Living proofs
After a small independent publisher from Yorkshire won the Costa Book of the Year, Sarah Freeman meets the literary minnows beating the large corporates at their own game. Pictures by Simon Hulme and Tony Johnson.
While McGarry’s books haven’t yet won any of the big prizes, collections by the likes of the late Helen Cadbury have earned critical acclaim and every one of the 150 or so books he has published to date is a vindication of his venture.
“I tried everything to get a job in publishing, but failed,” he says. “The final straw was when a WH Smiths opened opposite my mum’s house in Driffield. There were nine positions and I didn’t even get an interview. At that point I thought, ‘Right, if no one else will give me a job I’ll have to create one for myself ’. I’d been making books ever since I was a child, so no one was particularly surprised when I said I was launching Valley Press, but I was lucky with the timing. Back then there was a government scheme which meant you could claim Jobseekers Allowance for four months while you tried to set up your own business. I couldn’t have done it without that.”
While publishers like Hebden Bridge-based Bluemoose Books, which recently scored a word of mouth hit with Leonard and Hungry Paul by Irish writer Rónán Hession which has been chosen as the book every Dubliner should read this year, publish across literary genres, others have found success by carving a niche.
Ray Russell and his partner Rosalie Parker are the brains behind Tartarus Press, which began in 1990 publishing classic supernatural fiction by the likes of Welsh author and mystic Arthur Machen, who Stephen King has cited as an inspiration.
Based from their home in Coverdale in the Yorkshire Dales, they now also work with contemporary writers whose work fits the supernatural brief, but their approach to publishing is unapologetically old school. “We only announce a new book a couple of days before it is published, that way it is fresh in people’s minds,” says Russell, who in the early years combined the publishing venture with being a house husband. “Our cover art also always follows a similar design, so every book feels like it’s part of a collection.”
The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley has been far and away Tartarus’ biggest hit. Set in Morecambe and described by the author as “a dark version of the nativity”, it won the First Book Award at the 2015 Costas and secured Hurley, who also sold the film rights, a major book deal. Tartarus though published an initial limited edition run of just 350 copies.
“Some people would describe us as small, but I prefer to say boutique,” adds Russell. “When Andrew got taken on by John Murray we were really pleased. Their marketing budget involves massive posters on the London Underground; that kind of exposure is something we could never offer.
“What we do have though is a direct relationship with our customer. Tartarus isn’t just a publishing house, it’s a community.”