You were a writer before you ever became a publisher. What prompted you to establish PS in the first place?
It may sound glib but the short answer is it was something I hadn't tried and I thought I owed it to myself to give it a go.
I'd long fancied doing my own magazine – I'm a lifelong fan of magazines (particularly F&SF) – and I'd gotten as far as costing the project on two occasions but, in the end, I decided it was maybe just a little too ambitious. Meanwhile my writing and editing career moved slowly forward, reducing (if not actually removing) one significant hurdle: namely "Peter who?" But when the inspiration/motivation finally proved too strong to ignore, it manifested itself as something quite radically different – starting an entire publishing house! My favourite story-length was – and still is, both as a reader and a writer – the novella (commonly considered to be 20,000 to 40,000 words), and I felt that insufficient outlets existed for the form. I struck a deal with Simon Spanton at Orion for them to publish as loosely-themed quartets the books we were going to launch as individual titles. I came up with the series name of Foursight and the first eponymously-titled collection (2000) featured stories from Graham Joyce, James Lovegrove, Kim Newman and Michael Marshall Smith. The book was critically well-received (a glowing full-page review in The Times) and I think it did okay commercially. Three more volumes (Foursight: Futures, Foursight : Infinities and Foursight : Cities) followed, with twelve more novella-length stories, before Orion decided they were not able to continue the series. But by that time, PS had found a niche for itself, expanding its playlist introducing other novellas not included in the Foursight books (the first one was Tim Lebbon's Naming of Parts in 2000) plus full-length (100,000+ words) novels, collections and even poetry and non-fiction into the mix.
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When you began publishing the PS novellas back in 1999, was it with a definite 'game plan' in mind? Did you have any idea that you would still be here 10 years later, now established as one of the major genre publishers in the UK?
A 'game plan'? What a splendid idea! How novel! Alas, no, I didn't have a game plan other than to put out a series of genre novellas from writers whose work I admired. Remember, those were much different times to the ones we're living through now. There was really only Cemetery Dance's bookline (CD) from Richard Chizmar, and Bill Schafer's then fledgling Subterranean Press heading a fairly quiet field, so there were no real expectations of massive success. I just wanted to coax novella-length work from some of my favourite writers. Simple as that. Our present position and the high esteem in which we appear to be held are really something of a surprise . . . and certainly something we did not consciously aim for. Thus each time we pick up an award – and yes, I'm well aware there have been several – I'm both grateful and amazed. And I never tire of it. Face it, when the awards stop, it means people have stopped seeing you as the best. I don't want that to happen.
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How traumatic was it when the initial partnership behind PS dissolved with the departure of Simon Conway, and did you ever consider pulling the plug on the business at this point?
My partnership with Simon was really a 'marriage of convenience'. We were good friends and I was doing some communications consultancy work for his agency. But Simon – a consummate businessman – had no particular interest in or knowledge of the field. What he did have, however was a ready-made typesetting and design capability, so I pitched the idea to him in 1998. He went for it and the first four titles appeared in the following summer/autumn.
When, in 2001, Simon decided to live in the US, it made perfect sense for me to take over the business – after all, it was really all down to me anyway, concept-wise. Did I ever consider pulling the plug? No. If Simon and I had not been able to agree satisfactory terms then I had already made plans to shift the business to a new name. But, in the end, it proceeded perfectly amicably and Simon and I are still in contact and are still the firmest of friends.
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You now run the business in close association with your wife, Nicky. How well does this interleafing of personal and business life work?
Working with Nicky is the great joy of my life. We started going out together in 1971 and got married in 1976, so it's fair to say we know each other pretty well . . . and, thankfully, we enjoy each other's company.
Nicky is a born organiser – she was a teacher: need I say more? She's very methodical. My assistant in my old building society days – John Hanlon – was exactly the same, so that was another successful union. Simon, alas, was pretty much like me – a bit scatterbrained. I think I'm right in saying that, organisation-wise, Nicky is PS. Okay, in terms of buying projects and steering the business then it's definitely me, with increasing input from my assistant, Nick Gevers. But, behind the scenes, Nicky's the one who keeps us all on track – 'all' being me, Nick and head-designer Robert Wexler. Like I said, I love working with Nicky. It's one of the joys – the true perques – in my life out of what I do. She's a blast.
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Do you see yourself primarily as a writer or a publisher, and do you think one has ever interfered with the other?
I see myself as a writer. Sure, the publishing business has played havoc with my output (ask Tim Lebbon, with whom I'm collaborating on a fantasy duology – he'll tell ya!) but writing is where my heart is . . . where my soul is. Publishing is just something I do that passes the time. Being a writer is kind of like being a smoker. It doesn't matter how long since your last cigarette – you're still a smoker. Same thing goes for writing.
Has PS interfered with my writing career? You bet. Big time. But it was a choice I made to get the business up and running and working smoothly. So I guess it was kind of like a personal sacrifice . . . to provide some opportunities for other projects and other writers at the expense of my own writing.
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As a writer, you are most strongly associated with horror, and yet PS Publishing has always produced SF and fantasy as well, without any noticeable bias one way or another. Why is that?
Yes, well . . . you know, I'm not all that sure that's the case. Maybe it was, once upon a time, but the four stories set in my New York bar (collected as The Land at the End of the Working Day from Humdrumming) are not horror. And Songs of Leaving, my last-but-one collection from Subterranean, was mostly SF while Cold Comforts, a massive CD Rom released only in the US, was all crime/suspense.
Okay, the Forever Twilight cycle is pretty steeped in horror tropes but then my horror isn't all that horrific. I'm three books into that whole FT thing and I have to say I'm having a ball. Book two will be available this year and book three next year (they're both of them written). Book four will probably see us on the aliens' planet – can't wait for that. And I'm around 30,000 words into Kings of Infinite Space, a short YA SF novel, and some 110,000 into Thanksgiving, a completely mainstream novel set in New York. Meanwhile, Tim and I are 50,000 words into Into The Wild Green Yonder, a two-book epic fantasy, and I'm working on more stories set in my fictional CalderValley town of Luddersedge plus some more PI capers featuring Koko Tate. So I think I'm well spread across all the various sub-genres . . . all of which explains, of course, why PS's output is so varied. And long may that continue to be the case.
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You have also edited a number of highly regarded anthologies for major publishers, how did that come about?
That was how I started – Narrow Houses, for John Jarrold (then at Macdonald which became Little, Brown ). I followed that with two more superstition-based books, plus a book about angels for DAW in the US. What can I tell you? I just adore short stories!
I edited two books with Ed Kramer and then three more for White Wolf (I was scouting for them at the time). Then Fourbodings for CD, Taps and Sighs for Subterranean and a whole slew of original SF anthologies for DAW, all of which I'm pleased to say have been critically and commercially well-received.
How does it come about? Well, I get an idea and I pitch it. I think I've managed to build up a reputation for knowing what I'm doing so writers tend to trust me. And publishers tend to trust me. And, best of all, readers tend to trust me. Thank God they all do.
In addition to all of those, of course, I went and started up Postscripts . . . which is, in reality, an anthology – and that's why Nick Gevers and I have re-jigged it to look and feel more like one.
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What was the thinking behind the launch of Postscripts?
Like I said, I wanted to do a magazine way back. In 2004, the time seemed right. I was fortunate enough to discover (though 'stumble across' is probably more accurate) Nick Gevers, who makes a demanding job thoroughly enjoyable. Postscripts is never going to make me rich but then I didn't set out on PS to make myself rich. I'm 'well off' in other far more satisfying and fulfilling ways.
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With even long established names such as Fantasy & Science Fiction suffering in the current economic climate, PS seem to remain remarkably buoyant, with an ambitious publishing schedule for 2009. How do you manage that?
Hey, we're feeling the pinch – who isn't! But I'm hoping we'll weather the storm. There are undoubtedly some tough times ahead but if we here at PS proceed carefully and sensibly then we should be fine. Put the buoyancy down to excessive gas!
As for the schedule, I believe we've got a wonderful list – new names, old hands and everything in between . . . with SF represented as much as horror, though I do feel we need to search out a little more fantasy. Nick and I have plans to do another bumper volume (like the World Horror Convention-linked Postscripts # 10 in spring 2007 and the WorldCon-linked #15 last summer) but this time concentrating on Fantasy and coming out at a World Fantasy Convention around hallowe'en. After that we haven't ruled out a special all-crime edition tied into a BoucherCon one year – we'll see. The trick is to keep things fresh and I think we do that. Certainly the feedback we get from our customers (who, as I've said before, are the most loyal in the business) is uniformly high and positive. I expect people to let us know if/when we allow our standards to slip.
We've got plans to celebrate our tenth anniversary with a special re-issue of the first four novellas (with extra material and new cover art) and, of course, we've got the special Postscripts sampler your members are receiving with this mail-out. There are other projects at various stages including some very special books that we're publishing in collaboration with our chums across at Subterranean. So there's a lot going on.
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How 'hands on' are you with the business? You run PS with the assistance of a small 'crew'. How easy or difficult do you find delegation?
The PS crew are a wonderful bunch: Nicky I've already mentioned. Nick, too. Heading up PS's visual style is Robert Freeman Wexler, who is also an exceptionally fine writer. His In Sprigdale Town was a pure delight and the upcoming The Painting and the City is equally enthralling. Assisting Robert in-house with the design chores (we have a handful of trusted freelances who are extraordinarily skilled) is Mike Smith. Mike also handles the website maintenance since the redoubtable Darren Turpin (formerly known as Ariel) left the company to join Orbit. Handling our PR and promotions and our newsletter (and basically doing the true loaves-and-fishes job of making me look like I know what I'm doing) is Paul Raven. And then, of course, we've got Theresa Loosley at MPG Biddles. Okay, Theresa is not actually employed by PS but she's been our account-handler ever since we started so, as far as I'm concerned, she's a bona fide founding member of the company. So, yes . . . it's a small team . . . but one that's perfectly formed.
I try to be 'hands on' as you put it but without getting in the way. And the beauty of the whole operation is that they're all prepared to tell me to step back from something to let one of them handle it. There are no egos here and no causes. We all work to a common goal: the production of top-notch books by top-notch writers.
So I'm fortunate in that the calibre of the team means I'm very comfortable in delegating. I used to do everything on the early books and, frankly, when you look back at them, you can tell. There's a lot to be desired on those titles but, heck . . . my heart was in the right place. And thank goodness our customers kept supporting us and enabling us to build so that I could bring in skills that I simply did not possess.
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Looking back over the history of PS to date, is there anything which, with hindsight, you would have done differently?
There's just one thing that I think I'd like to take back because we screwed up royally with it. I'm talking about the Crimson Guard proofing debacle.
What happened was our proofreader lost his notes when he was about three quarters of the way through the book (and at some 350,000 words, it's a big book). At the time, I had been pushing him to deliver his edit and, instead of telling me what had happened, he just started the whole thing again and kind of speed-read it. The result was a colossal carve-up, with the proofer missing lots and lots of typesetting goofs . . . the 'best' of which being the adding of an 'e' to 'corps' rendering the sentence in which it appeared totally incomprehensible ("the corpse surged through the broken walls"? Huh?!)
When Malazan fans discovered the problem they were pretty vocal about it. There was no alternative but for me to put my hands up and try to make amends by offering a free book to everyone who bought The Return of the Crimson Guard. Paradoxically, that was almost a better outcome than if the book had been completely error-free . . . simply because I had shown by my actions that what I always say is absolutely true: the customer is king, and if the customer is short-changed then you have to do something about it. And pretty bloody quickly, too . . . at least if you're aiming to retain your customer base. Too many companies and organisations forget that.
There's nothing else I'd do differently.
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Over the years, PS has accumulated an enviable collection of accolades and awards. What has been your single proudest moment?
Hoo boy, now there is a question! My proudest moment . . .
Well, I've already said that every award means as much as the one before it and I stand by that. Maybe that first award was special enough to qualify it as a proud moment . . . but I don't recall. And, quite honestly, I don't think it would be.
I think my proudest moment happened a couple of years back at FantasyCon. Neil Gaiman was one of the Guests of Honour. Neil and I were chatting on the way to the book room: the PS table – manned by Bob Wardzinski, a fine fellow indeed – was just inside the doorway. As we entered the room we were faced with a thick throng of people all gathered around Bob's nest of tables . . . and, in particular, around the PS spread. "This is us," I told Neil as we walked up to see Bob. As the hoard drew back to reveal what was on the table, I could see the incredulity on Neil's face as he took it all in . . . this huge display of books, gorgeous covers, lots of colours, and from the absolute best writers in the business. We've all seen that kind of spread before and many times: but on this occasion, every single book had the PS logo on its spine. Neil shook his head. "I had no idea," he said. And you know, when I turned to look at that spread again, I was tempted to say "Neither had I." That was my proudest moment.
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In 2007, you started the PS Showcase series, intended to promote up-and-coming talent in speculative fiction. Do you see this as an important role for PS?
I'm a big fan of comic books – always have been – and DC is my favourite company. (I'm a baby-boomer and all baby-boomers were either DC people or Marvel people. For me, it was DC.) So when I started thinking about a series of try-out mini-collections, featuring some of the newer talents around, it didn't take me long to come up with the name Showcase.
After all, it was DC's Showcase title that, under the aegis of Julius (Schwartz in the mid 1950's and early '60's, gave the world Jack Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown (for me, the true fantastic foursome), plus the likes of Space Ranger, The Flash, Green Lantern, The Atom and so on . . . trying them out for a couple of issues and then giving them their own book. I'd been wanting to do that very same thing with short story writers and so we took a punt on it. The first book, by Gary Fry, proved popular and the popularity has continued – we're about to put out our sixth volume, Glass Coffin Girls by Paul Jessup. We'll keep on with it, probably doing two every year. It's a lot of fun but, more than that, it's important for all publishers to try promoting new talent.
We already know that the mid-list is pretty much decimated and it's been very short-sighted of publishers to allow that to happen. Because, let's face it, if we extrapolate that to the nth degree then, eventually, when all the big dependable household names have fallen off the perch, we're going to be left with nobody. So, here at PS at least, we're doing our bit. Sure, I'd like every book to sell in the same quantities as Joe Hill's Gunpowder or Steve Erikson's Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas, and I'm sure it won't come as any big surprise when I tell you that the Showcase books do not. But we're planting seeds here . . . planting seeds for the future. And it could be, a couple years down the pike, one or more of our Showcase authors will be the new Big Name of the day. But whether they are or they aren't, they deserve their time in the sun. And readers deserve the opportunity to give them a try. End of sermon.
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What can we look forward to from PS and from Peter Crowther in the future?
From PS, you can expect more of the same, I guess. We'll be doing more novellas in the future – they're really our raison d'etre – but we'll still be doing the occasional novel, collection and anthology. For instance, just yesterday (31 January), I signed up a new anthology which I'm very excited about. I won't say anything more here because contracts have still to be signed, but by the time this interview sees the light of day, it should be all sorted and confirmed.
We've got our big Tim Powers book – John Berlyne's Secret Histories – and we're both thrilled and nervous in equal measure. It's a big book – a massive book, actually – and full colour throughout, with the two top states having first one extra book and then two extra books, all slipcased and signed and numbered blah-ha, blah-ha, blah-ha. So, the print bill is going to be ginormous. And we're equally excited about Angus Mackenzie's Spook City, featuring Liverpool's finest, Atkins, Barker and Campbell (what a firm of solicitors they'd make: "Good morning, Atkins, Barker and Campbell . . . how can we terrify you?").
And still on with anthologies, we've got Allen Ashley's Catastrophia, and Harrison Howe's collection of riffs on Springsteen's music, Darkness On The Edge, plus Bishop's and Utley's Passing For Human. Then a new collection (Just Behind You) and a new novel (Creatures of the Pool) from Ramsey, plus books from Gene Wolfe, Jack Vance, Uncle River, Stephen Palmer, Terry Bisson, T.M. Wright, Marley Youmans, James Lovegrove, Stephen Baxter, Lucius Shepard, Robert Reed, Avram Davidson, Terry Dowling, Richard Christian Matheson, Catherynne M. Valente and lots more. We're also doing a couple of collaborations with Bill Schafer over at Subterranean – one a Mike Marshall Smith book and the other itself a collaboration between Messrs. Erikson and Esslemont. There's another one that is currently under negotiation. And I'm working on a new imprint – PSA Books – about which I'll have more to say if and when things get finalised. So, believe me, there's plenty to interest even the most jaded palette.
From me, well, again . . . more of the same. In the US, I handed in books 2 and 3 in my Forever Twilight cycle, and my seventh collection (Things I Didn't Know My Father Knew) will be available next year. Meanwhile, I'm soldiering on with a TV anthology series that's so far been three years in gestation, and a mainstream novel that I've been promising myself for two years that I'd finish in a month or two. In addition there's Forever Twilight 4, plus a YA SF novel (Kings of Infinite Space), a dark and gritty UK-based crime thriller set in the 1950's and, of course, Into The Wild Green Yonder, a collaboration with Tim Lebbon. All of those (with the exception of FT4) are underway, some with 30,000 or 40,000 words under their belt and one with 110,000. I'm also aiming to do a few more stories – Luddersedge stories, Koko Tate stories and Land at the End of the Working Day stories. I'm pleased to say that they're all very popular. All I'm short of is time. But then, aren't we all.
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Has PS achieved all that you wished it to, or do you feel you're still only part way along the journey and the real achievements lie ahead?
Never 'all'. I would always say there's more to be done. The tone of your question actually harkens back to your 'game plan' question and, as I explained, I don't have one. When I started PS, I just hoped that it would be well-received. And each year that's gone by, it has been better and better received. Nevertheless, I think we've still got lots of untapped potential left for the future. But I guess that, if something were to happen to me now (God forbid . . . please!), I'd feel we've done okay.