The Fisherman, published 19th March 2023, was not only my first publication of the year, but also my first poetry collection, and the first project completed without university intervention. I think it is safe to say that there will never be another project quite like this one.
El and I have worked together on Beyond the Withered Roots, and I invited her to do some bookselling with me and another friend during Bangor Uni welcome week 2022 – we were selling library books (with permission), and I brought Poisoned Roots and Withered Roots too; may as well make some of my own money too. I met a few authors who were interested in getting their work published (all poetry, so keep an eye out!), and El came to me with the idea for her own poetry collection. The turnaround was quick – the project began in December, to be ready for launch in March (about four months), which in terms of traditional publishing is incredibly fast; but, I made it my only focus for those four months in order to produce the best possible product.
As we discussed and developed, El emphasised the importance of keeping the handwritten elements – the pure personal nature of the event should be conveyed through the handwritten word. This was the first hurdle to overcome – handwriting isn’t always easy to read and isn’t very accessible, so a typed version would also have to be included – El took on that responsibility; she already knew the poems and could complete the transcription quickly. But some of the poems incorporate the spatial aspects of the page, which would be more difficult to translate into type. Several drafts were produced, and I made sure that El was happy with all the poems.
Then came arranging the poems – we both wanted the two versions next to each other, but due to obvious size differences, fitting the poems was a challenge. I found that the handwritten poems generally took up two sides, so it made sense to have them on opposite pages. The next obvious choice was to place the type on the next available page – each poem is titled for the contents page, so keeping the content together will make it easier for the reader to navigate. But the type often didn’t take up the same amount of space; a two page handwritten poem may have only taken up half the page in type. Adjusting the type to fit a suitable space whilst also keeping the two versions together proved a challenge. Many drafts were produced with different alignments and adjustments until we were both satisfied.
Whilst this was all happening, I was making arrangements for the cover; El already had ideas for the design, so I sent what she drew up to a friend of Ada’s. We were aiming for a wispy whimsical feel, and Rein’s work definitely reflected that. I was very glad to leave the cover in their very capable hands whilst I worked on the content.
Planning the events proved relatively simple in comparison to assembling the content, but panic set in when we weren’t sure if the books would be delivered in time for the Liverpool event. There wasn’t much we could do about it, the books were ready when they were ready, and I had no control over the print and delivery speed. Lucky for us, they arrived in plenty of time; pre-orders were labeled in case a customer wanted to pick up their order rather than have it delivered, and also so I knew how many copies we had left for organic sales.
We took a slightly different approach to marketing The Fisherman; when selling Into The Light, I didn’t have much to fall back on, so I employed a trailer style by using phrases that were meant to be enticing to the target audience, using the colours from the front cover. This time, I used the back cover illustration as a background and typed out the adverts rather than handwriting them. I also made sure to post more often, especially given how close the launch date was – pre-orders were only open for a fortnight, whereas I would have preferred to keep them open for a month to maximise interest and allow potential customers to consider the desire (and potentially reach payday). Advertising the events was crucial – there’s no point in putting something on if no one is going to visit; I also wanted to do Ada’s work justice and showcase it to as many people as I could reach.
El and I are working on something new already, so keep an eye on both our socials for new projects!
