Yesterday I had an email out of the blue from someone who wanted to support our bookshop. It wasn't someone I knew, but they wanted to see the bookshop happen. Well, they just gave a huge amount to our campaign and we've made our target.
We're pleased to announce that we've been awarded an
@ace_national
(
@ace_thenorth
) emergency grant thanks to public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Big sigh of relief! This means that Dead Ink should survive this crisis and continue publishing.
Although we've been quiet about it, I think it might be worth putting the word out that Dead Ink is currently commissioning new titles. If you think you would be a good match for us then do send your work in to nathan
@deadinkbooks
.com
We're pleased to announce that Dead Ink will no longer use any plastic-based special finishes on our books. We were shocked to learn just how many finishes are plastic based and earlier this year made the decision to phase them out of our production entirely.
Today is a momentous day:
@deadinkbookshop
launches
#theamazonkiller
online bookshop.
A new way to buy books and cool shit.
An independent bookshop from an independent publisher selling exclusively independent books.
RT and spread the word.
So remember we mentioned putting together an anthology for northern writers..? To celebrate the North and all the great writing that comes from here... To create pathways into the industry for new writers... Well it’s going to happen.
KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED
#TestSignal
Given all the impending doom for indie presses on the timeline lately here are some ways you can support some of your favourite indies. Do please help RT and get the message out to give UK indies a boost!
The publishing industry has a lot of problems. The tote game is not one of them. Tell me an industry that does tote bags better than publishing? We're better at tote bags than the tote bag industry.
Last night we received news that our latest Project Grant application to
@ace_thenorth
was successful! Which is a huge relief. Huge.
It will mean that, among other things, there should be a Dead Ink Bookshop appearing in Liverpool this year! Which will be fun/chaos.
Announcing Lucie McKnight Hardy's DEAD RELATIVES.
Not for the faint-hearted, Dead Relatives invites you behind closed doors, and will leave you wondering if it’s better that they’re kept shut and firmly locked.
Preorder now:
So what if we established an annual anthology for the north? Every year we'd publish a book of writing from early-career writers from or in the north. Supported by contributions from some established northern writers.
In just over a month we’re going to be launching our new online bookshop. It’s going to be a little bit different. If you fancy buying some books and beta testing it for us in return for a discount and cool rewards then comment below and we’ll get in touch when it is ready to go.
The beef has been squashed.
No longer are Dead Ink and
@Influxpress
mortal enemies, we've come together to launch
@NewRuinsBooks
- a new collaborative imprint focussed on the porous edgelands between genres.
Announcing WRITING THE UNCANNY ed. by
@DanCoxonAuthor
and
@vivmondo
.
Writing the Uncanny sees some of the best contemporary authors explain what drew them to horror, ghost stories, folklore and beyond, and reveal how to craft unsettling fiction.
Preorder:
Dead Ink is an independent press based in Liverpool. We publish bold books by dead cool authors. 😎
Readers, ahead of us announcing new titles soon, how about a boost RT to help propel us across Twitter and pick up some new followers?
#books
Some time ago there was a call for publishers to stop using plastic Jiffy bags. We've switched over to Jiffy Green Padded Bags. The lining is recycled paper fibre and the whole thing is fully recyclable, biodegradable and compostable. Thank you for bringing this to our attention!
We have everything in place to sign for our new bookshop on Smithdown Rd in Liverpool. A Dead Ink shop selling books by indie publishers. But, despite being able to afford everything we need a guarantor, that we can't find. So we need to pay 1yr of rent in advance.
Okay everyone, we have an idea, so thread!
Recently, since Know Your Place really, we've found ourselves in the position of being frequently approached by early career writers in need of support, advice, and opportunities.
"All witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable." – Heinrich Kramer, Malleus Maleficarum, 1487
WATER SHALL REFUSE THEM by Lucie McKnight Hardy is out in July. A Folk Horror coming-of-age tale set in wales during the heatwave of 1976.
🧙♀️
The best part of Gilmore Girls is when Jess says he works for a small Press that he offhandedly drops just “puts out about three books a month”.
I’m sorry, WHAT!
Brb, just having a panic attack.
We're looking for novels of literary fiction and literary genre and welcome all applicants, particularly those from under-represented backgrounds. In fact, if you feel that the world of publishing doesn't represent you, then we'd encourage you to send us your work.
We're very very very very excited to make a little announcement...
We've signed a two-book deal with Naomi Booth! We'll be bringing you a novel in 2020 and a short story collection in 2021. We released Sealed a year ago and it has been a tremendous journey so far.
@NaomiBooth
Thank you to
@ace_national
and
@TNLUK
for awarding us £94,000 in project funding to continue our publishing and establish the Dead Ink Hub in Liverpool's
@baltictriangle
/
@balticcreative
. Eyes peeled for some great books and a new bookshop coming soon!
So congratulations to
@LMcKnightHardy
as Dead Relatives just became our first book to sell out before the publication date.
Absolutely going to be the spooky must-read of
#spookyseason
Reprints on the way!
NORTHERN WRITERS: a biennial anthology of established and new writers from the north. Free submissions through
@NewWritingNorth
and all of the featured writers will be paid. Those new to the industry will be offered a consultation with
@CWAgencyUK
COMING MAY 2024 🌿🥀🌻
A bizarre, dreamlike folk-horror about three friends, a road trip through a quaint post-apocalyptic England to a forbidden village, ghosts, and a good place to get ice cream.
Find out more and pre-order here
🎉🎉🎉EVERYONE!🎉🎉🎉
DEAD INK 2020
On Thursday we will be fully announcing our new list and launching our new subscription service.
What do we have for this year? Just this lot: Alison Irvine, Harriet Mercer, MYSTERY, Naomi Booth, and Gary Budden!
🤔
Tune in on Thursday!
A busy few weeks here! All going well, it looks like the Dead Ink bookshop will be coming soon. We'll be selling books by independent publishers and based in South
#Liverpool
. Who would you be willing to support a Kickstarter to help us get on our feet?
Pitch: Love Island except instead of healthy young attractive people full of joy, it’s independent publishers complaining for hours about trade discounts and returns and the crushing futility of life and instead of sex and frolicking there’s just no hope. No hope at all.
You might have seen in
@thebookseller
today that we're open for submissions of novels, novellas and creative non-fiction from BAME and LGBTQ+ authors. There's some more details on our blog:
Itching to reveal new covers for our 2020 titles but can't because we have a "plan" and a "strategy" and just flinging it out on Twitter for validation isn't a "viable business strategy, Nathan"
Okay everyone we need some help! The Doloriad has been out less than a week and it has just gone out of stock. We have 150 copies and we REALLY need the cash to reprint. If you could order direct from us it would really help with reprint costs! pls RT
Exciting news! We've appointed an advisory board with some great people. A big welcome to Kit de Waal, Sam Missingham, Mark Richards, Will Carr and SJ Bradley. Think of them as a sort of crime fighting/publishing super group.
Indie press supporters! We need your help and your RTs!
@LMcKnightHardy
's Water Shall Refuse Them is our fastest selling fiction title & we need to reprint! Unfortunately trade income is 3 months away so we need as many direct orders as we can muster!
Desperate to announce the full Dead Ink 2022 list, but once again I'm told we need a "strategy" because this is a "business" and immediate Twitter validation is apparently none of those things.
Here it is! The Dead Ink 2020 list and our new Patreon subscription for
#1000Patons
aimed at making this little press grow! 💪
Thread 👇for our new 2020 titles. They're really cool...
We're having a BIG SALE.
Use the coupon 'bigsale' at checkout.
33% off all of our titles to celebrate everything we published this year ahead of us announcing our new list.
Also we need the money.
Still regularly think about when Jess in Gilmore Girls goes to work for an indie press and he’s like “yeah, it’s only small we publish like three books a month” and I’ve still never been so offended.
Since releasing Know Your Place we've been asked repeatedly how publishing can improve their engagement with the working class. Well, here are some thoughts...
The Advance Reader Copies are in. This is going to be the book of the summer. Think Shirley Jackson writing coming-of-age folk horror set in Wales during a 1970s heatwave. It’s exactly that.
#WaterShallRefuseThem
Pandemic Books: Here are all the books that Dead Ink has published since the start of the pandemic.
We're tired. Very very tired, but incredibly proud of the whole team and all of the authors who have stuck by us.
Can't believe this isn't over yet...
TEST SIGNAL: The Anthology of Northern Writing.
Coming soon to
@kickstarter
.
With open free submissions, some special partners, and pathways into the industry for new writers, this will be a game changer for northern writing.
#TestSignal
I want a Northern Gothic/Northern Crime imprint. High end moody prestige crime novels set in the North. Bleak contemporary gothic in the peaks, the moors, the towns, and the cities.
I want one of the big publishers to pay us produce it for them. They should hit us up.
Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number--
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you--
Ye are many -- they are few.
'This book is a game changer' -
@nikeshshukla
'A revelatory self-portrait of the working class' -
@NewStatesman
Finally the paperback of Know Your Place is here! For one week, we've put it on sale for just £7.99.
Happy publication to
@LMcKnightHardy
! Water Shall Refuse Them is released today. Get your sun-soaked Welsh witch horror whilst you can. Book of the summer, I’m telling you.
Somedays it is worth reminding myself why I got into this beautiful book publishing business in the first place – the abusive emails from complete strangers.
Literary agents are predicting “joy” will be a dominant theme among submissions in 2022 with cosy crime continuing, renewed fervour for historical fiction and vampires, plus further exploration of the Substack model. Find out more here: (£)
Writers in the North! This one is for you.
- Free to submit ✅
- Writers get paid ✅
- Partnered with
@NewWritingNorth
✅
- Free consultation with literary agent,
@CWAgencyUK
✅
- Party at Bloomsbury ✅
- Mailed out to editors ✅
Let's make it happen!
In
@thebookseller
:
@LimePictures
has optioned TV rights from Dead Ink for Lucie McKnight Hardy’s debut novel, Water Shall Refuse Them.
"It’s a perfect story to adapt for television, riven with tension and mystery"
Seeing as indie publishing is marked out as one of the only glimmers of hope in this recent report of literary fiction, here is some love for all the fabulous indies who keep it alive.
You know how every time we've told you that a book is going to be big we've been absolutely 100% correct?
Well, this is going to be BIG!
Waiting for Ted by
@MariekeBigg
We’ve now had a full week of the Dead Ink Bookshop and I honestly love spending time in there. I’m wondering what everyone’s first impressions are - it seems that everyone really enjoys the space?
'to be poor or dependent is somehow a personal moral failure these days, little to do with the systemic reduction of welfare and the shaming of disability.' Anna Burns was on benefits and wrote a Booker winning novel. Somehow she is being shamed for that.