Alice Hobbs reflects on her work experience with the Emma Press

Over the past month, I have been coming to the Jewellery Quarter every Wednesday and Friday for work experience with the Emma Press. It has been an infinitely valuable experience for which I am so grateful.

I am currently a student studying English Literature and History at The University of St Andrews, and for as long as I can remember I have fantasised about working in the elusive publishing industry after I graduate. Everyone I've told this aspiration to has responded along the lines of “Oh, good luck with that!” which filled me with even more doubt about whether I could ever have a career in this difficult industry.

I have always been interested in independent bookshops and publishers, spending hours looking up different examples and imagining myself in the shoes of people who, in my eyes, were very lucky to work there. When I came across the Emma Press on a similar such search I was immediately taken. I loved the beauty of the books and the boundless creativity of each title; I really thought that this was something special and the kind of place I could only dream of working at. I decided to take a chance and emailed them to ask if there was any opportunity for work experience, and when Emma got back to me not only saying I could come in but also suggesting a range of formats to suit me I was over the moon.

I have enjoyed every day at the Emma Press. I've been given such a huge range of tasks to have a go at that I feel like I’ve really been given a feel for the place. On my very first day I wrote the press release for the new poetry anthology Some Cannot be Caught: The Emma Press Book of Beasts and was over-excited about both being given such a responsibility and also writing about a book which I thought was so incredibly interesting. It felt as if my hobbies had merged with a work environment, and I couldn’t imagine a better job.

While at the Emma Press I was given the opportunity to get to grips with the publicity side of publishing, emailing out press releases and also finding and emailing bookshops which I thought would be interested in the titles. I was also able to engage with some of the upcoming children’s titles through writing the blurbs and selling points for forthcoming Latvian translated works, and even browsing for illustrators which I thought would suit certain works. I feel like I have been given such a rare opportunity to experience all the different aspects of publishing, and also the different genres published. Before my time at the Emma Press I hadn’t thought that publishing children’s titles would be for me, and now believe that to be an area I would love to pursue.

The PUPLAKS workshop!

Some of the highlights of my time at the Emma Press have been, firstly, the PUPLAKS workshop we did with award-winning Latvian writer-illustrator Rūta Briede, who was visiting the UK as part of the launch of her picture book Queen of Seagulls. It was amazing to spend time with such a fascinating and talented author and illustrator, but also to experience how creative and diverse the Emma Press is day to day.

A further highlight for me was discussing the short-list of pamphlet submissions with Emma. I felt so incredibly lucky to read the talented work that had been submitted, but also to be able to voice my opinions in a space where it felt they were valued despite my inexperience.

A final highlight of mine was researching potential Norwegian children’s books for the Emma Press to consider publishing, and once again I was astounded with the responsibility I had been given. I found researching the literary scene of another country riveting and also enjoyed looking for works that would really suit the Emma Press.

I will genuinely miss coming into the Emma Press. I have loved my time experiencing a wealth of new things and truly feel my time here has affirmed my aspirations for the future, and even given me a little more confidence in this journey. I think it’s safe to say the reality of the Emma Press was even more exciting than my fantasy of working here.

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We loved having you here, Alice! – Emma

"If you were an animal, what would you be?" Mini-interviews with poets from The Emma Press Book of Beasts

This summer we've had the pleasure of being joined by Alice Hobbs and Anna Murai for work experience at Emma Press HQ in the Jewellery Quarter. They've been helping out in all areas of the business, and one of their tasks was to interview poets from our new anthologies. 

First up, it's Alice Hobbs interviewing some poets from our animals anthology. Take it away, Alice!

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“Humans are animals. I have long found this a clarifying thought” says editor Anja Konig in the opening line of the new Emma Press Poetry anthology Some Cannot Be Caught: The Emma Press Book of Beasts.

Seeing the idea of humans as animals as “clarifying” is an exciting way to embrace our human nature for what it is, instead of shying away from our more animal qualities. Every poet in the anthology brought a different take on bestiary into the mix, exploring their relationship with animals in opposing and unique ways.

In order to dig deeper into the complex relationship between the authors of animal poems and the creatures themselves, I interviewed four of the contributors to find what they truly believe their relationship with animals to be – outside of dissecting them in their poetry!

Here's my first question:

“If you were an animal, what would you be?” 

Jon Stone, author of the poem 'Documentary of the Pangolin', replied instantly with “a fox”, explaining that he too is “scrawny, crepuscular, an occasional nuisance, and an inveterate rummager.” He added, “I like travelling between the gaps in the figurative hedges, and I often find myself sniffing around on other people's lawns. Humans make me uneasy, but I hang around in close proximity to them anyway.”

Humans can certainly make us all uneasy, just like foxes, but it is in the animal world that a lot of us find affection and refuge: a refuge created, explored and even challenged in our new anthology.

Jacqueline Saphra, author of 'Family Viewing', was next to reply: “definitely a bee.” She then drew out her similarities with this valuable critter: “hardworking, fundamentally peace-loving, productive, creating nourishment and helping the natural world.”

My next question went deeper:

“Do you think humans have anything to learn from your animal/animals in general?” 

Jacqueline commented that the productive and nurturing qualities of bees were important qualities for humans to take on, but added that the most important lesson to learn was that animals in general “take only as much as they need. They do not kill or maim others for no reason. They co-exist with others who are different to themselves.”

This is a very interesting comment on our relationship with animals. We as human beings often consider the violent and darker parts of humans and society in general as savage and animal – something to associate with losing our better nature to the animal – when perhaps what we’re losing is our animal natures. Humans take infinitely more than they need daily; without us in the world, would co-existence between all creatures be more successful?

Victoria Briggs, author of 'The Flood Committee', had a very similar response to this question: she observed that animals “would never trash their habitat. Humans, on the other hand, are vain, greedy, and glorify destruction. We are a ruinous species and the others that exist on this planet would be better off without us.”

It is clear that what we can learn from our similarities to animals in Some Cannot Be Caught is not just the ways that animals share human social behaviour, but also how we could listen to and learn more from animals in order to exist on our planet. Animal nature has proven respectful of our world in a way that human nature has not.

Our final poet Gabrielle Turner, writer of 'i, scarab', weighed up her options when answering my first question: “Would I choose an animal that looks like me, acts like me, or lives where I do?” She eventually settled on “a roe deer,” explaining that it's “forest-dwelling, plant-eating, sometimes skittish, and sometimes stubborn.”

As for what we can learn from animals, Gaby acknowledged what the anthology really uncovers about the quality of animals: “There's a sense of magic when we see animals up close. When you peek into a nest to see a bird feeding its young, when a deer runs out into the road with its fawn, or when a sparrow hawk swoops for its prey right in front of you.”

This wonder that the animal world gifts us is at the heart of our new anthology, with the poets writing the lives of animals into our view of the world. As Gaby observed: “It's not our world, it's theirs as well.”

With the help of our four wonderful poets, I think we have unearthed some truths about our similarities with animals, moving towards re-structuring our anthropocentric view of the world. Humans clearly have much to learn from our animal friends. But most importantly: should we look to embrace our animal nature as something to treasure, something that can be better than our human?

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Some Cannot Be Caught: The Emma Press Book of Beasts is out now and available to buy in the Emma Press webshop (£10).

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