By Jayne Stead
It was my great pleasure to interview Zoe Turner the publicity manager and editorial assistant of Comma Press of Manchester for our series – Spotlight on Northern Presses.
We wanted to start with Comma Press as, not only is it a not-for-profit independent publishing house, but it has also gathered together similar presses and publishers under the umbrella of the Northern Fiction Alliance (NFA). This publishing collective has other core members such as Leeds’s Peepal Tree Press, Liverpool’s Dead Ink and Sheffield’s And Other Stories but has expanded in recent years to include other prominent and exciting northern presses – all of whom we hope to feature in this series. The NFA’s aim is to showcase the work of exciting and diverse authors to help build the cultural identity of independent British fiction as well as publishing based in the North.
I asked Zoe how this came about. She said it began with an open letter to London publishers inviting a discussion for a broader outlook for publishing. What were their goals about hiring nationally? Where were they looking to find new voices? She did say it was a positive experience with a gathering around the table and issues being examined. Although she does feel that progress has occurred with HarperCollins developing a northern extension (HarperNorth), it can feel like there is a ‘culture of holding on’ to the old ways and staying London centric. This is why the NFA is so important for us writers based in the North. It would seem that the continuing success of our Northern presses is giving London a run for its money – finding exciting new voices and bringing previously untold stories from across our cities and the world.
So, to Comma Press itself.
For our publishing students a glimpse at Zoe’s background provides some food for thought. She has an English degree and an MA in Film Studies but suggests it was her involvement in extracurricular activities at university that led her to work in the publishing industry. She wrote a literature blog, became involved in local projects such as Home Manchester and organised film events. She worked in galleries and organised festivals and took on marketing and promotional roles in a lot of these ventures. Her interdisciplinary background made her ideal for profile-raising activities in all things Comma and she emphasised that she enjoys working face to face with people in a room the most. She loves it when things ‘come alive’ when like-minded creative people get together to discuss ideas and their work. She is looking forward to the normal events timetable of conferences, book fairs and readings with people bouncing off each other resuming again. However, she also says she values the quieter role of editing where you can get ‘really close to a text’ and help an author realise their best work.
Needless to say, she loves her work at Comma Press. What I found personally inspiring was how much she knew about the press overall – who does what, how they all pitch in, how they seem listened to by the powers that be and how they all believe in the short story as a political tool that ‘democratises literature.’ Ra Page the founder, publisher and CEO of Comma Press brings ideas for anthologies to the table, but the workplace seems open for new ideas from all staff. I personally have Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations in my basket – new stories written in response to President Trump’s divisive immigration ban. I also love their Reading the City collection where they ask contemporary authors to write about cities near and far – they make excellent, thoughtful Christmas presents! (I have bought the Sheffield and Newcastle one several times for family and friends!)
Zoe says the commitment to unheard voices getting a platform runs through all of their output. She says at Comma they are determined to ‘stretch the form over disciplines.’ This may mean scientists working with authors for an anthology or people of different cultures invited to write in unexpected genres such as Palestine+100 where the question to contemporary Palestinian writers was ‘what would your home city look like in the year 2048?’ – yielding some excellent science fiction stories.
Comma do not have open submissions. They simply do not have the infrastructure to field the amount they would receive. Instead, they have developed a large base of exciting new authors for their anthologies and regularly dive in this pool of talented writers to establish new collections from here and around the world. I asked if this led to a closed circle which may hinder new finds, but she says there are many ways for new writers to emerge on their radar – through their outreach work, their competitions and prize winners – even people who shine through on the Comma Press short story courses that run throughout the year. She did say that other presses in the NFA do have open submissions and that each press working with them has total autonomy over their own guidelines.
For our writers, I asked how important it was to have a social media presence. She did concede that this was important for emerging authors and that agents and the bigger publishing houses can be influenced – or even find authors like this, though it is less important with independent publishers.
I also asked whether she thought it was worth the money to become members of online writing communities such as Jericho Writers or Writer’s HQ where lists of agents, advice and editing and proof reading is available. She agreed they can be helpful and a great source of information and expertise – generally a force for good. A lot of their content is provided free anyway, but it costs for full access so, I guess research well would be the advice here.
So, where next for Comma Press? Zoe suggests more of the same as the model is working so well. She also sees expansion on the horizon. They would like to beef up the NFA with more presses coming onboard and, at last being able to represent the presses at festivals and book fairs again. She also would like to see the press have more single author collections of short stories – and is very excited about Sarah Scofield’s debut Safely Gathered In this November.
Finally, I asked Zoe which book she would recommend from the Comma Press back catalogue. The Palestine+100 collection came to the fore again but also The Book of Shanghai stories was also a personal favourite.
So, two more for my basket then!
