Publisher’s Blog

A new interview with me has just been added to Outsideleft. Many thanks to Paul Lamont for giving me the opportunity to appear on Outsideleft and for asking me these thought-provoking questions. It’s a great example of how markets bring…

I’ve thrown everything at it, part of my savings was the first thing to go, next was a chunk of my pension, then my central London apartment but life is to short to worry about such trifles. Certainly if, in…

A room with a view

Can’t wait to unveil The Houses Along the Wall – A Pembrokeshire poetry cycle by Karen Hayes & Live Show, Drink Included – Collected Stories by Vicky Grut. Why I’m looking forward to an exciting autumn.

Now with Publishing Experience

Introducing: The White Crucifixion, Stone. Bread. Salt. and Space Inhabited by Echoes

Since moving to Malmesbury I have suffered from market withdrawal syndrome. For about five years I ran a bookstall every Saturday on Portobello Market and I really enjoyed meeting readers and authors, the fresh air and being away from the computer. Find out how Christmas Markets came to the rescue.

I like to involve my authors in the cover design process, after all we all have to work with it and we should all have a sense of ownership.

As a publisher, you’re forever looking for the next ‘good’ book to add to your list but what makes a book ‘good’. This very much depends on who is answering this question.

Fifty years after asking for a dog as my birthday present, and getting a book about dogs instead of an actual dog, I’ve just together with my brother acquired a beautiful Labrador puppy. His name is Harry and he was born on 25 April 2017. His coat is officially black but has a beautiful dark-brown hue over it.

Matching a debut author with an emerging translator is the sort of

project that’s at the heart of Holland Park Press. Editing is key to

produce a glorious translation.

June 2016 was something of a roller-coaster ride. We won our very first literary prize and the British people voted for Brexit. I recommend two lovable and productive immigrants.

Before I founded Holland Park Press, I didn’t read many short stories. Occasionally, I read and enjoyed one in a magazine, but short story collections just didn’t feature on my reading list. I’m afraid this isn’t so uncommon. Yet something happened…

So 2015 didn’t really wind down gently, but ended in a flurry of

activities. Just imagine, having to get a print run sorted between

Christmas and the New Year. So, I actually looked forward to the

relative serenity of early January when there’s finally time to get some

essential paperwork sorted. However that’s not how it turned out to be.

Marketing books is a challenge about as tough as it gets. How to capture the attention of people who are constantly distracted by many other attractions even apart from an increasing number of books being published?

At the moment I’m enjoying looking back to three very different book launches this autumn. We’ve never had three launches this closely together, and I’m delighted that they were successful in their own particular way.

Vincent van Gogh is, of course, quite an icon, and nowhere more so than in the Netherlands. I didn’t quite realized this untilÉ

A case of running a bookstall when attending a wedding lunch, attending a books awards ceremony and visiting Kew Gardens with your authors.

When manning our stall on Portobello market, people ask you the oddest questions. Take this one: “Are you the green party”? or “Have you written them all yourself”?

It’s not often that, when publishing new books, you meet very old friends. Actually I’m talking about poems not people.

I suppose I’m running a small press, though I don’t like the word, but it’s better than running an indie press, ‘indie’ is a much abused word.

I hate New Year’s resolutions! Why?

from all Holland Park Press

from the Portobello stall

I’ve just been completely rushed off my feet running a stall at two book markets back to back.

We’re all equal but not the same and being able to distinguish between the two is quite essential.

My aim is to publish and sell beautiful books, not only providing a good read, but also adding something to our cultural heritage. Therefore I call myself a publisher as well as a bookseller. I think it is essential to be both.

I know it’s all the rage to be inclusive and cater for everyone but why should we be ruled by the lowest common denominator?

Awards are on my brain, they give me sleepless nights, oh dear! I’ve managed to be on the receiving and giving ends of shortlists for awards at the same time.

I know many of you had a stormy and somewhat soggy New Year and this publisher was no exception. I nearly did a Mary Poppins when trying to build my stall on Portobello market on the first Saturday of 2014. However I succeeded to hang on to the stall, my wellies kept out the water from the mini floods in the gutter and books flew into the hands of satisfied customers. The lengths a publisher goes through to sell books but it was more than worth it.

When, in 2009, I told my then 84 year old mother that I was resigning from my well paid job as a director of an electronic publishing company to establish a new literary publisher, she said: “Wonderful news!”

I’ve always been a ‘nose in a book’ girl. I don’t know what started it, but it may well be that from quite early on I preferred words over pictures.

As with so many readaholic children my parents’ book buying speed

couldn’t keep up with my reading habits, so they enrolled me into a

library

For years Portobello Market was just my local market, providing a treasure trove of presents, and I always enjoyed its vibrant atmosphere.

Then one day I decided to found a publishing company (this is another story, I will blog about it at some point), and the market took on a new meaning. I figured it would provide me with a shop front, if only once a week. Well, on Saturday’s the market really comes into its own.