Small Press Home
Other resources:
|
Interview with Crispin Elsted
When did you start publishing? Why did you start publishing?
We started publishing in 1977 in Kent, England. We started because we wanted to design and publish books which we wanted to own, but which no one else was producing. We also love the craft of handsetting type and printing letterpress.
Briefly describe the type of work you publish.
We publish belles lettres, some new poetry, translations (especially of classics), classics of literature in English, and books on wood engraving. Increasingly, most of our books are illustrated by commissioned engravings. (See the website for specific details.)
Do you accept unsolicited submissions? How do you decide what to publish?
We no longer accept unsolicited manuscripts. We have publications planned through 2007.
Our decisions on what to publish are based on literary interest, and entirely on our own taste. Where wood engravings are concerned, we publish a series of monographs on individual engravers (see Endgrain Editions on the website) and choose the engravers from those whose work we particularly admire. We do not publish solely because we think something will sell; if we don't like it, we don't do it. Everything we publish is designed at the press, hand set, and printed letterpress. The binding is usually jobbed out, but some we do here.
How many chapbooks have you published? (both number of books & volume of
books)
We occasionally publish chapbooks. The last two were by Jan Zwicky (21 Small Songs, 2000; 146 copies) and John Carroll
(Rumour of a Shark, 1999; 150 copies).
Any advice for people thinking of starting a small press?
If you are thinking about starting a small press, do it for the love of the books, not for money.
|
Barbarian
Press
