Want to be a paperback writer?

Got a steady job, but you want to be a paperback writer? Got a loft full of manuscripts and don’t know what to do with them? Need advice on getting an agent? Tired of rotting away in your garret and crave the company of like-minded writers to spark off? Here’s a quick guide to the local independents who could help, straight from the horses’ mouths…

Candlestick Press
"Candlestick Press has been going for about eighteen months, publishing poetry pamphlets. Nottingham’s literary networks – not least fellow publishers Shoestring Press and Five Leaves Press – have made it possible for lots of poetry to pour into and out of the city. Our projects for next year are still under discussion, but if any of you are budding graphic artists/animators, please watch this space for future updates." Jenny Swann

Five Leaves
"Five Leaves is the East Midlands’ biggest small press. We’ve been going since 1996, have well over 100 books on our backlist and publish fifteen to twenty books a year. We’re currently pretty excited by Rod Madocks’ No Way to Say Goodbye being shortlisted for the ITV Thriller and Crime Awards. We publish social history, crime fiction, young adult fiction, Jewish cultural material. A bit of this, a bit of that." Ross Bradshaw

Staple
"Staple Magazine was founded in 1982, and arrived in the Sneinton area of Nottingham at the end of 2007. Recent issues have looked at writing in the East Midlands region, the inner workings of the publishing industry and the relationship between writing and the visual arts. We are looking for submissions of writing with an interest in film for issue 73, deadline March 2010, and future themed issues will be announced via the website next year." Wayne Burrows

Weathervane Press
"Our primary objective is to support local writers, with the intention to publish about four novels a year. We accept submissions by email, and initially require a brief synopsis and one sample chapter - as well as the category and target audience your book is aimed at. We are currently seeking submissions from female writers." Ian Collinson

The Literature Network
"The Literature Network connects the written and spoken word arts community in the East Midlands. We provide information resources, organise networking and consultation events, support the work and projects of leading literature practitioners and champion the valuable role of literature as a participatory art form." Damien Walter

Pewter Rose
"Our first two publications have specialised in single-author collections of short stories. We feel the short story is an under-rated art form and yet paradoxically, it fits neatly into our busy lifestyles. Our aim is to publish the writing that we would like to read. We are interested in fiction, both short stories and novels, that doesn’t necessarily fit into a particular genre.’ Anne McDonnell

Shoestring Press
‘We specialize in sequences as well as collections by (usually) established but unfashionable poets, or poets who we are introducing to British readers for the first time, even though they may be well known elsewhere. No unsolicited submissions - please approach with enquiries to 19 Devonshire Avenue, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1BS.’ John Lucas

Writing East Midlands
‘We are working to create opportunities for practising writers as well as discovering new writers of quality. We’re currently planning a number of projects in the region including a Writing Industries Conference in March 2010, a huge writers-in-residence programme covering the whole of the region, the Lyric Lounge and other events such as a performance poetry showcase as part of the Nottingham Comedy Festival this November.’ Catherine Rogers

Write Lion
"The Write Lion forum is whatever our posters make of it. We’re an online hub for local authors and poets, published or not, bouncing ideas off each other and exchanging constructive criticism. Our new podcasts cover as many bases as possible, and is the perfect showcase for new writers. Get on the Write Lion forum and get involved’ James Walker