Fly on the Wall Press
Based in Manchester they have a great back catalogue to explore, which is always a danger to someone like myself who loves pamphlets and chapbooks.
Website: https://www.flyonthewallpress.co.uk/
Twitter: @fly_press
Facebook: @flyonthewallpress
Instagram: @flyonthewall_poetry
In their own words…
When did you start publishing?
Fly on the Wall Press started in 2018 with a mental health anthology, Please Hear What I’m Not Saying, with profits going to UK charity, Mind. From then, we established ourselves as a publisher with a conscience, publishing poetry books, cross-genre anthologies, magazines, and short story collections, all with a socially conscious message. We pride ourselves on working with charities across the UK for our anthologies and publishing international talents.
What genres do you specialise in?
We specialise in poetry, short stories and flash fiction also a political message also shall conscience.
Where are you based?
We are based in Manchester, UK.
Do you have a submission window, if so when?
We have a submission period in the autumn, usually opening in August to November.
What is your submission procedure?
We look for short story collections and poetry collections with a social conscience and asked the people of bought a book from the past year in our shop. This really helps people understand what we are looking for and also helps to for us as a small press so that we can go on to publish more people every year.
Who are you (team photo if possible)? and what was your background in the book industry before this venture?
Team wise it varies – occasionally I have some interns working behind the scenes, but mostly it is just me and a very supportive family (for example, Sarah Jane Kenyon regularly proofreads our books!)
My background in the book industry before this venture was non-existent, simply because I have never been given the opportunity. That’s why I wrote the non-fiction book Small Press Publishing: The Dos and Don’ts, because I wanted to give people information that they needed to start a small press which I had to work out myself.
Talk about some of your books if possible, upcoming, favourite?
Anthology Planet in Peril will always have a special place in my heart. It was shortlisted for Best Anthology – Saboteur Awards 2020 and consists of Photography, Art and Poetry. 20% of the profits from this book are donated to The Climate Coalition and WWF.Blurb: When the sciences and the arts begin to work together, a powerful force is created. This anthology was founded upon the belief that words have the power to change. Through poetry, photography and art, creatives across the globe, from the age of 8 to 80, have united to express the urgency of global warming, facing the facts but never losing hope.Foreword by Dr Michelle Cain, Science and Policy Research Associate, Oxford University. Featuring Emily Gellard Photography and a commissioned poem by Helen Mort. In July 2020 we are publishing Louise McStravick’s ‘How To Make Curry Goat’, which is a wonderful celebration of identity as the daughter of a windrush generation – is she English, is she Jamaican, does her accent qualify Brummy? A Slam winner, Louise is no stranger to the stage and I hope that by that point later in the year we will be able to launch her collection in person.
