Night-time stories: an interview with editor Yen-Yen-Lu

There are just 3 weeks left in our call for night-time stories! It's definitely time to find out more about editor Yen-Yen Lu's thoughts on stories and the night-time. Fellow EP team member Philippa Barker asked her a few questions...

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Why night-time stories? What drew you to the genre? 

From my own experience, in real life and in writing, night-time brings out a combination of strange, serious, dark, and warm stories. I think it’s a very versatile theme, open to lots of different interpretations and hopefully will encourage authors to explore what interests them.

I’ve written, read, and heard night-time stories about two nervous people on a first date, a ghost driving people around New York, a friendship ending after a night out, and a woman being followed home by a stranger. These are stories that are very different in genre and content and I like the idea that they could all be happening at the same time (though I do wish women being followed home by strange men didn’t happen at all).

I would really like to put together a mix of different voices and genres in this anthology and I’m hoping that night-time will inspire a variety of stories.

What do you like about the short story genre? 

Some of the best short stories are really great at world building. There’s not as much room in a short story, compared to something like a novel, to establish the setting, the characters, their relationships and the story and I think that this sometimes forces the author to only focus on the most important details to create a compelling story. I really appreciate when it’s done well.

The single-author fiction collections that we’ve published so far are really good at that and they are definitely the types of story I would like to read and want to publish. Postcard Stories by Jan Carson is a collection of very short, snapshot moments set in modern day Belfast, catching strangers in everyday moments. First fox by Leanne Radojkovich is also a collection of flash fiction but a lot of the stories create a more surreal, fairytale world. The Secret Box by Daina Tabūna is three coming-of-age stories focused on young women going through strange situations and realisations and finding themselves changed by the end of it.

What makes a good night-time story? What would you like to read? 

A good night-time story would be something that is very grounded in whatever world it’s set in, whether that’s the UK today or 1960s Tokyo or an ancient world of vampires, something that can stand alone but leaves me wondering about what might happen after the events of the story. I suppose this goes for short fiction in any genre though.

‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson isn’t a night-time story and it has been a few years since I last read it but sometimes I still think about it: what made the village decide to start and continue the lottery? How do families of the victims cope after they’re chosen for the lottery?

I would like to read submissions that are honest and authentic with interesting details and I hope to find some warmth in most stories. In general, I’m interested in work that is bold and breaks stereotypes and cliches. I’m less interested in stories that try too hard to be clever – I find that simple ideas work best.

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The Emma Press is open for night-time stories until 3rd August 2018. The anthology will be edited by Yen-Yen Lu (right).

You can read the full guidelines here and you can read the press release here.

This week at Valley Press, #92: 'Cracking reads'

Dear readers,

Hello there! I’m Jo, Assistant Publisher at VP, in charge of editing, press, direct sales, staff happiness and tea-making (strong, drop of milk, big mug).

I thought it was about time I said hello as I’m celebrating my first anniversary with Valley Press today (I’m assuming all your cards and gifts are in the post – thank you in advance). It might seem like I’ve been ignoring you for the last 12 months, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, VP, its authors and supporters have become something of an obsession. If I’m not here in the office at VP Towers (aka the rather stunning Woodend in Scarborough), I’m editing and proofing books at home, emailing authors, chatting with book-buyers and generally nattering on to people about how great VP is.

There are many, many reasons why working here is a real treat, but the chance to talk books (cake, cocktails and nonsense) with my hugely entertaining colleagues is very high on the list. We all met up this week in the luxurious surroundings of Gray’s Court in York to discuss/debate/fight over our spring 2019 list. Inspired by the array of books in the hotel library and the generous platter of warm scones provided by the psychic waiter (I’d literally just said ‘I could really do with a coffee’ to Tess when he stuck his head round the door and said ‘Coffee anyone?’), we whittled down a mountain of manuscripts into a more manageable molehill. We’ll tell you about them in detail in a future newsletter but for now, trust me, you’re going to be wowed.

Another highlight of the week was the launch of Beyond the Walls on Wednesday night as part of York Literature Festival, which continues until March 26^th, so you’ve just got time to grab a ticket for something bookish if you get your skates on. Beyond the Walls is a collection of shiny new writing from shiny new writers, namely students from York St John University. Their fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction is fresh, informed, unflinching and compassionate, instantly melting any preconceived notions you might have about their so-called ‘snowflake’ generation.

Another VP title being launched in grand style this week (March 23^rd) at York Lit Fest is Riverain. As Canadian poet Robert Powell was inspired by the twin rivers – the Ouse and the Foss – in his adopted home city, we had thought of asking the Queen (an old friend of VP) to wallop the book with a bottle of champagne before launching it into the murky depths. Instead, we decided a river cruise book launch was probably more fitting (and less liable to land us in trouble with the Palace for wasting the monarch’s time when she could be enjoying a boxset of The Crown with Phillip and the corgis).

Back on dry land, we’re very much looking forward to the launch of Light After Light, the debut pamphlet from West Yorkshire poet Victoria Gatehouse, at The Book Corner in Halifax on April 18^th. This is a particularly special one for me as Vicky was the first author I met at VP. She was nervous, unassuming and ever so slightly cock-a-hoop at the prospect of being published, while I was desperately trying to sound cool and professional while also being ever so slightly cock-a-hoop about having an exciting new job in publishing. We’ll be having our own little reunion, but do feel free to come and join us.

While Vicky is one of our newest finds, we’re pleased to report that long-time VP author Michael Stewart has a new book out today that’s gaining a lot of positive attention. In fact, the film rights to Ill Will, which speculates on what Heathcliff might have done in his three-year absence from Wuthering Heights, have already been snapped up by Kudos, the production company behind Broadchurch and Apple Tree Yard.

Though not a VP title, this is obviously very egg-citing news for Michael and we are egg-stremely happy for him (you can already tell where this is going, can’t you?). It’s nearly Easter and as a special treat we’re offering 20% off all book orders via our website until April 2^nd using the code EGG, plus the chance to win a delicious VP chocolate egg (it took me ages to pipe our logo on the front) plus (yes, there’s more!) two books from our spring list, namely Light After Light and Trace Elements. And we’re not even yolking (that’s the last one, Brownie’s honour).

Good luck – and Happy Easter!

Jo Haywood, VP Assistant Publisher


P.S. Note from Jamie: as we approach one of the busiest seasons of the publishing year, me and Emma haven't managed a new podcast since episode 5, but rest assured a new 'season' of Friday Morning Meetings will be coming soon. In the meantime, there is a jukebox musical to enjoy, telling the Emma Press story (filmed secretly by me from the back row, but eventually shared with permission!)

This week at Valley Press, #91: 'The Elements'

Dear bookish types,

It’s been another couple of exciting weeks here at Valley Press HQ, with visits from poetry royalty, a graphic novel launch, new books in the Valley Press shop and plans afoot for a Mother’s Day offer. But first, let me tell you about the gorgeous and unseasonable sunshine we’ve had here in Scarborough – it’s been so beautiful that we’ve all been out in the Woodend gardens, sunbathing and drinking home-made lemonade.

OK, that is a total lie. We’re on the east coast and managed to get the full force of the ‘Beast from the East’, causing hugely exciting drifts of alien-like foam over the seafront and much panic-buying of bread and milk in our local supermarket. It did not stop the tenacious and dedicated Valley Press staff from sledging, skiing and snow booting in to the office though; you can see the blizzard from our office window here and another great viewpoint here.

Before the worst set in, we were treated to a right royal visit – poetry royalty, that is – in the shape of the Bard of Barnsley, Ian McMillan. Ian had been running a writing workshop over at the Scarborough Art Gallery, and had accepted an invitation to see our offices (since they're just a few metres away). He was particularly taken with our world literature, and took a copy of Ye Guangqin's Mountain Stories away with him (along with a few other treats). If you don’t follow Ian on Twitter (@IMcMillan), you really should think about it for his early morning stroll tweets if nothing else. They’re little pockets of poetry all on their own, in fact his whole thread is filled with interesting poetry stuff, funny things and really lovely photos. He’s a noticer of things, is Ian, and a sharer. We like that.

The last couple of weeks also saw the successful launch of How to Disappear Completely, in Leeds. It was a great event, held by Tall Boys Beer Market in association with OK Comics, with a really good mix of people... one of them, aspiring film-maker Tom Box, even produced this music video documenting the night. The graphic novel is a bit of a departure from what we usually print, but we like to think that we have impressively eclectic tastes! Give it a go, you will like it.

Next up, news of a new book. This is the best bit of my job, telling all you lovely people about the brilliant authors we are able to support. Trace Elements is Nigel Forde’s first collection with Valley Press, after a long career in the poetry spotlight, and it is something very special. I try to read each book that comes out of the Valley Press publishing house, because it means I can really get behind them and know what I’m talking about; so I can tell you that the poems in this collection are delicate, fine-boned, and do not bludgeon the reader into submission. Instead, they speak softly about what it is to be human, the Ying and Yang of it all. It’s a smashing collection and you should certainly consider it as your next poetry purchase.

Speaking of which, we now get to our Mother’s Day offer. We are giving you 15% off until 3pm on Thursday with voucher code MOTHER on any purchase through our website. And there’s more, oh yes! Because we want to make it dead easy for you to treat your mum, we are throwing in a handmade Mother’s Day card, worth £3.00, printed by my own fair hands while it has been snowing and I have had cabin fever. They look like this:

So, just to clarify, all you have to do is buy your lucky mum one (or more) titles from the Valley Press shop, add the code 'MOTHER' at the checkout, and your book(s) and card will be sent out to you in the post. (You won’t have to venture out and risk polar bears or walruses in the tundra conditions out there.) If you want an alternatively-worded card for Gran, Auntie, or anyone else, just let us know and we will do the best we can to make your Mother’s Day a good one. People who care for us should be celebrated, and we might well be biased, but we think the best way of doing that is by offering cracking, first-rate literature. Chocolates often go down well too, but if we had those in the office we wouldn’t be able to control ourselves and all the books would be covered in sticky fingerprints.

That’s about it from me for this week, have a wonderfully bookish weekend. May I suggest a warm radiator or a roaring fire, a Valley Press book and a glass of something lovely and tummy-warming?

Best wishes,
Wendy Pratt (Reader Engagement Officer)

This week at Valley Press, #90: 'How to Disappear'

Dear bookish types,

It’s Wendy here again, with the Valley Press fortnightly newsletter. It’s been an exciting couple of weeks at VP HQ, with lots happening, but I’ll start by wishing you all a happy Chinese New Year! We are very lucky to be able to boast two brilliant and highly-thought-of Chinese authors: Yang Zhengguang’s How Old Dan Became a Tree is a collection of short stories which challenge boundaries and are stacked full of dark humour and film-like vividness, while Ye Guangqin’s Mountain Stories is an insightful, creative and often magically absurd collection set in China’s Qinling mountains. We’re proud of being able to explore other cultures and happy to be in a position to bring world literature into people’s lives and onto their bookshelves. If you fancy travelling to China without going anywhere, this is how to do it. (A third entry in this series is to be published in May.)

Next up, we have news of our latest launch and a new venture by Valley Press into the world of graphic novels. Si Smith has produced more than just a comic: as far as storytelling goes, How to Disappear Completely ticks all the boxes. It is intense, moving and truthful, and the artistic representation of the story is incredible; the use of colour and light as metaphor is skilful and superb. I don’t read very many graphic novels, but I have now read this one three times, finding something new to enjoy each time I do. Without wanting to offer spoilers, it is gripping. What I will say is this: we don’t talk about male vulnerability enough, we don’t talk about male mental health enough, and the pressure to ‘get on with it’. By exploring vulnerability, especially in men, and mental health problems, we challenge the taboo around it, so this feels like a very important publication. It explores a very personal journey and does it in a startlingly beautiful way. How to Disappear Completely is launching at OK Comics in Leeds on February 22nd at 5pm. If you’re on Facebook, there’s a Facebook Events Page where you can catch up with all the news surrounding it. It is quite honestly one of the best things I’ve read in a while.

In other news, we were delighted to welcome an aspiring young publisher to the Valley Press Headquarters last weekend. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take any pictures, so you’ll have to believe me when I say that we had a lovely hour or two chatting about publishing, books in general, the publishing industry in the North, and how to get a foot in the door with secondary school student Evie, her mum Caroline and even Evie’s gran who came along to reminisce about Scarborough. We think it’s really important for young people wanting to work in publishing, as writers and creatives or as the behind-the-scenes team that make the magic happen, to be able to come along and chat to real life people about the realities of that industry. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have a young person eager to see how it all works.

That just about sums up this week, except to say that Jamie and Emma have once again provided a brilliant and entertaining podcast, which you can find here (and remember, you can subscribe on iTunes here). One last thing, in the form of a tiny little bit of self-promotion: I am absolutely delighted to say that my poem ‘Nan Hardwicke Turns into a Hare’ will be featured on BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Please on Sunday the 18th February at 4.30pm. I am so excited I can hardly breathe, especially since it is the incredible poet Liz Berry as guest host and I am a huge fan. My own Valley Press poetry collection, Gifts the Mole Gave Me, is available in the Valley Press shop alongside many, many other wonderful Valley Press titles – we also recently published new poetry by Liz herself in our Verse Matters anthology. Anyway, enough talking about me, I hope you have a lovely weekend, and check in on us on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram. We have a lot of fun on social media, come and join in!

If you are interested in becoming a Valley Press reader and helping us to gauge public reaction to potential books, drop us a line; and if you or your publication are interested in reviewing any of our titles, do get in touch. Independent publishers need all the support they can get, we’re passionate about our authors and want to support them on their writing journey; spreading the word about their work seems one of the best ways to do so.

In the meantime, have a bookish weekend!

Best wishes,
Wendy Pratt (Reader Engagement Officer)
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This week at Valley Press, #89: 'Grafters'

Dear readers,

Jamie here! We had a great response to Wendy's newsletter two weeks ago (this is a fortnightly bulletin now, remember), and in fact even Mrs McGarry – when pushed – was forced to admit it was a small improvement on the usual communications. That being said, I'm not ready to disappear behind the gates of my chocolate factory just yet, so you can still expect to hear from me occasionally throughout 2018.

I've re-taken the wheel today as I wanted to describe my excitement at hearing Norah Hanson's poem 'Grafters' (from Sparks) on Radio 4's 'Poetry Please' last Sunday. It was chosen by a new-ish friend of ours, Hollie McNish, and you can hear Hollie read the poem, with an introductory discussion, on the iPlayer here. Jump to 5 mins 45 secs to just hear Norah's part (but if you do, you'll miss Seamus Heaney's 'Digging', among other treats).

Hollie's introduction pretty much hits the nail on the head as to why Norah's poetry is important (the first reason: it's great, but there are others given too). That poem is beautiful, and Norah did a great version of it for the Sparks audiobook, which I've uploaded here (or grab the whole audiobook here if you feel inclined, only £3.40). For once though, it wasn't the words or the performance that had me watery-eyed when I listened ... bear with me while I give you a bit of back-story.

There are a very small group of older poets, published in the first years of Valley Press, who took a chance on me when I had almost no idea what I was doing – in my first year of full-time publishing, for example, I was more-or-less running around like a headless chicken. I should have been laughed out of the industry, but instead these authors were patient, let me make mistakes, and gave me the benefit of the doubt. (Hopefully, decent-looking books were their reward!)

Without them, there would be no Valley Press today, and it's a concrete fact that without publishing Love Letters & Children's Drawings (Norah's first collection) in November 2011, VP wouldn't have made it past that Christmas. Because of this history, to hear Norah's poetry make it onto national radio, with McGough, Heaney, McNish et al (even though it only amounts to a minute of airtime) is genuinely one of the top ten moments of my career so far. Here's hoping it brings her a whole new readership. Tell your friends!

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The other big excitement this week was the announcement that Antony Dunn's Take This One to Bed has been selected for New Writing North's tenth annual 'Read Regional' campaign. This means a large-scale stocking-up of the book by libraries in the north of England, a series of events in the region, and Antony writing a new introduction to the book, which you can read here (a great bit of writing in itself). A list of the events can also be found on that link, which includes visits to Hartlepool, Morpeth, Darlington, Newcastle, Leeds, Stockport, Bradford and Hull. A great time to catch this poet in action!

There was also a new episode of 'The Friday Morning Meeting', which (as you'll hopefully recall) is a publishing podcast I've been recording with Emma Wright from the Emma Press. You can hear the new show here, find the whole archive here, and in theory you can now 'subscribe' to the podcast via iTunes here (do let me know if that works). We're becoming quite proud of these programmes, I don't mind telling you – and the EP team are also proud of their new Anthology of Love, which looks absolutely fantastic, and features a handful of VP poets to boot. I've ordered my copy! It's definitely the best book published since our last newsletter (especially with our 'hairy' book, which I unwisely teased at the start of the year, still in production).

On that note, it's back to work now for me and the rest of the team. The submissions backlog is now down to 87 (from 296 when I originally paused subs), so great progress made there... we'll soon be able to open our doors again to new work (keep writing!) Wendy will be writing to you again in a couple of weeks' time, when our first graphic novel is expected to arrive on the shelves – so as ever, watch this space.

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #88: 'Meet the REO'

Hello!

It’s Wendy Pratt here, I’m one of the Valley Press authors (see more about my book, Gifts the Mole Gave Me, here) and I’m also the newly appointed Reader Engagement Officer for the wonderful Valley Press. Part of my new role is to keep the Valley Press social media accounts full of interesting book-related stuff for you all to enjoy, which is fun for me as I now have a reason for spending so much time on Twitter. You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, or all three if you want the full Valley Press experience. I also field enquiries from the general public, so if you want to get in touch (head here) please do, we’d love to hear your views and reviews. Let us know what you love and what you don’t and we’ll always try to answer. One of the best things about being the Reader Engagement Officer is that I get to spend time promoting books, authors, events, festivals and reading in general. My love of books is why I became a writer in the first place, so this is something akin to my dream job. Plus, the office is in the beautiful Woodend Creative Arts Centre which is abuzz with creative people doing creative things on all levels. They have a gorgeous little shop there too, well worth popping in if you’re passing.

I will try not to bang on too much about how brilliant Valley Press are, but I did want to say a couple of things. We don’t celebrate small publishers enough, in my opinion, which is why social media is such a great platform for spreading the word. There are some smashing small publishers out there and I have been lucky enough to work with several. One of the things that has impressed me the most about Valley Press is their way of working; it’s a mix of kindness, professionalism and enjoyment. The office always feels like it’s full of people who genuinely love books and love to see people reading. And it’s fascinating to be on the other side of the submissions portal and see how the team work to bring new titles together. All the submissions are read diligently, and with an open mind, which is why the turnaround time can be quite a long one.

If you do get a rejection, why not drop me a line and I might be able to help point you towards mentors, courses and helpful websites that will help you polish up your work. Try not to be put off, rejection is part of the writing life, I’m afraid, but it’s not personal. I’ll never forget the day I got the email saying Valley Press were publishing my book. It came at a time when my confidence was a bit wobbly and it just felt wonderful to be given a chance by them. I’d bought a few of their titles before and was always very impressed with the aesthetics of the covers, the tactile feel of the books and the details in the typeface and layout. From being on the other side (of the office door, not death) I can see how much thought is put into each one, and that’s because they want the experience to be a good one for the writer and the reader. So bear with us, if you’re waiting to hear; it won’t be long. We’re expecting to have decisions on all outstanding submissions by March, and the next submissions window will likely open soon after (if not before).

Enough of the sentimentality, you’ll be wanting some actual news I imagine, and here it is:

• We were incredibly excited to hear that BBC Radio 4 will be featuring a poem by Valley Press author Norah Hanson on Poetry Please! You can hear Norah’s wonderful poem ‘Grafters’ on Sunday 28th January.
• The official Chinese launch of How Old Dan Became a Tree by Yang Zhengguang was held in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province (apparently in China’s biggest bookshop – see header image for a sense of scale). Several hundred members of the public attended the event, and we’re told some enthusiastic readers queued for more than an hour to obtain the author’s signature!
• And our latest anthology Verse Matters had a brilliant write up in the Yorkshire Post.

What a week!

That’s it from me, I hope I’ve not bored you with my sickeningly positive appraisal of Valley Press. Do check into social media, we have a few lovely new regular features coming up which you won’t want to miss.

Have a bookish weekend

Wendy
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This week at Valley Press, #87: 'Old Dan'

Dear readers,

Happy new year! I'm writing on behalf of your favourite Scarborough-based publishing company (remember us?), where we're starting the year as we mean to continue; just five days in and already a new title is on the shelves.

First up for 2018 is How Old Dan Became a Tree, the second in our 'Shaanxi Stories' series published in association with Northwest University, Xi’an (if anyone from there is reading, happy new year to you too... for February, of course). If this is the first you're hearing about the Shaanxi series, don't worry, you've only missed one title – the sublime Mountain Stories – and you can read about the genesis of the project here.

I thought Mountain Stories was the perfect introduction to Chinese literature in translation, and this new book (by Yang Zhengguang) is a fairly suitable next step – though it is definitely a challenging read. Even in China these stories are considered boundary-breaking, with no shortage of sex and violence (consider yourselves warned). I had various interns proof-reading the text last summer; they would frequently stop, read out a toe-curlingly outrageous bit of prose, and I would reply: 'good grief!' But then they would quickly say: '...but I'm really enjoying it, I'm gripped.' So there you go. (Did you ever hear about the publisher who went broke peddling tales of lust and revenge? No, me neither...)

If you fancy something more local, York-based poet Ian Stuart has recorded an audiobook version of Quantum Theory for Cats, which you can pick up here (or from your preferred audiobook seller) for just over £3. Besides working as a Ghost Trail guide, Ian is also a professional voiceover artist, so the quality of this production (polished in the studio by Scarborough hero Tom Townsend) is second-to-none. Our Arts Council grant for 2018 included funding for audiobooks, so expect quite a few more before the year is out.

There was no newsletter last week, but my typing fingers weren't idle; I sketched out a brief business plan for a one-person publishing company (that's the kind of thing I do for fun these days) and posted it here. Afterwards, my inbox was filled with questions and comments about the featured figures, so I'm now working on a follow-up piece to answer them. Stay tuned for that soon...

...but not next week, as I've decided to make this newsletter a fortnightly event in 2018. The hope is that I can redirect some creative energy to write the 'ten years of Valley Press' memoir, which I half-promised would appear this coming October, and also give the Emma/Valley podcast a decent go (the most recent episode is still the Christmas one).

So I'll see you in two weeks, when I'll be ready to reveal the next book (which is yet another surprising diversion from the usual programming). Stay out of trouble!

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher