Chatting to independent publisher, Daunt Books

As part of my feature on the inaugural Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses I invited those publishers whose books made it through to the shortlist to answer a few questions or write a guest post for my blog. Today I am delighted to welcome Karen from Daunt Books. I review their contender, Light Box by KJ Orr, here.

An introduction – who are you and what you aim to achieve?

Founded in 2010, the Daunt Books imprint is dedicated to publishing brilliant works by talented authors from around the world. Whether reissuing beautiful new editions of lost classics or publishing debut works by fresh voices, our titles are inspired by the Daunt Books shops themselves and the exciting atmosphere of discovery to be found in a good bookshop. With our roots as a travel bookshop, we aim to publish narratives with a strong sense of place.

How have things changed in publishing since you started?

When I started in publishing it was 2008 and everyone was terrified eBooks were going to destroy the publishing industry and bookshops. They’ve certainly had an effect, but it hasn’t been nearly as extreme as first thought. I also think the books being published today are more diverse than they were a decade ago. There’s still lots of room for improvement, but it’s good to see a broader range of books from authors with varied backgrounds and experiences.

Your experience of prize listings – what are the costs and benefits, monetary or otherwise?

We don’t have a huge list to begin with and many of our titles aren’t eligible for prizes because they’re reissues, but for titles that are eligible, we submit them for all the prizes we possibly can. Our author KJ Orr won the BBC Short Story Award last year and it’s been great for her collection, Light Box. For us, the benefits certainly outweigh the costs.

The future – where would you like to see your small press going?

We’ve been steadily growing since we started in 2010, and we’ll continue to grow. We’d like to commission more translations in the future, and continue to publish both original titles and re-discovered classics.