Phew! I’ve just pressed the button on Wrapped Town, my second collection of short stories, and the one I’ve been really burning to publish. Here’s the background:
Ten years ago, the collection went out to several US publishers through literary agent Faye Bender, and got some fantastic reviews. However, short story collections weren’t being taken on at the time, and they wanted to see a novel, so the stories went into a box.
But they didn’t go away. Some had won awards and been adapted for radio. When I rediscovered them a few months back, they were still fresh and clamouring to be unleashed. So I decided to learn about publishing and put them out myself.
And here they are! The whole publishing process has been incredibly empowering, and I’m indebted to Joanna Penn for her inspiration (I highly recommended her Creative Penn courses, and the free resources on her Creative Penn site) and also to Victor Marcos for his beautiful cover design. The production quality is a delight, and learning the ropes has opened up so many exciting possibilities.
If you’re a creative writing MA or student or journalist, you might be looking into indie publishing or setting up a small press imprint for yourself. It’s not that hard, and I’m pulling together some resources so you can get there quicker. In the meantime, drop me an email if you want to find out more.
And here’s Wrapped Town!