Interjection - Ian Takes His Leave

I'm stuck for something to do to put off the inevitable packing, ahead of my forthcoming move to Oxford (more on that later), so I have decided to acquiesce to Tom's demands that I make a blog post - having made the now-unwise decision to have a few IPA's earlier on... Hic...

Gatehouse Press started, if anyone's counting, in May 2006, and consisted of just the three of us; Tom, myself (Ian - I've not introduced myself yet, have I? How frightfully rude) and Lee. In the beginning, we had practically nothing - and this is no exaggeration. The company was run, and continues to run, on Tom's money, and we had only one publication tentatively lined up - Jenny Morris' collection Lunatic Moon. Beyond that, we could only hope that hard work would take us on - if not to bigger and brighter things, then at least an ability to maintain our commitment to promoting and supporting the best in new, local talent.

Fast forward two and a bit years, and the Gatehouse Press of back then pales in comparison to where it stands right now. With half a dozen publications now under our collective belt, and with forthcoming publications from the likes of George Szirtes to bolster our already increasing public exposure, Gatehouse Press is in rude health. This is no mean feat; Gatehouse Press is entirely non-profit, receives no external funding whatsoever, and is run in the spare time of those committed to our mission statement, and the increasing success of the business. Yet put our publications next to any other, and you'd never have known; the team takes great pride in the quality of our books and our websites, and refuse to compromise for the sake of being run in our spare time.

For myself, it has been an invaluable, exhilarating, stressful, exciting, frantic and, above all, proud time. I had never considered publishing as a career option before meeting Tom, as our paths crossed in the unlikely surrounds of Norfolk Youth Service. But I was soon swept away in the enthusiasm of the project, and have spent the last 2 years putting the greater part of my free hours - outside of working full-time - into taking Gatehouse Press that bit further. The joint senses of overwhelming relief and utter joy every time a book was sent to the printer have themselves made the whole experience worthwhile, but I have also gained amazing experience, particularly on the editorial side, from working for Gatehouse Press. It is down to this experience that I have found my vocational direction from being an aimless English Literature graduate, and found my new editorial job with an enormous publisher, after a couple of lame duck periods of employment that did just enough to keep a roof over my head. There is so much I owe Tom and Gatehouse Press, and only hope that the work I put in, and will continue to put in, can repay that.

As for the future, Gatehouse Press will only keep growing. We might not be one of the big multinationals, but we remain determined to keep to our original ideals, and will promote the very best in untapped talent. Not only do we intend to release publications from new and unpublished authors, but we are also due to publish work from the renowned George Szirtes, and will seek out similarly prestigious authors to work with. In addition, we shall shortly be launching New-Writing.com, a showcase for the very best creative writing from universities around the world, compiled and edited by the students themselves. Our plans are not limited to our published output, however; we intend to build a studio at Gatehouse HQ, bringing in state of the art design hardware and software to bring our production in-house. The benefit is two-fold; not only does Gatehouse open up the potential to produce more frequent publications, but we provide our volunteers with industry-standard tools to master, and take into the job market.

Of course, we welcome volunteers. Gatehouse Press has a special atmosphere; we are a friendly, open, and very funny (if we say so ourselves...) team. And, as mentioned before, the benefit is mutual; we gain your expertise, you get to improve it, and rack up the sort of experience that, quite simply, puts you ahead of the game if you want to follow publishing as a career route. So join us - simply fill in the 'Contact Us' form on the Gatehouse Press website to get in touch, we'd love to hear from you...

Ian Buck
Soon-to-be Publications Editor From A Distance...