News – Elastic Press Closes Doors

From Elastic Press:

This newsletter is a bit of a watershed for us, because it contains the announcement that we’ll be closing to future publications with immediate effect. Our final publication was the “Subtle Edens” anthology, published on 1st November 2008, and during the course of 2009 I’ll slowly be running down the company with the focus on attending conventions to sell our remaining stock. This hasn’t been a snap decision, and isn’t the result of any ‘credit crunch’ or financial difficulties. In fact, I’ve known for two years that ‘Subtle Edens’ would be our final book. The main reason for closing is that I’ve increasingly found Elastic is becoming a burden rather than a pleasure. I’ve run it mostly in my spare time over the past six years (and occasionally part-time and full-time), and I’ve decided that I now want to focus on my own writing and spend more time with my family. Not only that, but I feel I’ve taken Elastic as far as it can go. We’ve had some great successes – in terms of reviews, awards, and sales – with, perhaps ironically, 2008 being the best year to date; however I feel I’ve hit a wall in my ability to expand the press further and my enthusiasm is starting to wane. Rather than wait until such time that I start to do a disservice to the authors, it seems better to quit whilst I’m ahead.

As I said, the company is solvent and our authors have already been informed and are aware that any royalties due to them will be paid. I envisage selling stock throughout 2009, continuing to promote the books already published with dealer’s tables at Redemption, EasterCon and probably Alt.Fiction. Throughout the year there may be special offers on some of our titles, and during the month of January I’m extending our December offer of a copy of “Extended Play” free with all UK orders.

Whilst I’m here, let’s reflect on the achievements of the press over the past six years:

1. We published 31 books in total, and stuck to a three monthly schedule without default;

2. We won five awards. The British Fantasy Society (BFS) award for Best Small Press in 2005, plus BFS awards for Best Anthology 2005 (“The Alsiso Project”), 2006 (“The Elastic Book of Numbers”) and 2007 (“Extended Play”). In addition, “Other Voices” by Andrew Humphrey won an East Anglian Book Award in 2008;

3. Our books have on the whole received positive reviews from The Guardian to The Fix to Time Out to various SF/F/H websites;

4. We have prided ourselves in sticking to our mixed genre, short story, mostly unknown writer mandate, flying in the face of commerciality;

5. We are one of the few UK independent SF/F/H publishers with bookstore distribution;

6. We conducted some downright bizarre book launches. Here are a selection: myself wearing a cow mask on the streets of Norwich (“The Virtual Menagerie”), bingo (“The Elastic Book of Numbers”), a nature table (“The English Soil Society”), cast members of Coronation Street doing adapted readings (“The Last Days of Johnny North”), a gig featuring legendary New Wave singer Lene Lovich (“Extended Play”), and a live art show (“Subtle Edens”).

I’ve personally had great fun over those six years, and have enjoyed working with all our authors and artists. Special thanks must go to Marie O’Regan (website design and typesetting), Dean Harkness (cover layout design since 2004), Sandie Hook (for her love and support), and Allen Ashley (as well as editing two of our anthologies he has been a stalwart campaigner of Elasticity!).

As for myself, I’ll still be attending conventions as a writer after 2009. Forthcoming work from me includes a collection of short stories co-written with Allen Ashley due from Screaming Dreams sometime in 2009, and a novel that’s also seeking a home. I’m also continuing my editing role with the BFS for their New Horizons magazine. More information on all my projects can be found at www.andrew-hook.com.

Finally, please continue to support us throughout 2009. Our 2008 titles are still eligible for forthcoming awards so don’t forget us on your ballot sheets, and please feel free to snap up our remaining titles before they go out of stock. In addition, our e-books will remain available on Fictionwise, and audio books are also in the pipeline. Of course, there’s always a possibility that I’ll want to resurrect Elastic Press at some point, and I’ll continue with news updates containing other offers throughout 2009. Until then, Happy New Year to all our readers and many thanks for supporting us over the past six years. It really has been very much appreciated.

All the best

Andrew Hook
www.elasticpress.com

I can personally say that I’ve enjoyed works by authors like Tim Lees, Allen Ashley (Somnambulists) and Steve Savile that they have published. I also once got a damn cool story submission for Heliotrope from Geoffrey Maloney (cool enough for me to actually remember it specifically out of a thousands of story submissions).

At any rate, best of luck to Andrew Hook with future endeavors!

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