It seems like ages since I’ve been in touch, hope all is well in your part of the world. I’d like to take a moment to send good thoughts to Ukraine. And say that I am sadly disappointed in our world leaders for their passivity, although I do understand why. But still. A few days after the invasion I watched a video of Joaquin Phoenix accepting his Oscar and at the end he quoted a lyric his brother had written – ‘Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.’

In the spirit of what you say and write and think does make a difference, it is my hope that these words may help, even in the smallest way.

So, I have some news. We have a new book! The Peanut Factory by Deborah Price. It’s a memoir about a young woman squatting in abandoned houses in London in the late 70s during the emerging counterculture scene. We’re absolutely thrilled! And we’re having a launch party at The Latest Bar in Brighton on release day, 24 May 2022.

Pre-orders are now available on our website: gutspublishing.com/the-peanut-factory

At first we started pitching this as a punk rock squatter memoir because it was during the early days of punk. Which is true, and Deborah had been part of the same scene as some of the South London punk bands, The Damned is one. But then we found out that punk rock was actually short lived and since The Peanut Factory covers six years, counterculture scene seemed to nail it.

My new assistant Sally Horowitz wrote this:

“Squat life was sex, drugs and punk rock but it wasn’t all fun and games. The Peanut Factory shows Deborah navigating a male-dominated scene, moving every few months and living with drug dealers, sex workers, people on the run and working-class kids like her.”

Also, we’re delighted to let you know we have our first review blurb! Many thanks to Allie Rogers, author of Little Gold and Tale of a Tooth, for this:

“A window into a time of raw energy and rough edges, Deb Price paints a vivid picture of life in the squats of South London. By turns amusing and alarming, but always engaging, we accompany a teenager as she navigates her way to womanhood in a sub-culture on the margins.”

So, January and February were off the charts busy! In addition to editing the manuscript, I also had the joy of preparing tax docs for my accountant. Which, after publishing six books, has become a bit of an intense task. I spent almost a month on it. Not all day of course, that would drive anyone mad. At any rate. It is done. 

In the midst of tax preparation, one of my many forms of procrastination became Twitter. Somewhere near the end of January I came across a new book published by Bloomsbury. The title: Send Nudes. Oh, yeah, that sounds kind of familiar now doesn’t it? Oh, yeah, we published a book called Sending Nudes in Jan 2021. What a coincidence! How strange. Or not. And can I say that Bloomsbury did see our book in The Guardian? And can I say they did not see our book in The Guardian? I cannot say yes to either. Or no. But I can say it was the moment I started to grow up, so to speak, as a book publisher. That’s what the big publishers do – they watch the indie publishers and they watch what’s going on in the media and then make their publishing decisions. 

So, we boasted on Twitter and Instagram about being ‘trendsetters’ and that Bloomsbury is welcome to ride in on our indie coattails. But, yes, to a certain extent it was annoying. And flattering. At any rate, that’s the news on that.

Jillian Halket (Blade in the Shadow) is doing well and collaborating with Hard Quirk, an American radio talk show which focuses on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. As well, Jillian is in touch with OCD Australia. We’ll keep you posted on any upcoming interviews!

Aidan Martin (Euphoric Recall) is the guest speaker on 9 March at West Lothian College for a talk about the impact of addiction on families. Apparently there were tickets (free) but the event sold out in 6 hours! Well done Aidan, rock star status achieved.

That’s about it for now. I’ll do my best to keep in touch more often.

Oh yes, just to let you know, I've been through all of our submissions now (it's a long ongoing process as they keep coming in) and I'm aiming to select two more books for 2022, soon-ish. Many thanks to Vivien Celine for helping me get to this point. She read over 100 submissions and also wrote a blog post about what she learned about pitching along the way.