This week at Valley Press, #47: 'Friday Feeling'

Dear readers,

It's Friday – so what is the Valley Press newsletter, traditionally posted on a Sunday evening, doing here? I've decided to move it, permanently; to dedicate some time on a Friday afternoon instead of trying to piece it together outside working hours, over the weekend. You can still read on Sunday if you like!

Last week I confessed the volume of incoming tasks and emails at VP had far exceeded what I could keep up with, and declared they would go undone and unreplied to until I could find some help. So that's been my focus this week, and I'm pleased to report I've found them (or actually, they found me): an 'Assistant Publisher' to share the production and admin work, and a 'Submissions Coordinator' to keep manuscripts moving smoothly, once we re-open to new authors next month.

I'll introduce them to you in future newsletters, once they get their feet under the table and up to speed with the work (which will take a little while, I would think). Make no mistake, this is very good news – a huge relief, in fact! – and is part of the reason I felt able to move the newsletter to a Friday. I honestly think the era of constant delays, missed deadlines and muddling through could be coming to an end. Hooray!

(On a related note: if you're wondering about last year's subs, I'm still hoping to have sent at least one email to everyone by the end of March. We'll continue reading full manuscripts until we've done them all justice.)

* * * * *

More brilliant news came in this week: both of the short story collections we published last year have been longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize (pretty much the only award for books of this type). Michael Stewart's Mr Jolly and Sue Wilsea's Raw Material will be up against collections from the likes of Susan Hill and Mark Haddon, with the shortlist announced in June and the overall winner in August. The winning author receives £10,000 (and probably sells quite a few books), so wish them luck!

If you'd like to read our entries and judge for yourself, you can have 20% off either (or both) by entering the code STORIED in your 'basket' when shopping on the Valley Press website. Follow the links in the paragraph above to reach the relevant book pages, and click 'preview' once you're there to read some intriguing sample stories.

* * * * *

Mr Jolly got an airing in Birmingham this week, along with The Boy in the Mirror and Reward for Winter, as Michael, Tom and Di put on an amazing show for some lucky BCU students, lecturers and literature fans in general. I was genuinely blown away by their sets (and the student open-mic was good too!) I don't think I'm ever prouder than at a reading, seeing VP books getting out there into the world.

Here's a photo of the authors, taken just before the event started... as you can see, they meant business. (Confession: I was originally in this photo too, but I didn't get the memo and was grinning widely – looking, as everyone who's seen it has agreed, like a competition winner who borrowed his dad's smart shirt.)

I'll end by recommending a blog post from The Emma Press's Yen-Yen Lu, giving general advice for writers submitting their work; anyone who does that (or is just thinking about it) will gain something from this short article. I've also just heard about a great night of feminist poetry taking place in Oxford on April 8th, featuring our own Kelley Swain and Rowena Knight – details here. Otherwise, that's a full lid; see you next Friday!

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #39: 'Reading material'

Dear readers,

Yesterday our 'reading group' gathered at Woodend to look at all the submissions you sent in during 2016. The header image above shows only one sixth of the envelopes we received – whoah. I don't know exactly how many there are, but it must be several hundred. Thanks so much for taking the time, buying the stamp (and book, if you didn't just stumble upon an entry form!), and trusting us with your precious creations; having now looked at each one myself, I can report there wasn't a single entry that would have embarrassed us if we published it. No time-wasters. Just a lot of very sincere and talented writers, from which I must choose a half-dozen to take forward into book form.

I am some way towards having a shortlist, but not quite there yet – at time of writing I haven't contacted a single person to let them know the result. I will be, though; you'll definitely hear from me before too long (within a month?) Sending positive emails and talking to excited prospective authors may be the best part of the job, while telling the other 99% they didn't make it may be the worst ... so naturally I'm hoping Mrs McGarry will help with that second part. (She gets all the glamorous tasks.)

This week saw the launch of Guests of Time, at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. I didn't attend personally, but it looks like an amazing venue – where else do you get the backdrop pictured below? (That's Kelley Swain in the foreground, photo by Amo Spooner. Almost a 'second presidential debate' vibe going on...)

A few people have commented that they're interested in the book, which includes poems from Kelley, John Barnie, Steven Matthews and various historical figures – but find the £24.99 price a bit off-putting. 'Hey Jamie, why is it so pricey?' they cry. Well, it's a hardback (with ribbon marker and all the trimmings), featuring 18 fantastic, creative, full-colour photographs printed on the best paper I could find; and it's a limited edition, I've only printed 200 and won't be doing any more to that standard. Plus, I've just re-activated the code that gets you £5 off, until the end of the year – just enter OXFORD at the basket.

I like to think we price fairly here at VP: Norah Hanson's Sparks, also launched this week (at the same time we were reading the submissions), is only £7.99, as it's a paperback containing nothing more than black words on cream paper ... in a format I plan to keep reprinting until the cows come home! Norah's debut collection, produced in my first year of professional publishing, has been reprinted seven times, so there's a lot to live up to.

Talking of printing: I've now taken legal advice in the infamous case of the Antony Dunn hardbacks (where I was led repeatedly astray, paid the offending company in full, but still haven't got them). In an official letter, I gave the printers a firm deadline of Wednesday, or else, so let's hope they meet that ... giving us a slim chance to find an open post office and get them to patient pre-orderers before the sun sets on 2016. (By the way: please place all Christmas orders by Wednesday lunchtime, folks.)

I'm going to finish this week's newsletter, and indeed the year's correspondence, with some very good news – on Tuesday, The Emma Press won the Michael Marks Award for best pamphlet publisher (after being shortlisted repeatedly in the past). You'll know me and Emma share this blog, and you can read the inspirational speech she gave on winning here; you may not know that she's one of my all-time heroes, not just in publishing but in the world generally. I don't know anyone who works harder, and stays so kind and positive (an old word would be 'chipper'), whilst doing more good for the literary community.

People say 'oh that Jamie McGarry, he's so enthusiastic about publishing' – and I am, of course – but compared to Emma I'm a cynical old grump. She's a legend! Tributes have been pouring in on Twitter, and hopefully this will be the moment when the Emma Press slips into the mainstream artistic consciousness of the UK. Check out her books, if by some miracle this is the first you're hearing of her. (We love Rachel Piercey too, of course.)

Next Sunday is Christmas Day, it turns out, so I'll be firmly off-duty ... but I might find a little something to pop on the blog. Other than that, I'll be taking a short break in the new year, but will be back before long for another amazing, exhausting programme of potentially award-winning new literature. I've got a good feeling about 2017!

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #36: 'Heroes and villains'

Dear readers,

We held another great launch for Take This One to Bed this week, on Friday at the marvellous Friargate Theatre in York. I'm opening with this because, during the course of the evening, a dozen people I didn't previously know told me they love these newsletters – apparently they read them 'religiously', and one person said 'it's the only group email I get that's actually worth opening'. I was so touched, as I always am when someone writes back and says they enjoy my weekly ramblings. In just thirty-six editions, these have gone from being a rather dubious experiment to pretty much the beating heart of Valley Press. Here's to the next thirty-six!

A successful night was just what I needed to take away the sting of there being still no hardbacks to show at the event – that's the special edition of Antony's book with the golden fish on the front, if you've not been keeping up. Rather like the recent political news, printing these hardbacks has been a saga where I continually think 'this is bad, but at least it can't get any worse'; only to be hit with some new jaw-dropping development.

I don't want to whinge, of course, but those of you who pre-ordered the hardbacks do deserve some kind of explanation. The concise version of the story is as follows: about eight weeks ago, as none of my usual printers were quite suited to doing 100 luxury hardbacks, I thought I'd try someone new – a specialist Yorkshire-based company (I'm not going to name them just yet) who were up for the job and offered a reasonable price. As I write this, long after the deadline I gave for delivery, I am down several hundred pounds without a single copy to show for it. Delays are one thing, but there's been no explanation, and they've teased me by constantly suggesting the books are about to arrive – you may remember last week, they were 'just waiting for the glue to dry'.

'As least we still have the paperbacks!' George points out, helpfully. I'll keep you updated.

In brighter news, I've finished production on one of the year's remaining books, Guests of Time – an anthology that emerged from a three-poet residency at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. You may be wondering how this Oxford-based project came to be published in Yorkshire; I think it's mainly thanks to one of the three poets, our very own Kelley Swain, putting in a good word on our behalf. Or, could be a sign of the publishing industry moving ever-more northwards...

This is something totally new for us: a high-end, full-colour hardback, featuring eighteen outstanding photos of the museum and its exhibits, along with plenty of poems old and new (some of them with extraordinary layouts). I'm looking forward to sharing some content with you in the next few weeks, but for now you can see a tiny preview here. This is the most expensive Valley Press book ever, priced at £24.99 – but to make that a little more manageable, anyone who pre-orders the book this week and uses the voucher code OXFORD can have £5 off. Don't say I don't treat you right!

A couple more things to mention: Michael Stewart, author of the fantastic short-story collection Mr Jolly, was on BBC1's Countryfile today talking about the Brontës (in the house where four of them were born), with regard to a trail of commemorative stones he is organising. Catch it on iPlayer here, ten-ish minutes in, if you're interested. Elsewhere, Felix Hodcroft has written an article titled 'Seven Things You Need to Know About Poetry'; well worth a look, you'll definitely learn something (I did).

To finish on a note of justice being done – Antony mentioned the offending hardback printer during the York event, and they got an actual, lengthy 'booooo!' from the audience. I guess we are heading into pantomime season!

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press, #29: 'New and Selected'

Dear readers,

It's been a busy first week in the world for baby George. Just reading the hundreds of lovely emails he received after last Sunday's newsletter was quite tiring enough – but afterwards, before he went for his fifth sleep of the day, he asked me to thank you all for your kind words. We were touched!

As for me, I'd like to apologise to the authors of the other two-hundred emails I received this week, about important publishing stuff, all of which I've had to ignore. I think we may be getting into the beginnings of a routine now, a week after D-day, so perhaps this time next week I'll be back to full speed? Let's remember, I've lost my 'executive assistant' too – thanks in advance for your understanding!

I know you read these newsletters for the cutting-edge literature, and vital news from 'one of Yorkshire's leading publishers' (I'll be milking that quote until George is in high school), so I'll get back to that stuff straight away; no more baby-related frivolity. What's that? Oh ... go on then, one more picture!

Somehow, Valley Press managed to release a new book this week – the latest project from our Associate Editor Rosa Campbell, who has just started studying for her PhD up in St Andrews (so she might be quiet for a while). As hinted in the last two newsletters, this is a monumental 380-page poetry collection which took no less than forty-five years to write; it's the New and Selected Poems of Paul Sutherland.

VP followers will know Paul best as the author of 2012's Journeying, one of our most popular poetry titles, or perhaps for his many years of work on the journal Dream Catcher. He's been writing and publishing consistently since 1970, and (as I discovered in the last four years) has not slowed down at all – by spring 2014 he had offered me two excellent short collections, and it was that May when I realised I wouldn't be able to keep up, and suggested we do a big book bringing all Paul's best work into print at once.

There's so much content in this book (and this is going to be a long post!) that I'm going to struggle to describe it concisely; so will quote from Rosa's excellent blurb:

"[The book] charts the poet’s life from his Canadian roots to immigration to the UK, from agnosticism to Christianity to Sufi Islam, and from natural wonderment to a greater understanding of the world around us. The collection is in turn heartfelt, philosophical, and beautifully lyrical, as Sutherland lays bare for the reader his experiences and perspectives – at once particular and universal. Completely unique, this is an unflinching and forensic exploration of a life lived through language."

The book retails for £20, which is quite a serious price; but we think that's exceptionally good value for such a comprehensive collection. Plus, as you're a newsletter reader, you get special treatment: 20% off all this week with the code PSUTH. You can buy the book here, and make sure you click through anyway to see the extraordinary cover image; a dramatic photo of Paul by Abigail Smith.

Elsewhere this week, far away from nappies and baby-gros, Jonathan, Kelley and Malene started our autumn tour by taking Valley Press to Swindon – the performance was nicely reviewed here, well worth reading that if you couldn't make it. We'll be in Manchester and Sheffield soon; that's the 11th and 17th respectively, follow the links for times and booking.

There's also a Lucky Dip launch event coming up at our Scarborough HQ in Woodend, at which you might actually get to meet baby George – that's 10.30am on Saturday 8th (so before the next newsletter). Maybe I'll see you there, or at one of the tour events? In the meantime, thanks for reading, have a great week, and look out for next week's newsletter which will have a brilliant offer for early Christmas shoppers.

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

P.S. Thanks to the in-laws for entertaining George and Laura while I wrote this!

This week at Valley Press: 'I offer this material'

Dear readers,
 

This week I've been really busy – I know I always say that, but with events on in three cities, and me manning the book stall at most, I've hardly had a minute to myself! See below for a taste of the festivities: first, Ian Duhig and SJ Bradley announcing the winners at the Remembering Oluwale launch; then, a fully-clothed Kelley Swain reading from The Naked Muse at an event celebrating that book.

After Kelley's launch, I found myself re-reading her first Valley Press book Opera di Cera – a dark, gothic verse drama about wax modellers in the 18th-century – and realising how much that book also has to say about modelling for art, through the character of Teresa. She observes, whilst posing for a class:

They do not feel the sweat in the crook of my underarm.

They do not hear the purr in my belly as lunchtime nears, and passes.

And later:

Nude, not bare. Each sense is quickened, cloaked in stimuli: warm sunlight in afternoon, pungent linseed fumes, the whisper of a rinsed brush, the kiss of bristles to canvas, the mingling of oils upon wooden palettes.

When one paints my arm, birthmark, a breast, I know. I feel the weight of his mind on it. I offer this material, feel their eyes on my figure, stand in for saint or goddess.

Readers of The Naked Muse will recognise those situations continuing into the 21st century. If you enjoyed Kelley's latest book, and fancy a trip to the murky world of Renaissance Florence (and you love intense, intricately written verse dramas – who doesn't?) then give Opera di Cera a try; have £3 off this week with the discount code OPDI. It's a lovely item, as you can see below:

I don't have any other news for you, except to say I've appreciated your replies to my call for your favourite Valley Press poems of all time (for a possible anthology). If you'd like to mention a poem that particularly jumped out for you, please do let me know. So far, title poems and collection-opening poems are doing well; but I think we can go deeper!

See you next week, when I hope to introduce another new book – one with an abiding interest in birds, fruits, and everyday objects.

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press: 'Flight of the muse'

Dear readers,

This week has been all about The Naked Muse, which was released on Thursday, and made it to bookshop shelves across the country – including the one pictured above (by Kelley Swain herself) in the biography section of Blackwell's in Oxford.

The book got some serious exposure this week, the kind money can't buy. Readers of the i newspaper (the cheap, classy one) might have spotted this double-page spread, containing the first chapter, with illustrations:

This feature was also trailed on the front cover – the front cover! I never thought we'd make it to the front page of a national newspaper. What will I aim for now? The front page of two national newspapers, I suppose. Perhaps soon, everything we do in this tiny room in Scarborough will be of immense national interest...?

Kelley also spoke about the book on no less than eight radio stations during the week – don't worry, I'm not expecting you to listen to all those interviews (though I notice Ireland's Today FM has a cheery website, could be worth a try!) If you have any spare time, you should take a look at this long, in-depth feature by Teddy Jamieson (of The Herald in Scotland); that's really the last word on Kelley's modelling experience, brilliant journalism.

I must thank Ana McLaughlin of Sarah Harrison PR, who has been working for us this year (but will soon be going on maternity leave); she's responsible for all of the above. Ana is one of those people who is a true pleasure to work with, but is also so talented and effective that you'd still hire them if they were the most unpleasant person ever to walk the Earth. (I struggle with big compliments – that was meant to be one!) Big thanks Ana, anyway; we really appreciate all you've done.

This Wednesday sees the long-awaited launch event for The Naked Muse, which will also feature a reading from Malene Engelund and 'rising star' David Nash. It's happening at the Peckham Pelican (in London, see map here), from 7pm on the 1st June. You are promised pizza, and some very special guests from the art world.

Also launched this week is our anthology inspired by David Oluwale, which is for sale now, first copies dispatched on Friday. There is an event, in Leeds on the evening of Friday 3rd, but it's not one I'm heavily promoting as we're expecting to fill the venue just with the organisers, contributors, and guests of both. I can probably sneak you in though – drop me a return email and I'll pull the necessary strings!

While we're in Leeds (which we seem to be regularly!), Saturday 4th June sees the first 'Northern Short Story Festival', which looks like a brilliant day – check out the programme here if you're interested. Of course, I'm involved (I get everywhere), and our own Michael Stewart will also be giving a reading.

I think that's it for this week – except to say, you now have only two days to submit to our Yorkshire anthology, and also to give 'a big shout-out' to my mother, an avid reader of this newsletter, who turned 60 on Thursday. I think you'll agree she's very lucky – not many mothers can claim their son writes to them every week!

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press: 'Love the Words'

Dear readers,

This week I want to tell you about a special event, both live and on the radio, that's happening on Tuesday night (17th). Not a huge amount of notice, I know, but things have been rather hectic round here! We've now survived our 'five books, five weeks' mission, which concluded with the life-affirming launch of Peter Spafford's Quick, as pictured above (though I had to crop out Peter's attempt at a 'smug author' grin. He's not really smug, but he should be – the book, and his readings, were first-class.)

I should apologise to the authors of the 70 unreplied-to emails currently in my inbox, which have accumulated over this five-week period – I will get to them soon! This week is looking pretty full too, and Rosa's gone on a well-deserved holiday ... but I'll set aside a day for email clearing before the end of the month. (Has it come to this?)

Anyway, regarding Tuesday; the good people of Chapel FM (aka ELFM) have organised an event celebrating Valley Press and our authors. It's happening at their re-purposed chapel in Seacroft, Leeds (map here), from 7.30 to 8.45, and everyone is very welcome – this is one of our 'outreach events', so I'll have those elusive submissions forms in hand, giving them out to all comers. They are broadcasting it live through their website, too, so anyone who fancies hearing me, James Nash, Jo Brandon, Matthew Hedley Stoppard and Peter Spafford discuss publishing matters (and read poems) will get their chance.

The flyer they produced for this event was so lovely, I'm going to include it below:

I'll share a 'listen again' link for that broadcast next week. I have one for you today, too – Kelley Swain has been gracing the airwaves for another in-depth chat about The Naked Muse, this time with Jo Good on BBC Radio London. You can listen here, from 8 minutes 30 in if you want to hear a great soul song first, or skip to 12 minutes to go straight to Kelley's appearance. It's another fascinating discussion.

Also worth a look this week: John Foggin's extended rumination on Reward for Winter, with loads of sample poems – ideal if you haven't quite made up your mind about that particular literary gem. You know what: have 20% off Reward for Winter until next Sunday, you deserve it! Use code RFW20 at the checkout.

That's all for now. Next week: I'll highlight a true Valley Press classic, from all the way back in 2010, which is currently being re-printed – and we'll engage in a bit of interesting democracy regarding a summer title. Watch this space!

All best,
Jamie

This week at Valley Press: 'Quick and the late'

Dear readers,

I'm writing to you a bit later than usual this week, as I've been out enjoying some unusually warm weather – not a bad excuse! We'll start with a word from Associate Editor Rosa Campbell, who has been busy (again):

This week I’m very very excited to announce the release of Quick, the first collection of poems by Peter Spafford, a professional writer for more than twenty years, and a giant of the Leeds literary scene. Peter’s plays have been performed throughout the country and on the radio, and he is currently Director of Spoken Word at East Leeds FM as well as being a founder member of the band Schwa (look out for Threshold, their touring performance).

Somehow, on top of all that, he’s also managed to write a truly wonderful poetry collection. Exhibiting a bold playfulness with language and a stunning lightness of touch, the poems in Quick explore topics as diverse as the Yorkshire landscape, the joys and despairs of parenthood, and the surreal escapades of a horse in Tesco. They are rich, funny, and often breathtakingly poignant. And, uh, not to get overexcited, but Andrew McMillan – winner of the Guardian First Book Award 2015 for the incredible Physical – loves this book (see the front cover for proof!)

According to Ralph Dartford of A Firm of Poets, ‘these poems demand to be read aloud, as well as in solitude,’ so count yourselves lucky, because this Friday you have an opportunity to hear Peter himself read from Quick! We’re celebrating the launch at HEART in Headingley, Leeds, along with guest poet Anne Caldwell (of Cinnamon Press) – and you’re all invited! It’s going to be an unmissable evening. Full details are available here. Hope to see you there!

Having just re-read the collection myself, I can confirm it is as great as everyone says. Peter has felt like part of the Valley Press team for several years now – as he welcomed an endless stream of VP authors onto his radio show – and it's great to welcome him officially to 'the family' this week.

Talking of radio shows, I hope you all tuned in to hear Kelley Swain on 'Start the Week' last Monday? If not, we have the answer here on the BBC iPlayer – discussion of her forthcoming book The Naked Muse begins 28 minutes in, but it's all worth listening to if you're a fan of the arts (most of them get a mention).

My favourite bit of discussion was when Kelley was asked the difference between nude and naked; to paraphrase, she suggested that when you're posing for a painting without wearing any clothes, you are nude ... if you're having a cup of tea afterwards and still haven't put your clothes on, you're just naked. (But 'The Nude Muse' doesn't have the same ring to it, I think we can agree.)

It's been a while since I've given you money off a Valley Press book in these newsletters, so it's time to put that right; albeit in a somewhat unusual fashion. When we printed Malene Engelund's The Wild Gods, we received hundreds of perfect copies, but also ten where the 'textblock' was inserted the wrong way round (so the cover is upside-down). These have sat on my shelf since then, but this week I'd like to offer you the chance to buy one, at 30% off the usual price – so if you add the book to your basket, and use the code WONKYGODS at checkout, you'll receive one of these ultra-limited-edition copies. Move fast though, there really are only ten!

I'm going to end this week by promoting a book we didn't publish – such things do exist, it turns out. The brilliant poetry organisation Live Canon invited 154 modern poets to write 154 new poems, each responding to one of Shakespeare's sonnets, and have now published the results in a book. A dozen of the 154 were poets from our own stable, and it's filled with other familiar names, doing great work – don't spend all your poetry-buying dollars on 154, but you have my permission to spend some. (That may not happen again, so make the most of it.)

All best,
Jamie McGarry, VP Publisher

This week at Valley Press: 'Thoughtful, weird, and naked'

Dear readers,

We've had two launches this week – they ranged from the intimate and thoughtful to the wild, weird and wonderful (you'll soon figure out which was which). Joanna Ezekiel has written a lovely blog entry telling the story of her launch, including photos; it was a great evening of literature, charmingly introduced by Rosa (another first for our 'Associate Editor'). Details of Joanna's book can be found here – her poems bringing the characters of Pride and Prejudice into the 21st century went down particularly well live.

Mark Waddell's launch, on the other hand, was introduced by a man dressed as a Mexican wrestler, and featured various acts including a belly-dancer and a man singing/shouting about worms while a lady tap-danced beside him. By the time Mark was escorted onto the stage (as depicted in the header image), this had happened:

As the last book was sold, I felt a strange mixture of pride and embarrassment... In terms of book sales at a single event, yesterday now holds the record at 99 (93 of which were Mark's book – I'd brought my usual 80). I rarely give out figures, but I think this one deserves a nod of respect. You can hear a little more about Mark (specifically, his hobby of putting poetry on a sign outside his house) in a segment from US radio station NPR here, and get your own copy of his book (before they all go!) here.

In other radio news, long-time Valley Press author Kelley Swain is appearing on BBC Radio 4's 'Start the Week' tomorrow (9am), discussing artistic matters with Grayson Perry and Emma Rice. One of those matters will be her new book, a memoir of life modelling titled The Naked Muse – officially released on May 26th, but hurried into print last week so there would be copies around for this broadcast (thus, I'm counting it in my 'five weeks, five books' mission).

I'll talk more about The Naked Muse in a future newsletter (and provide a 'listen again' link next week), but for now I'll just say that the experience of reading it is rather like listening to a very thoughtful, educated friend tell you about an extraordinary job they once had. I've put an excerpt on the site today so you can see what I mean; you'll love it.

The 'Tour de Yorkshire' is about to come through my village, which reminds me to give another plug to our call for Yorkshire poetry, for the still-untitled anthology due in October – we're taking submissions for that until the end of this month. If you've got something suitable, details of how to submit can be found here. Also, if you've been caught up in all the Tour excitement, don't forget Kate Fox's Tour de Force, written and published during the original 'grand depart' (a fact I amazed someone with in Wenlock).

That's all for now. Next week, another new book – what else?

All best,
Jamie

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!