The duties of a (Pagan) Publisher

This post is two-fold, it mainly discusses the role of publishers in general and a pagan publisher secondarily.

I am pagan, most people who know me know that.  At one point I use to trumpet it aloud.  It is very important to me but very personal.  I don’t mean private but personal.  I follow a shamanic route worshipping the old Irish gods and myths.  I find myself less and less needing to discuss and catch up with pagan issues, my faith is quite nearly unique to myself.  Don’t get me wrong pagan studies still interest me but with the lack of free time I have, I spend my spiritual time looking inside.  My own ethos and moral code has been shaped by what I believe and I think its important for me to reflect this.

I feel the role of a publisher is to release and support both the craft (writing and literature as a whole) and to cause change on things they feel are crucial issues by promoting debate.  A publisher’s role is not to tell the reader what to think, it is to promote discussion and debate by printing works that inspire thought.

It is not my intention to publish primarly pagan works, nor to be seen as a publisher whose work is pagan.  What I do desire is to be true to my ethics and to help promote the overlooked and support paganism.  In this end I would like to publish one pagan work, at least.  As a writer (fiction, sci-fi, fantasy) I know and believe how powerful the tool of the novel is, I believe a story can tell more then an essay.  The tool of empathy, that the novel is based about, and putting somebody inside the moral question, forces people to debate the issue with themselves.

So pagan fiction or works that have similar outlooks – such as Little Druid – will be encouraged.  Secondly non-fiction pagan works, especially ones that promote aspects that have gone unrecognised.  Shaman’s Dictionary is an example of this.  It is crucial to me that any works that I release in this category are properly referenced and truthful.  I will not allow our publishing company to be used as a platform for propoganda.  I know many in the pagan sphere will be against this approach feeling that it is conservative and working within the machine of society.  But my first love was books and are as much part of my beliefs as paganism is.  Therefore my first concern will be to create good and truthful books.

What do you think of this?  What do you think is the role of a publisher?  If you are pagan what do you think we should publish in this sphere?

Caoimhin

Our Publishing Lineup

I thought I would list a lineup of our planned books, many of which are nearly ready, a lot still in production including the titles.  This list covers a rough two year timespan.

 

Genre

• Sea Hounds Trilogy (Romance)
• Hellblades (Fantasy)
• Pulp Porn: Pirates (Anthology)
• Pulp Porn: Werewolves (Anthology)

Fiction

• Site Diary (A week on an archaeology site)

Poetry

• Verse & Variation
• The Secret Words of Toys
• My Little Black Book
• Month of March
• River Rhymes 2012 (Possible)
• River Rhymes 2013

Children’s Works

• Little Druid
• Tales of the Dragon & the Hermit

Cookbooks

• Oohm-Pie Loom-Pie
• All the Pretty Little Things
• Italian Cookbook (In Negotiation)
• Mexican Meals (In Negotiation)
• English Pastas
• Canalside Cooking
• Devil’s Dishes

Others

• ARRGGHH (Roleplaying game to be announced)
• Shaman’s Dictionary (Introductory guide to shamanism)

 

So what would you like to know about our future schedule?  Which of our books sounds interesting to you?  And just what would you like us to tell you about them before they launch?  Let us know in our comments below.

Personal Timeline

Its been quite a while since I have updated my various websites.  There have been many reasons for this and every time I think of writing a post to update the blog I keep drawing a blank on quite what to say.  So for this reentry to the blogosphere I will keep this as a personal view.

Over the last few years things have changed so much; we no longer live in Cambridge, we live on a boat, we have a kitten, the clan has changed massively, I run a poetry festival, I’m about to launch a publishing company, my archaeology career is massively different to what it was.  The clan was originally designed as a kind of family-social group between me and Zoe and what are to follow.  But in time this has changed bit by bit until now we have a busy schedule.  Book by book I have planned and readied, so now I have 8 of my own works ready; we have three outside writers working on some projects; Zoe should have her debut ready and I have spent a long time preparing the company.

The website, all of them are going to be totally redesigned – to reflect more truly the current state of the clan.  The main website will need to reflect the company and its goals, we have a backlog of material online through all the blogs that are going to be combined in a way that gives visitors plenty of good material to read.  As well as that I will be hoping to start off supporting my authors by blogging and noting articles of interest or commenting myself on the writing sphere.  From previous experience I know how difficult it can get to find the time to blog, at certain times, whereas others I can be downright prolific so I will be seeking a balance.  And a way to give all our visitors a taste of what is going on behind the scenes, our lives, insights into our works and authors, the business and access to our published works.

Below is a rough lineup of the next year:

• Plan the company
• Verse & Variation launch
• Little Druid launch
• River Rhymes 2012 archive
• Full publishing schedule
• Redesigning the websites
• The Norton Summer Dig
• Renovate the boat
• Sort out our storage
• Festival for next year

Caoimhin