Salford based Saraband have a formidable reputation for prize winning literary and commercial fiction and recently collaborated with The University of Salford to produce an audiobook. MA student Elizabeth Campbell spoke to founding editor Sara Hunt to find out more ahead of our publisher fair on March 27th, UoS library (11.00 – 16.00)
What are you reading at the minute?
I’m reading Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis. It’s a new debut about a thirty-ish academic who is running a de-radicalisation programme for ISIS brides, but encounters loads of different problems with the authorities and meets a motley crew of different people. I usually jump between different types of reading – this one is an easy read and fun but with serious issues behind it. It’s very entertaining and it’s getting a lot of press reviews at the moment.
Favourite book from your ‘In the Moment’ range?
I really love Atoms of Delight which is just beautiful writing, and maybe one of the newest ones, Dark Skies as well. But it’s so difficult to choose that if you ask me tomorrow, I might not narrow it down to the same choices!
Favourite cover from the range?
Maybe Watching Wildlife – both my favourite book and cover because I absolutely love Jim Crumley’s writing and this particular book.
How did you originally get into publishing yourself?
I went to a school that really emphasised sciences for girls and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I left school. I did loads of jobs on the side of school and university like waitressing, chambermaiding etc and was willing to work hard, but I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career. I considered academic research, but I didn’t want to be confined in an academic surrounding. The one thing I kept coming back to was that I thought publishing sounded fascinating, like a dream job, although I had no idea how to go about getting a job in publishing!
After my degree I did a Postgraduate Diploma in printing and publishing at the London College of Printing (now University of the Arts London). It was a good springboard, and I learnt plenty of skills, although many are obsolete by now. There were very few ways to get into publishing without personal connections and private education. Alongside my diploma, I worked for a local printer doing flyers and all-sorts.
Eventually I got an interview for one job alongside four others from my diploma course, and I got it! My first job in publishing. This was after applying for as many as 50 other jobs – it was very difficult to get in! When you get that first job, it really changes everything once you get that valuable experience. After that I worked for several other publishers in London in different roles.
Since that first role in publishing, what does a day-to-day life as a publisher entail for you now?
I start my day looking at emails to see what’s come in, whether that’s production, logistical or financial things – there are always surprises, good or less good! The rest of the day is meeting with colleagues, authors, planning for publicity marketing campaigns and interacting with other people. And then a chunk of the day is heads down at the desk – whether that’s editing, going over a typeset or administrative tasks. Some of it is also, very unglamorously, simple tasks like going to the post!
Would you say this changes during peak times of publishing? Is there a particularly busy time for you?
It depends what area you’re in. For those that work in rights, busy times peak around book fairs. For example, next week is the London Book Fair, then there’s Frankfurt in October. We have “summer reading” in June, so for genre fiction publishers the months leading to this are usually quite busy. Different roles peak at different times. If you work in publicity, it goes bonkers at the very busiest months for publication dates – so: September, October for the books geared to the Christmas market. But for a small publisher, we’re typically each handling several roles, so there’s always so much to do. But I’m don’t really mind being very busy, I wouldn’t like to be under occupied!
In between all of this, how are you managing to keep the balance between the company’s Scottish roots and the recent move to the North.
Well researched, because we do both! I don’t really distinguish: it’s book by book. Books each have their own life, if you like. We have good connections across Scotland from our time being based in Glasgow – with authors, the bookshops, buyers, festivals and the whole scene if you like, and I’m back and forth from there from time to time. We’re also connected with authors, publishers and bookshops in the North. To some extent, we work with people everywhere across the UK, and we even have a team in the US for international distribution, who we meet every other week online. Certain kinds of things are more convenient when you are local of course, so to be here in the North makes it easier to work with the University of Salford with student related programmes.
Have you got anything in mind to adapt to the current market in the North?
You’re always adapting to the market – it always changes. You’ve got to be aware of the how the books you’re working on fit into what booksellers and readers want, so it’s important just to be aware. Although we don’t publish specifically for the North, the likelihood is that it will perform better and get more press in the local area to the author. So, it’s a bit of a mix, lots of things in consideration.
So, you have double-booker-prize nominee Graeme Macrae Burnet in the mix alongside winning Scottish Fiction Book of the Year for Ajay Close’s What Doesn’t Kill Us, do you have any work in mind for prizes in 2025?
I was so delighted when Ajay got Fiction Book of the Year for What Doesn’t Kill Us! The audiobook for that book was recorded at the University of Salford last year, narrated by a newly graduated drama student and recorded by a student sound engineer, so that was another good university collaboration as they did a fantastic job. I would love to see more prize recognition for Graeme, who is by far our best-selling author and has a new book out at the moment with brilliant reviews (A Case of Matricide). We have another distinguished author, A.L. Kennedy, who has won so many prizes you couldn’t even list them all! Her new book is called Alive in the Mercifcul Country. We have a debut coming out next month, Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly, so there are lots of different prizes like first novel awards that she’d be eligible for, and her book is fantastic! – fingers crossed for her. I hope they all win prizes!
As a company that relies on collaboration, working closely with booksellers and authors, how do you feel about the looming presence of AI and its threat to small press publishers?
Well, this is a big can of worms. I’m opposed to anything that’s written in AI because it’s not original and is basically theft of unacknowledged authors’ work. It devalues the work of an author, and from a reader’s point of view it’s very generic. No one can replicate what an author does, and if AI squeezes out authentic writing and distorts the market too much, we’re going to end up with only wealthy people being able to afford to write books, or celebrities with ghost writers (with or without AI writing). It certainly puts more pressure on small publishers. I don’t oppose certain “back office” uses of AI in publishing, but I would just caution people as to whether it’s saving much time when it comes to editing, for instance, because there are still too many problems with it. And I’m opposed to it for supposedly creative tasks like writing and illustration.
Final question, what advice do you have for students that are trying to get their foot in the door with publishing?
No matter what you want to do eventually, always take the first job in publishing that’s offered to you, the first opening. Even if it isn’t the area you want to be in, you’ll learn something about other fields as well, and most importantly that first step will help you getting other jobs afterwards that are closer to that dream job. I’d also recommend working in a bookshop, which will help you get into publishing. Once you are in, you’ll have flexibility to move roles. Also, children’s publishing is a thriving area people might not necessarily think of. There are quite a few openings, and even if it wasn’t your first choice I’ve seen people go into children’s publishing and get hooked straight away and don’t ever leave – so that’s worth a thought.