Tree Press was born of three parents, rod pederson,
Rona Shaffran and Claudia Coutu Radmore, the co-ordinators in 2011 of The Tree Reading series.
Claudia Coutu Radmore: I write prose, fiction, non-fiction and poetry―lyric
as well as Japanese-form poetry. I manage three small presses, two of my own
and Tree Press for The Tree Reading Series in Ottawa.
1 – When did Tree Press first start?
As Co-ordinators of The Tree Reading series in 2010, rod pederson,
Rona Shaffran and I realized that we had some surplus funds at our disposal. The
idea of a press associated with the reading series had been chasing itself around
my mind for a while, and I suggested the idea to rod and Rona who hopped on
board immediately. Initially we saw that a press would give us a chance to
publish chapbooks for poets we admired, and agreed that a collection of the
translations of Murray Citron of the Yiddish poems of Itzik Manger would be a
perfect place to start. I jumped at the chance to edit such a series, arrange
for publications, and design the covers. Those tasks were, and are, strictly
volunteer. I just enjoy the processes, and seeing the results.
How have your original goals as a publisher shifted since you
started, if at all? And what have you learned through the process?
One of us three co-ordinators came up with the idea of an annual
chapbook contest, and we immediately drew up parameters, holding our first
contest in 2011. It’s my part of
volunteering for The Tree Reading Series. Co-ordinators of the series since we
three resigned have been pleased that the contests continue. I find judges each
year and design, arrange layout and publication. I also act as a sort of
pre-editor, suggest poem arrangement at times, and/or further editing that
should be done. At times the judge helps by editing, further polishing the
winning entries. I have also acted as
final editor for one winning entry.
The current co-ordinators have not suggested further poets they’d
like to see published under Tree Press, though there has been one development.
After his resignation as director, rod pederson joined the board of Tree, and
suggested that as a perk for being on the board, any board member could edit
and publish a chapbook they thought deserving of publication. The board agreed
and Leaf Editions (not to be confused with Leaf Press) came into being for this
purpose. Design, layout and cover design would be up to the board
member/editor, though I would be paid to design a cover should that be
requested. The only publication under
Leaf Editions so far is Dean Steadman’s Portrait
w/tulips: a montage; editor rod
pedersen, 2013
2 – What first brought you to publishing?
In 1991 I was living in a rural area north of Sharbot Lake,
Ontario. In my journals I saw that I’d been writing some entries in short
lines, what to me at that time, looked like poems. I wasn’t sure if they were
poems. I knew no one who wrote poems, and wasn’t sure what poetry was. My
education featured no poetry and little writing, but something tugged at me,
and I cut and pasted a book guided by a friend who knew how to publish a book.
I decided to make my book ‘look’ official by pretending I had a press, and
named it Bondi Studios after my green-necked rainbow lorikeet, a rescue
bird. The cut-and-pasted pages were hand numbered, then photocopied; I designed
a simple brushstroke cover image for The
Pond, 1992. Self-publishing, pure
and simple. The hundred copies sold, and I followed with Boxes and Moonbeam in
1994. I used Bondi Studios to
self-publish until 2000, when I began to expand into vanity press publishing,
helping others who wanted to see their writing as ‘real’ books.
Under Bondi Studios, I edited manuscripts before publishing
them, so felt I had some control over quality. One of my writers, Ron Lawruk,
has had great success, doing readings lately in Chapters bookstores across
Canada, with his mysteries, a biography and his memoirs.
In 2012, I started up catkin
press. For this press, I choose
writers I want to publish, offer some advantages, such as design and editing,
for free, and work to create a reputation for quality publishing.
3 – What do you consider the role and responsibilities, if any,
of small publishing?
I’d like to think we can be an in-between step for writers, one
that builds the confidence to go on to writing longer manuscripts, but one that
works also as an introduction to the world of ‘having been published’, the road
to publishing with trade publishers, the mysteries of publicity, and the benefits
of personal and social networking.
4 – What do you see your press doing that no one else is?
The contest for one thing. We have had such well-known and
established judges which give an extra edge to winning. The poet who wins knows
their manuscript has been chosen by an eminent judge, and they become
associated with Tree, an added honour.
5 – What do you see as the most effective way to get new
chapbooks out into the world?
I have been abysmal about this, and confess to leaving that
aspect entirely up to the authors. The only publicity I do is on Facebook. I’ve
been caught myself with my own books and chapbooks. I’ve even been terrible
about publicizing my bpNichol Chapbook winner, Accidentals, or my non-fiction book, Arctic Twilight: Leonard Budgell and the Changing North. It’s always been my downfall. I get so
interested in process, that after the project is done, I start the next one,
ignoring what is one of the most important parts of an author’s ‘writing
business’, ignoring that for a small press operator, or a writer, the writing
business is a business.
Small Press Fairs are great, readings are great. Energy is the
key word, connecting with the world of poetry in any way available works too.
Like anything else in the business world, shyness won’t get a poet, or their
publications, very far.
6 – How involved an editor are you? Do you dig deep into line
edits, or do you prefer more of a light touch?
It depends on the manuscript. I always state from the beginning
that I will edit. I want the books to be as good as they can be, and only work
with authors who are willing to go with my editing. On the other hand, the book
does, in the end, belong to the author, so there are compromises within reason.
Some manuscripts are ready to go from the start, others require everything from
spelling to line endings.
For the chapbook contests, some have needed little editing. I
step in where I think I can be useful and am guided by the judges’ comments.
7 – How do your chapbooks get distributed? What are your usual
print runs?
Usual runs are between 50 and 150, though lately I have been
doing larger runs with my own presses if I think the book will sell well. That
way the author can get books from me at lower cost, and come to me later for
more if needed. One author has sold nearly 800 books, and another 600, both in
the Japanese-form world, both with catkin
press. I can’t do that with Tree Press, as I do not ‘own’ that press, and
it is non-profit.
8 – How many other people are involved with editing or
production? Do you work with other editors, and if so, how effective do you
find it? What are the benefits, drawbacks?
For Tree Press, some judges agree to edit their winning choices
if asked. It’s wonderful for everyone involved if the judge will edit further.
The author feels that their work has been validated, and the networking helps. I
will also edit if asked by the author.
9– How has being an editor/publisher changed the way you think
about your own writing?
It certainly makes me aware of readership. It also has the ability to confuse me. I know
what I like to publish, and what may sell, but is it what I want to write; is
it how I want to look at my writing.
10– How do you approach the idea of publishing your own writing?
Some, such as Gary Geddes when he still ran Cormorant, refused such, yet
various Coach House Press’ editors had titles during their tenures as editors
for the press, including Victor Coleman and bpNichol. What do you think of the
arguments for or against, or do you see the whole question as irrelevant?
I’ve edited Haiku anthologies for years, and been involved in a
few chapbook anthologies, always including my own pieces. I see no problem with
publishing myself. Of course I would say that, as many of my own poetry books
are self-published. If I think it’s good enough to be published, but want to
see it out there in months instead of years, I self-publish, though I’ve not
done that much lately. I think of all the greats who could afford to
self-publish. It’s not respected much in Canada, which contributes to the
conundrum: if publishers realize what works in the writings of others, why
shouldn’t they realize that their own work is as good.
11– How do you see Tree Press evolving?
I suppose it depends on how long I stay with it, how I evolve,
on my energies, and on who, if anyone, takes over the press after me. The board
hasn’t approached me with publishing anyone else independently of the contest; the
board at present seems to be happy with its current position of just running
the contests.
12– What, as a publisher, are you most proud of accomplishing?
What do you think people have overlooked about your publications? What is your
biggest frustration?
There’s no one Tree Press or Leaf Editions production that I’m
more proud of than another. I’m pleased that the contest is still running, I’m
proud of the judges who have agreed to be involved, I’m pleased that the
authors have liked the covers I designed.
I love Murray’s book There is a Tree: shteyt a boim. Poems of Itzik Manger, and am proud of rod and Rona’s support in getting Tree
Press started.
In
my own small presses, I’m happy to have published each of my authors, and look
forward to publishing books as diverse as a haibun memoir by Guy Simser and a
chapbook of lyric poems about Pakistan by Blaine Marchand in the next few
months.
13– Who were your early publishing models when starting out?
None. I had never met a poet, never met a publisher or another
writer when I started back in the woods in 1991.
14– How does Tree Press work to engage with your immediate
literary community, and community at large? What journals or presses do you see
Tree Press in dialogue with? How important do you see those dialogues, those
conversations?
Tree Press introduces poets to the Ottawa literary community and
to other local publishers. I am thinking of Tree Chapbook Winner Frances Boyle’s Portal Stones, judged by
Bruce Taylor in 2013. That chapbook brought her work to the attention of John
Buschek of BuschekBooks, who then published a full-length manuscript of Boyle’s
poetry called Light-Carved Passages
in 2014.
15– Do you hold regular or occasional readings or launches? How
important do you see public readings and other events?
The Tree Reading Series holds a well-publicized launch of the
winner’s chapbook, which gets the show on the road. If the authors are savvy
enough to make connections, arrange their own readings, travel farther than
their own usual borders, it can make all the difference. Staying in the loop with local reading series
is a priority. It’s not part of my mandate as the publisher, or hasn’t been,
but perhaps I should think more about this, team up with other small press
owners, work more together. I think we could do a lot. I think not living in
Ottawa has held me back a little. Travel is a bummer because of the time
involved and the weather. As I said, I’ve shied away from the publicity aspect,
and I should STOP doing that.
16– How do you utilize the internet, if at all, to further your
goals?
Not enough. Facebook is
about it, and my blog at claudiaradmore.com, in which I do talk about the books
I publish, and my own writing, as well as anything to do with writing and
writers I like.
17– Do you take submissions? If so, what aren’t you looking for?
I seldom take submissions, but keep my eyes on what is happening
with writers. There are authors I’d like to publish who feel my press is too
small, not prestigious enough. I look
for writing that makes me stop and think, and since my small press doesn’t come
out too often in the black, I’m careful about this, and do not publish too many
books in a year through my own presses.
For Tree Press, I imagine that if someone who is associated with
the reading series through what we call bums-in-seats support, who attend the
readings as often as they can, who come to the workshops and who read at the
open mic, submits a chapbook manuscript, we might look at it. This would have
to be discussed by the board and some sort of editorial system set up. I can’t
see that happening at the present time; running Tree itself takes energy and
time, and others may not have the same mania for arranging publications as I
do. I just love doing it.
18– Tell me about three of your most recent titles, and why
they’re special.
Tree Press’s The Binders
by Doris Fiszer is pretty special. It’s
no easy task to take memorabilia and physical experience and turn it into
poetry. Based on her father’s
predilection for saving personal family documents, Fiszer brings to life Poland
and Germany during and after WWII, and the poignancy of her father’s recent
Alzheimer’s disease and death. Sandra Ridley judged The Binders to be the best manuscript of Tree’s 2016 contest
submissions.
For catkin press, Swooning
(a haibun memoir by Hans Jongman of Toronto), just came out. Guy Simser’s She Don’t Mean A Thing If She Ain’t Got That
Swing and Blaine Marchand’s My Head Full of Pakistan will be out shortly. Simser’s is a comprehensive journey through
significant aspects of the poet’s life as he worked in and visited a number of
countries in the company of the love of his life, wife Jan. Blaine’s lyric poems are verbal treats that
bring his Pakistan experience, and the beauty of Pakistan’s people and culture right
here to Ottawa.
No comments:
Post a Comment