This is part of a series of interviews taking place with small press publishers. This interview series will be partially published online and partially in print, as a part of a nonfiction book to demystify publishing, published in January 2020 and written by Isabelle Kenyon. The following is an extract from an interview with co-director, Ronnie Goodyer.
Indigo Dreams is run by poets Ronnie Goodyer and partner Dawn Bauling. They have many collections to their names and next year will be publishing a joint collection which will be launched at the Cheltenham Poetry Festival in April 2020. Ronnie is also Poet-in-Residence for animal welfare charity, The League Against Cruel Sports.
What does a typical book marketing plan for you?
We send Information Sheets to selected trade outlets, review copies to poetry magazines, social media campaigns for each title. We promote them in any way we can. By far the majority of sales are from the individual poets. They each have a full page on our website that showcases several poems from the collection. We are aware of their sales / promo plan and promo on social media and monthly newsletter, Indigo News. We also have Indigo Showcases where Indigo poets join forces for readings and tours.
Any funny publishing stories?
Typo time! Emails:
In 2011, I was delighted that Carol Ann Duffy had sent an original poem for our anthology Soul Feathers (to aid Macmillan Cancer Support). I sent a block email to encourage others to submit and in my excitement referred to her as ‘the Poppet Laureate.’ How many levels is that wrong on....?
And last year an Indigo poet emailed me with details of readings she’d arranged, seven over two weeks. I meant tosay how I love busy poets – but it was sent as “...I really love a busty poet.” I only realised it when she replied “Sorry Ronnie, I can’t help you on that one, but I’ll keep on arranging readings if you like!”
You can perhaps see why Dawn handles the proofing, but a while back she spotted her typo in one of her magazines before it went to print. The Xmas issue had a poem containing “..and the children singing ghostly carols” She had typed “..and the children singing ghastly carols”
That’s all folks!
This interview is part of 'Small Press Publishing: The Dos and Don'ts' released January 2020. You can pre-order the book here.
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