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On those BFS Award wins…
Posted by Darren on September 26th, 2007 at 7:01
I asked Pete if he might have a few words to say on those BFS Award wins – a few words? I might as well have asked Bill Gates if he could spare a dollar… ;) – and Nicky had something she wanted to add as well…
Pete on Joe Hill’s ‘Sidney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer’:
“We were delighted to discover that Joe had won the British Fantasy Society’s Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer simply because it was just so absolutely the right choice. There are always going to be debates – and reasonably so – about whether so-and-so deserved such-and-such an award but in Joe’s case, with the formidable potpourri of by turn phantasmagoric, poignant and chilling tales that was 20th Century Ghosts and then his masterful Heart-Shaped Box full-length debut, there really could be no realistic alternative. I reckon we’ll be hearing a lot more from Mr. Hill in the years to come.”
Nicky on Vincent Chong’s ‘Best Artist’ Award:
“I’ve been working alongside Pete for over three years now and perhaps the most exciting part of the job for me is searching for artwork for our covers. Sometimes it involves buying the rights to existing works and sometimes a particular book requires us to commission new art.
“There are some incredible artists turning out fabulous work using a wide range of different techniques and styles… and a good cover is always important. More often than not, unless I know the writer really well, a cover can sell a book to me… and I’ve discovered new authors by the covers on their books, just as I’m sure I’ve possibly missed some other fine books because their covers did not press all the required buttons.
“Here at PS, we’ve got some great artists producing our covers giving them that all-important pick-me-up appeal: one of them is, of course, Vinny Chong. He’s a consummate professional and a delight to work with and we’re thrilled that his talents have been recognised this year with the British Fantasy Society’s Award for Best Artist.
“A final note: many thanks to all the artists who have sent us examples of their work and their website details. Every one is looked at and replied to, and those whose style best suits our needs are kept on file for possible future use.”
Pete on Mark Morris’s ‘Best Non-Fiction’ Award:
“Mark Morris is a fine writer, a good friend and a regular visitor to Crowther Towers. But with Cinema Macabre he’s shown himself to be an exceptional editor to boot (not to mention a man with very saleable ideas!).
“Nicky and I have attended many FantasyCons at which Mark was shortlisted for an award (usually Best Novel or Best Short Fiction) and we’ve seen him manfully gritting his teeth to applaud – and applaud very generously – the writer who just pipped him at the post. So it was particularly gratifying to see him burst through the finishing tape in first place with this year’s British Fantasy Award for Best Non-Fiction with Cinema Macabre. Bravo, Mark – you did good!”
Pete on Winning the ‘Best Small Press Award’
“And finally, we picked up the Award for Best Small Press – for the sixth time out of seven. We’re delighted… absolutely over-the-moon thrilled to bits. To all those who ask me if they still mean anything let me say immediately that the Award still means as much as it ever did… but possibly even more.
“Before you win one, you’re just a contender trying to get a bit of recognition. But as time goes by, and you’ve won once, and then twice and then three times and so on, if you miss winning on any particular year then it must mean that you’ve dropped your game. Sure, it can mean that someone else has lifted their game, but generally, it means you’ve taken your eye off the ball.
“In all areas of our genre – writing, artwork, editing and so on – there are some fantastic talents at work. But in the British small press publishing arena, particularly over the past four, five or six years, the quality of the output has charged forward in leaps and bounds to become truly formidable. David Howe’s Telos, Guy Adams’s Humdrumming, Chris Teague’s Pendragon, Andrew Hook’s Elastic and Gary Fry’s Gray Friar and many more… they’re all of them exemplary, and the fact that PS edged its nose to the front of the shortlist for yet another year is all of the praise we could possibly hope to receive (though, of course, the actual Award is nice!).
“So, many thanks to everyone who voted for us; and thanks to all the other presses I mentioned, plus those I haven’t, for pushing the standards ever higher. We’re constantly being pushed and we love it.
“And, lest I forget, huge personal thanks from me to the rest of the team who put up with me and manage to turn out wonderful books despite my best efforts to mess things up: Nick Gevers, my fellow editor; Robert Wexler, chief designer and general design overseer; Nicky, office and process manager and my own personal general right- and left-hand co-ordinator; Ariel, webguy, marketing and publicity; Theresa Loosely, our print superviser; and Aimee Bolton, our mailing and storage manager. You’re all wonderful! Onwards!”
September 26th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
[...] More happiness from PS [...]