An Interview with Tom Chalmers of Legend Press

Legend Press has published two short story anthologies in the past two years, The Remarkable Everyday and Seven Days, and have another planned for the beginning of 2008; they claim these anthologies are “Reinventing The Short Story,” and I just had to find out what exactly they meant by this.

Tom Chalmers is the Managing Director of Legend Press and has been short-listed for the 2007 UK Young Publisher of the Year and UK Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards. He was good enough to speak to me about the series, the short story, and how he feels the form can be brought into the 21st Century.

Tell us a little bit about Legend Press.

Legend Press started out from an idea on the train home one evening and grew into a difficult challenge but also a usually rewarding one. I was working in publishing, as a sub-editor for a financial magazine publisher, having also had some experience in book publishing, and on the train home one night after a couple of drinks with a friend (I was 25 at the time) I saw that, despite having no money for capital, it was not that difficult for the basic setting-up of a small publishing operation—just that a huge amount of planning, work, initiative, and hopefully some luck, lay ahead.

Legend Press, the youngest-run fiction publisher in the UK, is in many ways the antithesis of the traditional publishers—we’ve recognised that society, readers, and consumers are changing in outlook, and the industry is no longer able to survive in a closed-off, secluded world. We’ve attempted to be as interactive as possible, fast-moving, innovative, and constantly looking for what writers and readers want from us, and doing everything possible to satisfy those needs.

Going since 2005, we’re currently aiming to double the number of titles we publish year-on-year, and hand-in-hand with recent rapid growth in our profile (strangely, acceptance in publishing comes after acceptance outside the industry—which needs to change for the sector to thrive); we’re now building a strong list of new authors mixed with some established writers. Though even with signing some bigger names, we want the focus to remain on finding new writers and making their work a success—that’s where the greatest buzz often is.

In addition to the novels, we also want to promote the short story through our annual series. Legend Press all began with the first in the series, The Remarkable Everyday, when I was initially running the company part-time and mostly from an Internet café. The series is special to me for personal reasons, but I am also passionate about the short story and its relevance and compatibility through tailoring its format for today’s reader and their full hectic lives.

The third book in your series of short story anthologies is due out in March 2008. Do you plan to continue publishing a new collection every year for the foreseeable future?

As mentioned, I am passionate about the short story and the series, and believe we are only just touching on the potential for the new format. So I definitely see the series continuing, one a year for now, and then we will reassess—more would certainly be more likely than us turning away from it.

[Until the end of December, email direct to Legend Press, mentioning this interview, and receive both anthologies for just £5 each.]

How will next year’s anthology differ from the previous two books?

The idea behind the first collection was 9,000-12,000 word stories that followed a single character for a full single day. This way we could provide different snapshots of life (the whole concept was inspired by the thought of how interesting it would be to dip briefly into the minds of all those around us, into the midst of their thoughts—and also a love of the word “remarkable”) while combining the depth of the novel with the range and diversity possible with the short story. The second collection stretched the concept with more focus on views from particular cultural vantage points.

This third collection will see a major development for the idea—we’re looking for stories that follow a character for a single hour. Not only should this add to the fantastic concentration in short fiction, but will fit even more in tune with the busy readers, the stories perfect for that snatched reading time during each day.

Your short fiction series is referred to as “The Short Story Reinvented,” and your recent call for submissions asks writers to “help us revitalise the short story.” So do you share the common belief that the short story in the tradition of Chekhov, Poe, Balzac, etc. is dying out?

I think there were some fantastic collections written in the past, but short fiction became something that publishers would often pump out towards the end of a career to fill a slot—almost just the scrapbooks of top novelists, with the main focus remaining, of course, on their novels. The public became out of tune with the short story and as a result less effort and promotion was put in than before with an even greater focus on the novels. Short fiction then suffered due to a negative cycle. We should now demonstrate the value and enjoyment there is in the short story collection, and then the reader can also go back and appreciate the great short fiction writers of the past.

What do you believe can be done to revive it and bring it to a wider audience in the 21st century?

We now all need to put the effort in, look at the short story format in comparison to today’s reader and their lives, and take its many values to the public with the most appropriate message. I love novels; for me they are one of history’s and today’s greatest products, but the two should sit hand-in-hand and complement each other.

What makes your short fiction collection different from traditional anthologies?

As mentioned, we’ve worked hard on finding a form that appeals to today’s reader. It should sit between the novel and the traditional short story collection, bringing the many values into a form that will be appreciated by the readers and be in tune with their often busy and hectic lives.

How much responsibility do you think the larger publishing companies have for the decline of short fiction in the commercial arena?

Whether it was laziness, indifference in its production and promotion, or a business decision based on where they had taken the market (or in part it had gone by its own accord), of course publishers should take the responsibility. We are the ones creating the books and, as our customers, we serve the public (this humbleness and attachment to the public publishers need to develop, or at least redevelop). If the public are no longer interested in a genre or type of book then of course that is the responsibility of the publishers. Publishing cannot be self-important—we need the realisation that the general public has little interest in the industry, but we are in a position to make many people very interested in individual books. We need to use this position to do what we can to boost short fiction—both for the general good and as a business decision.

Were you surprised at the extent of the success of your first anthology, The Remarkable Everyday? Why do you think it proved so popular?

I think for the reasons stated—we pushed it as something for today’s reader, and I think those that read it appreciated this fact. One of the most rewarding aspects was the many people who wanted to let me know which was their favourite story. All the different views were a testament to the diversity and range on offer—hopefully something for every reader and a lot to all. It was also a success due to the company’s drive to be as interactive with the public as possible. Many were quite surprised by our openness, but for me, for many reasons, it was and is the best way forward for Legend Press and what we want the company to achieve.

There are a lot of false impressions surrounding writing in general, and short fiction specifically. What, in your opinion, is the most common misconception about this particular form of writing?

I never think of short stories as sections of novels—almost a chapter cut and pasted. They should be their own entity, often with a beginning, middle, and end. To just take them as a section from a larger work takes away the very values that can make short stories great—the concentration, diversity, and room for difference. They should be able to stand alone and this means even greater value contained within the overall collection.

What is it about the short story that excites you?

The range—the possibilities on offer. It is the perfect format to try anything as a writer; there is limitless potential for what each story can contain. It also excites me as such a great vehicle to re-tap into today’s reader and want they want and enjoy, and can fit perfectly in tune with the pattern of their lives.

With genre specific work so popular at the moment, especially among the small presses, is it a commercial decision or purely one of taste that has made you decide to steer away from genre pieces for your collections so far?

I realised the importance of positioning Legend Press and making a mark with a certain, though diverse, type of book; as well as the area I know best, I wanted the company to be at the centre of the market and to have a major impact there, although it was a major challenge. When I would go into the bookshops previously, I would see the array of mainstream fiction books, some literary, some more commercial, and I wanted Legend Press to produce books to be there. This general approach was taken across into the short fiction, and I also wanted the focus to very much remain on quite grounded portrayal—the idea of getting into everyone’s thoughts there and then. I wanted this to be the focus of the writing rather than a specific genre.

Who are your favourite writers and why?

This is a question I find so hard to answer—there are many and for different reasons. Firstly, Lord of the Rings and then One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest were the books I remember getting me into reading. I love Virginia Woolf for the stream of consciousness style, which I am fascinated by (and which is a fundamental part of concept for the short story series). I loved Malory for the storytelling and Steinbeck for inspiring the one essay I went to town on. Catch-22 is the book that has made me laugh out loud the most, and post-school I have discovered the immense values in Shakespeare. Sadly, and bizarrely considering my job, I get little time to read the many new books I would want to, but of recent authors Murakami has stood out for me as offering something completely different and unique—I find myself recommending him to everyone. And of course, most of all, the Legend Press writers.

What, in your opinion, makes a good short story? Do you have any hints or tips for writers starting out who might want to tackle shorter fiction?

As mentioned, I think it should always be kept in mind that the story should be an entity on its own. Outside of that, while there are no doubt certain structuring and techniques that can be applied to good effect, I wouldn’t want to stifle the creativity. The format is perfect for writer experimentations, and this should be used to full effect. Write as many of them as possible, about any and everything—cover and try anything that comes to mind. View the end result and see what is coming together. There are also so many competitions, groups, and collections, such as ours, available that it is a great chance for writers to get themselves and their writing out there and to build their writing profile.

Tom can be contacted at tomchalmers@legendpress.co.uk. For more information on Legend Press, see www.legendpress.co.uk or myspace.com/legendpress.