Editor Interview: Claret Press

Political fiction&nonfict

One World Press, because they take chances on their publications.
Hogarth Press, esp the rewriting of Shakespeare's plays as novels by some of the world's best writers.
Biteback Press, because it publishes exclusively on politics and it's pretty solid.

I like fiction and creative non-fiction that grapples with the issues of the day, so that what I am reading has a commentary about our shared reality. Books then deepen my awareness and understanding. This can include historical fiction like Wolf Hall, or I Claudius. It can speculative fiction like The Handmaid's Tale, 1984 and Animal Farm. It can be sci fi, like The Dispossessed or The Foundation Trilogy or I, Robot. It can deal with the big picture on an epic scale like the epics of Illiad or Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire), or a personal epic like Americanah. Or it can be explicitly a political thriller, like First Among Equals, The Ghost Writer, or A Line of Beauty.

There aren't a lot of other publishing companies that are trying to do what I do, which is publishing engaging narratives that speak to the intersection of the everyday and the political. This isn't to say that political novels aren't being published but rather that it's our sole raison d'etre.
I like to think that our high production values, commitment to experienced editing and hands-on relationships with authors sets us apart. We also do zoom events that discuss the issues in the books.

Look at the submissions requirements.
Please make sure that your submission is professionally done: double-spaced, 12 pica, a synopsis, final word count, and what you, as the author, bring to the table in terms of marketing.

The author submits the first 25 pages of a completed ms that doesn't need extensive editing, a one page synopsis, a grab, a writing cv of other publications, and suggestions for how they could help with the marketing.

They don't include their writing cv and any skills or contacts that they have to help with the marketing.

A list of previous publications matters because it demonstrates a professionalism. The writing could be anything from comic books to blogging to dry academia. It shows that the author can sit down day after day and write, accept critical feedback and make changes, and respond to the readers.
The cover letter is a good idea because it forces authors to reduce the story to 2 or 3 sentences, while also making it sound incredibly interesting.

It depends. Sometimes you can tell from the pitch that it's just not right for Claret Press. It's not about the writing. It's about the topic or the approach. If I do read the submission, then again, it depends. Sometimes as much as 10 pages. Sometimes the whole thing.

If I think it's great, then I get my interns to read it. If they like it, then I talk to the author and request the whole ms. If I like the whole ms then again it goes through the interns.

Authors get to approve final edits. But as the publisher, I also get to not publish it until it reads the way I want it to read. So an author doesn't have to accept my editorial suggestions, but then I don't have to publish it either. So it's a stalemate until someone (like the author) bends. If the work is very rough, I won't take it as it will need too many edits and that's too time consuming. But if I think that it has potential, I'll line edit it carefully. All our books are carefully copyedited and proofread before publication.

Yes. We have had one shortlisted for a Royal Society of Literature Award, Black Tea by Stephen Morris.