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Solidus Press Interview


Writewords talks to Solidus Press

What’s your background? Can you tell us all about Solidus and how it began?

Solidus was created by a group of authors. We had hit the point where our first novels had been published, but publishers wanted the second book to be just like the first. Disillusioned with much about the publishing world, we decided to beat it by joining it. We publish books we like, and we deal with authors directly, aiming to be as friendly and encouraging as possible.

We are still very small. Almost all the work is done by one or two people. We don’t pay advances, but we share all our profits with authors on a 50:50 basis.

Who are you publishing at the moment/near future and why did they stand out?

We have just published a remarkable collection of short stories – The Heart’s Elliptical Orbit, by Alyson Hallett. We did this because we loved the book, despite the conventional wisdom that says that short stories don’t sell in the UK. Fortunately, because we use print-on-demand to publish our books, we don’t have to start off with large print runs, and then cope with distribution, stock or returns. This means we can take a chance sometimes, even if we think the number of sales may be low.

Who are your favourite writers/books and why?

Personally, I love many different kinds of books. Margaret Attwood is a particular favourite, because her writing is superb and she ranges over a wide area of subjects. But I also love Douglas Adams for combining wisdom and humour and creating a universe I totally believe in. Sandy Toksvig’s Whistling for Elephants is one of my favourite books of all time, again because I completely lived in the world she created, and at the end I didn’t want to leave – so I just turned back to page one and started again!

What excites you about a piece of writing- what keeps you interested?

I look for humour, even in books with dark subjects. One of our writers, Deborah Gregory, has the perfect way of combining humour with painful or sombre topics – it makes her writing very potent. I want characters I can identify with, even the ones whose actions I hate.

And what turns you off- any big obvious no-no’s?

I’m extremely tired of chick-lit, and I hate war stories. I also tend to avoid books that make me feel miserable or indulge too much in violence or despair.

What do you think are the most common mistakes new writers make?

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