Paperbooks

Company profiled on The View from Here Magazine online

Legend Press and Paperbooks have been featured on The View from Here website. Tom was interviewed about the company history, our submissions process and what we are looking for in a book. Below is a taster:

Could you begin by telling us a bit about the background of Legend Press and PaperBooks?

I set up Legend Press in 2005, having worked in publishing for two-and-a-half years, and initially ran it by myself from home. Starting with a short story collection (The Remarkable Everyday), we then published two novels in 2006 and have roughly doubled in size each year since, currently with 54 authors on our books. We now also publish a selection of non-fiction, have a business list – Legend Business – as well as offering a print-on-demand service, New Generation Publishing. We have also recently taken on the management of the newly launched Books etc site.

In 2007, I was approached by the previous owner of PaperBooks, Keirsten Clark, about taking on the company. Having previously recognised it as one of the most interesting new lists and having a huge amount of potential, I was delighted to acquire it and set up PaperBooks Publishing. We have ambitious plans for PaperBooks, generating a really strong brand for writers and growing alongside Legend Press.

Both companies are based at our small but well-formed office in London and I have the brilliant assistance of Marketing Director Lucy Boguslawski and Publishing Manager Lauren Parsons, as well as a number of regular freelancers. We are very excited about the books we have coming out this year, with great new writers such as Matthew Crow (Ashes) and Ruth Dugdall (Woman Before Me), Gurpeep Mattu (Sons and Fascination), newly acquired high-profile writers such as Zoe Jenny (The Sky is Changing) and further books for existing writers such as Mark Liam Piggott (Out of Office), William Coles (Mr Two Bombs), Nick Griffiths (Looking for Mrs Dextrose) and Paul Burman (The Grease Monkey’s Tale).

To read the interview in full click here

Lucy

Booksetc.co.uk to launch on Monday!

The new BOOKS etc website www.booksetc.co.uk is to launch on Monday 22nd February. Capital Organisation purchased the Books etc name, website, and Borders database in January, and took on Legend Press to handle the site’s management.

The site will run weekly promotions, which will not just focus on best-sellers but will include expert-selected ranges. It will also offer a loyalty scheme and a school’s project. The site will include e-books, the chance to sell second-hand books at the best prices in the market and further social networking in due course. The site will look for national and international growth.

www.booksetc.co.uk will also develop a range of additional products, such as e-books, DVDs and CDs. Pre-launch BOOKS etc emailed the company’s 1.3 million customer database asking what type of loyalty scheme they would prefer. As a result, all registered users have been offered 5% off all purchases made on the site during its launch week.

Books Etc is a strong brand and the company’s sourcing capability, coupled with a social media push, will cement it as a powerful competitor in the books market. The site will compete both on price and personality.

Fat Tuesday today! I'm getting hungry already!

Today is Fat Tuesday, an annual festival to celebrate the anniversary of Gary Davison's first published novel!! Wikipedia seems to think differently:

Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday" (in ethnic English tradition, Shrove Tuesday), referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which started on Ash Wednesday. Related popular practices were associated with celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent. Popular practices included wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, etc. Similar expressions to Mardi Gras appear in other European languages sharing the Christian tradition. In English, the day is called Shrove Tuesday, associated with the religious requirement for confession before Lent begins.

I hope everyone is looking forward to pancakes this evening. Paperbooks will be using Delia's finest recipe. Click here for details!

Lucy

Another triumphant moral victory at the quiz!

Last night the Paperbooks and Legend Press team re-entered the notorious Popbitch Quiz in Southwark. Unfortunately our record placing of second to last was not beaten, but we feel there was a moral victory in part - mainly due to our complete lack of music knowledge! Whilst scoring nearly zero in this round we still managed to not produce a disgraceful score in comparison to the other teams. This was mainly due to the romantic comedy round - which Lauren and I as young girls in our early twenties had the upperhand on the crowds!

Despite coming 10th we still managed to bag ourselves a prize, and here we are wielding our winnings! Some CDs (which I think were supposed to be ironic - but Lauren and I love all the songs) and some dubious sweet chestnuts (enjoyed by Tom only). Look at our happy faces!

Lucy

Exclusively Independent call now open!

The new call for Exclusively Independent has now opened!

 

All Independent Publishers are welcome to submit up to three titles by emailing in the AI and ms. For more information, or to submit work, please email the address below.

 

We look forward to receiving them!

 

Lauren

laurenparsons@legend-paperbooks.co.uk

The Snowing and Greening.. top 10 book of 2009!

The brilliant The Snowing and Greening of Thomas Passmore by Paul Burman has been listed as a top 10 book of 2009 by Magdalena Ball writer of the Compulsive Reader blog. To see the blog look here!

One of the great joys of reviewing is happening upon a small press book from a first author that is so good, you can’t stop thinking about it. It’s a wonderful serendipity that publishers, agents and reviewers wearily hope for and rarely find. The Snowing and Greening of Thomas Passmore is one of those books. It’s tightly, expertly written, and yet so tenderly rendered, that the reader descends directly into Thomas Passmore’s dreams, struggling to surface back to reality along with the protagonist... The way in which Burman manages to traverse the line between the inner and outer world is masterful. This is a novel deeply rooted in time and place, while it moves beyond both of those things. It is an exceptional debut.

To read the review in full click here!

Lucy

Writing Competition - Tale of Two Halves

We are really excited about the progress of our search to find a new Paperbooks author, in our writing competition 'A Tale of Two Halves'.

All you have to do to enter the competition is buy a copy of 'A Tale of Two Halves' and begin writing! The first half of the book is written by Paperbooks author Gary Davison, then it is up to the writer to complete the story any way they like.

There is no restriction to the style and format of your submission, whether you want to complete the story in the book or on a computer. Above all we are looking for a fantastic writer to work with on their path to publication, so we are looking to see your own individual writing style.

Since the book's release just before Christmas we have a great deal of interest in the book from writers both established and new.

For more details about the project click here!

Lucy

New Selection for Exclusively Independent!

We have now had the panel meeting and I'm happy to announce that the following ten titles have made it into the selection:

In the Footsteps of Harrison Dextrose by Nick Griffiths (Legend Press)
The Obelisk by E.M Forster (Hesperus Press)
The Stone Gallows by C. David Ingram (Myrmidon Books)
All My Shows are Great – The Life of Lew Grade by Lewis Chester (Aurum Press)
Cut on the Bias edited by Stephanie Tillotson (Honno Press)
Duckling Chronicles by Emilie Christensen (Winged chariot Press) Baber’s Apple by Michael Marr (PaperBooks)
Falling through the Clouds by Anna Chilvers (Bluemoose Books)
The Dark Side of Love by Rafik Shami (Arabia Books)
Deadly Waters by Pauline Rowson (Fathom)

Great to see a Legend Press and a PaperBooks title in there. Lots of variety as per usual, I hope you see something you like!

Lauren

Exclusively Independent Call for Submissions now closed!

The call for the next cycle of Exclusively Independent has now closed.

Thank you to all of the publishers who submitted this time around, we have a really strong collection of titles to choose from, for the new year.

The submissions have been collated into the submission pack, and will be sent to the panel. The panel meeting is 20 January, so keep an eye out for the new ten titles to be announced!

If you have any question about the scheme, or want further details on how to submit, please email the address below.

Lauren
laurenparsons@legendpress.co.uk

2nd Publishing Laid Bare Conference announced!!

We are delighted to announce the 2nd annual 'Publishing Laid Bare Conference' to be held on Thursday 24th June 2010 in Central London.

The central aim of the publishing conference is to offer ‘straight-talking’ advice and useful information from leading industry experts, while mapping out where the future of the book industry may lie.

Building on the success of our first conference last year the event is fast becoming one of the most talked about publishing events on the calendar. Using a panel-based format including some of the most influential people in publishing, and from the outside business world, speakers will debate the current hot topics in the industry.

The conference will be tailored to its attendees’ requirements, with delegates actively invited to submit questions prior to the event to be included as part of the discussion.

Provisional speakers for 2010 include: Andrew Franklin (MD of Profile), Tom Tivnan (The Bookseller), Alexandra Heminsley (Sky and BBC Radio 2), Sam Leith (former books editor of the Telegraph), Steve Potters (The Book Depository) and Scott Pack (Director of The Friday Project).

Sponsors for the conference include Lightning Source and Judy Fisher Associates.

Tickets for the day onference cost £125 (+VAT), with a current early bird rate of £95 (+VAT). For more information please email conference@legend-paperbooks.co.uk.

Lucy