firm's managing director, personally, just minutes before the deadline. So all's well that ends well (sort of), and there are now only a couple of dozen hardbacks left; you can purchase one here for just £10. They look like this:

The final bit of news this week is perhaps the most significant, long-term; so brace yourself! On my way to Leeds on Saturday I took a good long look at my diary, my to-do list, and my inbox (all bulging), and realised I've reached a point that has been steadily creeping up for months – it is now physically impossible for me to keep up with the basic running of Valley Press.

For a long time, things worked like this: when I replied to an email or completed a task, another one would arrive immediately in its place – which is a somewhat sustainable situation. But for the past few weeks, as I sent a reply or finished something, two new items arrived in the 'in tray'... which meant the situation got ugly, fast.

I'm urgently working on finding more staff to join me in the Scarborough office, but in the short term, the majority of Valley Press emails are going to stay unanswered, and non-critical tasks remain undone. I simply don't have a choice; I've done fifteen days' worth of work in the last two weeks, but there's no way I can keep that up. So please try your best to let me off the hook, and I'll make sure normal service is resumed as quickly as possible.

I probably need a holiday ... but in the meantime, at least I have a trip to Birmingham to look forward to! A quick reminder about that: on Wednesday 22nd, from 6.30pm at The Woodsman, you can hear VP authors Tom Preston, Di Slaney and Michael Stewart read from their recent publications, and you can meet a rather tired (but hopeful) young publisher. See you there; and if not, in your inbox next week.

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #45: 'Turning point'

Dear readers,

It's 6.30pm, and I'm only just sitting down to write the newsletter – so let's keep it short this week!

The Yorkshire Anthology is finished; I have the print-ready files sat here, ready to go to the printer first thing in the morning. It's been quite a journey, I can tell you, with 66 contributors needing to check the proofs! I think by now, we're all looking forward to showing it off to the reading public.

Also tomorrow, I have what should be my final meeting with Helen Burke regarding her Collected Poems, to dot the 'i's and cross the 't's (and I almost mean that literally). I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, as far as last year's publishing programme is concerned – regular readers will remember both of these books were originally scheduled for 2016 – so naturally, the future is sneaking up on me too; I also have meetings with prospective new authors and interns next week.

Next Saturday (18th), we have a special event at Headingley Literature Festival to 'preview' the Yorkshire Anthology (which won't be in shops until the summer, but will miraculously be there next Saturday!) Here are the readers, in order of appearance:

James Nash, Yvie Holder, Hannah Stone, Nick Toczek, Cora Greenhill, Char March, Anne Caldwell, Sarah Wallis, Michael Brown, Becky Cherriman, Patrick Lodge, Bethany Rivers, Doreen Gurrey, Mike Farren, Julia Deakin, Jo Brandon, Neil Clarkson, Marie Naughton, David Coldwell, Matthew Hedley Stoppard, Ian Parks

What a selection! The event runs from 7.30pm at the New Headingley Club, Leeds, and tickets are £4. You really should consider booking ahead – it's filling up, and not just with the readers! Hope to see some of you there; that's all for today. (Except for a sea view, which I'll sneak in below – taken just before I scurried to the office to type this.)

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #44: 'Putting in the hours'

Dear readers,

A lot of small steps forward this week – but maybe that's the best way to get somewhere? I remember, from a little book of Chinese philosophy: 'the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step'. (Valley Press will embark on its own Chinese journey this year; but that's a subject for another newsletter.)

I'm also reminded of the '10,000 hours' theory, which was all the rage when I registered as self-employed, back in January 2011. Gladwell wrote that 10,000 hours of deliberate practice would make you a world-class expert in any skill, so I did a calculation of how long I would need to stick with my new career in publishing before I had it all sussed out. If I worked to a standard full-time schedule, I could have it wrapped up by March 2017...

Sadly, the theory has now been mostly disproved, even without my own example (which may be the final nail in the coffin). I logged into some new software this week, designed to streamline data at a publishing house, and found 98% of the services it offered were a complete mystery to me. So I'm still not a world-class expert – maybe in another 10,000? – but you could argue that the Valley Press that exists today was built from those hours, one hour at a time. Or, to borrow another bit of philosophy, Grimm interpreted by Steven Moffat: 'that's a hell of a bird'.

* * * * 

So what were this week's 'small steps'? One of them was registering the company 'Valley Press Ltd.', which is the beginning of a new chapter for us (and a ton of admin); though it won't make much difference to the day-to-day running of things. Another was sending out page proofs for our Yorkshire Anthology to the contributors – I hope you all enjoyed having a sneak preview! I was stunned to see that within 24 hours, 43 of the 66 contributors had already got back to me with feedback; who says poets aren't organised?

Elsewhere, myself and the 'digital reading team' made it through a few more manuscripts submitted in 2016. I've found this process so helpful, it's the best idea I've had in months; the volunteers have been phenomenal, tackling each manuscript faster and with more insight than I could possibly have imagined. Next time we take submissions (which I'm hoping will be in April), I'm going to formalise this pseudo-committee and arrange some sort of reward for them. They deserve it!

What else? I took on another new team member; Martha Sprackland, formerly of Cake magazine and Faber & Faber, will be editing a series of poetry manuscripts for us in the coming months – you'll see the first fruits of her labour in September. I also quietly changed our 'FAQ' section to indicate we are now considering applications for internships, for the first time since 2013. People must have been watching that like a hawk, I've already had ten CVs! (It's tough to get publishing experience in this part of the world; I always wanted to offer regular internships, but haven't had the time or facilities in recent years.)

On top of all this, I did an interview for the excellent blog 'Book and Brew', which you can read here. As usual, it's pretty frank stuff; I always end up saying far more than I intend to when I do interviews. I think possibly I confuse it for therapy...? Anyway, enjoy that, if you fancy a bit more of my waffle this week; otherwise, see you next Sunday.

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #42: 'Views from Yorkshire'

Dear readers,

A huge week here – lots of stuff going on behind the scenes (which I'll tell you about in the future), and plenty going on in front of the scenes too (if that's a phrase?), which I'll tell you about today. Strap yourselves in!

As promised last week, the editors of our Yorkshire Anthology have presented their finished manuscript to me, and it is looking brilliant. We gained an editor in the process; the anthology's instigator Miles Salter has been joined by fellow VP poet Oz Hardwick, and together they've brought the thing home.

So I can now announce the 66 writers whose poems feature in the book; they are listed below in alphabetical order. Some names will be familiar, some will be completely new to you, and can you spot any laureates..? (I should say, I'm yet to email most of these poets with the finer details and confirmation, so this is provisional for now.)

Amina Alyal, Bruce Barnes, Matt Black, Helen Boden, Pat Borthwick, Jo Brandon, Carole Bromley, Michael Brown, Anne Caldwell, Becky Cherriman, Neil Clarkson, David Coldwell, Oliver Comins, Joey Connolly, Julia Deakin, Janet Dean, Carol Ann Duffy, Ian Duhig, Antony Dunn, Mike Farren, Rachel J. Fenton, Kate Fox, Dave Gough, Cora Greenhill, Doreen Gurrey, Martyn Halsall, Mike Harding, Oz Hardwick, Ian Harrow, Yvie Holder, Andy Humphrey, Carol Rowntree Jones, Will Kemp, Pauline Kirk, Peter Knaggs, Gill Lambert, Patrick Lodge, Char March, Fokkina McDonnell, Andrew McMillan, Ian McMillan, Rob Miles, Pete Morgan, Helen Mort, Paul Munden, James Nash, Marie Naughton, Ian Parks, Stuart Pickford, Clare Pollard, Robert Powell, Wendy Pratt, Davina Prince, Lesley Quayle, Bethany Rivers, Miles Salter, Peter Sansom, Michael Shann, Jane Sharp, John Siddique, Hannah Stone, Matthew Hedley Stoppard, Nick Toczek, Fiona Ritchie Walker, Sarah Wallis, Mike Watts

The whole 'anthology' business is rather complicated, it turns out; I don't know how Emma keeps them coming at such a pace!

The official release date for this anthology is August 1st, Yorkshire Day, and that's when you'll be able to buy it in Waterstones etc. (they like a lot of notice). However, because the book is part of our 2016 Arts Council project, which ends in April, I need to start selling copies ASAP, and hold an event related to the book next month.

Luckily, Headingley Literature Festival (that's an area of Leeds, non-locals) have stepped in to help with the latter; so we'll be launching the book on Saturday March 18th, from 7.30pm, at the New Headingley Club. Tickets are £4, and include entry to the next event, which features the hugely talented novelist Anna Chilvers. If you can't make it, you can pre-order the book here, or come along to another event later in the year.

In an unexpected twist, the festival organisers have invited me to take part in another event earlier in the day; titled 'Pitch and Pen', it involves authors pitching their books in person to three 'industry professionals', including Kevin from Bluemoose and Alison Taft. We then choose a winner, who gets to slip their submission into my still-significant 2016 pile, from which I'm slowly populating the 2017 and 2018 lists. If you're interested in pitching, details are on the Festival's website.

Let's pause for breath now, and look at a photo of our new office, which has been up and running since Monday:

So tidy, isn't it – and filled with promise! Last week I hinted at a 'new face' who might be seen there, and today I'm pleased to introduce Elizabeth Stanforth-Sharpe, who has joined the Valley Press team as 'Director of Publicity'. We all know how important publicity is for a book's success; a bit of luck there can be the difference between 200 sales and 2000, so having someone devoted to this pursuit seems like a great step forwards. (It's also an area I'm guilty of neglecting in years gone by ... it comes after all the production steps, and there's never enough time to do it justice.)

Local readers may know Elizabeth for her acting work, but her career has been spent in marketing, publicity and promotion – at one point, for royalty – and she's also a published writer, who studied Creative Writing at Hull University. She's qualified and enthusiastic; what more can we ask? You'll be hearing from Elizabeth soon on Facebook and Twitter, if you follow us on those (and when I remember to tell her the passwords!)

That's enough excitement for now: next week I'll give a hard deadline for subs decisions, share a poem from the elusive Helen Burke book, and tell you about a great VP event coming up in Birmingham. Thanks for reading!

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #41: 'Land ho!'

Dear readers,

Last week's newsletter was an epic tale; one man's battle against a bag of A4 envelopes, valiantly trying to make decisions on your 2016 submissions (with all relevant deadlines having long-since whooshed past). I spoke about misjudging the time needed to complete a task ... and I've realised since then just how often I fall into that trap. Every project I'm supposed to update you on this week is running late; some by a couple of months, some by half a year! If you've been irritated or inconvenienced by any of this, I'm truly sorry.

The problem is inexperience; even after six years of professional publishing, there's still much to learn. With some projects, like publishing a standard poetry collection, the journey is now familiar – I know the way, and can be pretty sure when I'll arrive. In the cases mentioned below, I knew the destination I wanted to get to, and roughly which direction to sail in ... but had no idea how long it would take, or what sea monsters I might encounter on the way. (I'm working on a nautical metaphor this week, in case you hadn't noticed.)

But I set off anyway, and had to suggest a date of arrival; who wants to hear their book will be out 'someday', or that I'll give them a verdict on their submission 'in the next few years'? The good news is, I think I spy land on the horizon; let me bring you up to date.

•  The 2016 submissions are still being narrowed down, and my call for volunteer readers last week received a huge response; dozens of you got in touch kindly offering me the benefit of your literary wisdom. The first full manuscript is in your inbox now. Together, we'll get some decisions made!

•  Our anthology of Yorkshire-themed poetry, delayed from last year, is now on the brink of completion. You'll recall this book is being edited by Miles Salter, who also came up with the idea; he has been facing his own waves of incoming submissions, but is now (to preserve the metaphor) approaching safe harbour. All being well, I'll announce a full list of the included poets in this newsletter next week.

•  Helen Burke's Collected Poems, teased in November as 'the most complicated book I've ever tried to put together', was originally due to arrive in 'mid-February'. I'm sorry to say that, with mid-February upon us, I don't yet have a firm delivery date for this book. On a brighter note, no less than three people are currently working like mad to get every word in the right place, and their efforts are set to bear fruit within the next few days. More news next week.

•  The new Valley Press office, mentioned briefly last Sunday, is now just a few hours from being tidy and having a connection to the internet – a month after I got the keys! (I think only two people are waiting for this, but it still counts as a late project, causing annoyance.) I mentioned a new face, too, who I'm pleased to say has the title 'Director of Publicity', helping me tell the world about our wonderful books. Formal introductions will be coming in a future newsletter.

Reading that back, it sounds like we've made only the very tiniest progress since last week; but at least the sails are up! And hey, I've provided you with something rarely found in a publisher's email newsletter – a sense of suspense. "Will they get anything done? Tune in next week to find out..."

I'll end with a reminder that you can see VP poet Norah Hanson and a star-studded supporting cast at Kardomah in Hull, this Thursday (16th) – more details here. It's a must if you can possibly get there ... when your ship has come in?

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher