Republic of Consciousness Class of 2020: Fatherhood by Caleb Klaces (Prototype Publishing)
Between now and 26th February when we announce our shortlist, we’ll be featuring each of the longlisted titles on our new blog page in some way. We are running Q+A’s with the five Republic of Consciousness debutants: publishers who haven’t appeared on our longlists until 2020. Today, we’re talking to Jess Chandler, founder of Prototype Publishing, publisher of Fatherhood by Caleb Klaces.
Who is Prototype Publishing?
Prototype was founded by me, Jess Chandler, in 2019, to continue and develop the work begun by Test Centre, which I co-ran from 2011-18 with Will Shutes.
What was your relationship with books, reading and writing growing up?
Perhaps this is the answer that every publisher gives, but I have always loved books, and was fortunate enough to be surrounded by them at home, and at school, while growing up. English was always my subject, and I studied it at university, at both degree and masters level. I had a particularly inspiring teacher at secondary school, who was also a poet, and she really made me understand the joy of studying literature, and of writing. Reading and buying books has always been one of my favourite things, so being able to involve myself in that process, as a producer of books, is a real privilege.
You've founded three publishing companies: Test Centre, House Sparrow Press and now Prototype Publishing. Can you tell us a bit about why you wanted to start something new with Prototype, rather than fold it into your existing structures?
The three different publishing houses came into being for various circumstantial reasons, though really they’re all part of one project. Test Centre came to an end in 2018, as my co-founder Will Shutes and I decided to focus on different things, and it felt right to both of us to let Test Centre remain as our shared venture. I founded Prototype to build on the Test Centre approach and aesthetic, but with slightly more commercial ambitions, and a new focus on fiction. Prototype distributes all of the Test Centre back catalogue, so the history is still there, and Prototype is both its own thing and a continuation of what came before. House Sparrow Press is a very small side project which I run with Gareth Evans, publishing about one title a year, entirely self-funded, self-distributed etc. So that has its own ethos and approach and reasons for existing, but Prototype is my almost-full-time job and what I am dedicating all of my energies to, on my own.
Fatherhood is your first prose book. What attracted you to it?
In fact I have published several novels before this, though perhaps their coexistence with Test Centre’s poetry list and more experimental titles means they weren’t so clearly identified as such. The first novel we published was Stewart Home’s The 9 Lives of Ray The Cat Jones, followed by Sam Riviere’s ‘ambient novel’ Safe Mode. But Fatherhood does mark the beginning of a new focus on fiction and prose. The poetry publishing scene feels extremely vibrant, with so many brilliant small, indie presses. But there aren’t so many equivalent outlets for experimental fiction (though that is changing), particularly with the emphasis on design that I want to maintain.
I actually read a very early draft of Fatherhood quite a few years ago, when Caleb sent it to me as a poetry manuscript. It didn’t feel quite finished, so Test Centre didn’t publish it, which I think it’s now clear was the right decision, as it hadn’t yet found its form. When I was sent the final manuscript in 2018 I had absolutely no hesitation and loved it from the first time I read it. I had also been consciously looking for novels written by poets, which seemed a good progression from the poetry I’d been mainly publishing, so it couldn’t have come at a better time (reinforced by the fact that I had just had a baby and was thinking a lot about when it means to become a parent). I was drawn to its openness and sensitivity, the freedom and fluidity of its language, the power of its observations, both about fatherhood and about how we experience and articulate the world as things change around us.
The Republic of Consciousness Prize is an award for small presses. What do you think of prizes and prize culture?
In the past, I’ve been quite sceptical about prize culture and perceived it as a very closed world, impossible for small publishers and experimental writers to be a part of. But prizes like this one, and the recent successes of indie presses like Fitzcarraldo and Galley Beggar in some of the biggest international prizes, shows that things are changing. Because judges do actually have to read at least some of every book that is submitted, if your books are good and worthy of attention, then they really do stand a chance of being noticed. And the attention that a prize long- or short-listing, let alone prize win, can bring you, is something it would take years to generate through your own publicity channels. So prizes are an incredibly important opportunity and a prize win can really change everything – both in terms of reputation and finances. It’s also important to be able to reassure authors that choosing to publish with a small press still gives them access to these things which can change the trajectory of their careers.
If you could be a big publisher, would you be?
Good question! My instinctive answer is ‘No’, but it’s a question of scale. Anything feels big, relatively, when you’re working alone. I would love to be big enough to employ other people with specialist skills who could really take charge of the different areas involved in running a publishing house. I’d love to be able to hand over those things which I know are my weaknesses to people with real expertise and passion. And, of course, I’d love to have the salary and relative security that comes with being a big publisher. But I wouldn’t want any of these things at the expense of creative independence and integrity, or the quality of the relationships I have with my authors and designers. When your work is motivated by incentives other than profit and commercial success, you have a great sense of freedom, and a dedication which is real and personal, and losing these things would remove the reasons for existing as a publishing house in the first place. There are plenty of big publishers doing things in the big publisher way, and there’s no need for any more of them (not that they don’t have a great value of their own). But there is a need for independent publishers prepared to take risks and do things differently, and I’d like to stay in that niche, but with greater financial stability.
What does 2020 (and beyond) hold for Prototype?
2020 promises to be an exciting and busy year, with 3 new titles in our fiction list, a debut poetry collection, 3 interdisciplinary projects and the 2nd instalment of our anthology. The first book of the year is alphabet poem: for kids! by Emily Critchley, Michael Kindellan & Alison Honey Woods – a collaborative book of illustrated poems for both adults and children. This will be followed by Jen Calleja's brilliant debut collection of short stories, I'm Afraid That's All We've Got Time For.
Next up are two interdisciplinary poetry books which explore interactions between poetry and film: The sea is spread and cleaved and furled by Ahren Warner and Songs for Ireland by Test Centre author Robert Herbert McClean.
The summer will start with a debut poetry collection from alternative hip-hop spoken-word artist and storyteller Otis Mensah, Sheffield’s first Poet Laureate: Safe Metamorphosis. Then, the 2nd issue of our annual anthology, PROTOTYPE 2.
Autumn will bring two new novels, including the highly anticipated debut by Turner Prize-winning artist Helen Marten, The Boiled In Between, which will be launched to coincide with her solo show at Sadie Coles HQ, and in time for Frieze. Following this is an experimental crime novel set in Lisbon by Paul Buck, Along The River Run.
Beyond this year, we want to keep building our fiction and poetry lists, and to continue publishing experimental, interdisciplinary works alongside this.
Jess Chandler is the founder of Prototype Publishing, and co-founder of the independent publishing houses Test Centre and House Sparrow Press. Established to continue and develop the work begun by Test Centre, Prototype is committed to creating new possibilities in the publishing of fiction and poetry through a flexible, interdisciplinary approach.