Publishing with Hobnob Press

On this page I describe the history and background to Hobnob Press, and then offer some suggestions, primarily but not exclusively, for anyone thinking of approaching me with a book proposal. Some of what I say here may be helpful to anyone contemplating a local history publication, and with no intention of approaching me. Separately you will find a simple stylesheet, which may be useful for anyone preparing a manuscript to offer to a publisher.

Background

Hobnob Press was established in 1983 by Tony Martin (then proprietor of the Everyman Bookshop, Salisbury) to publish my history of Salisbury, Endless Street. During the 1980s Tony published four more local books under the Hobnob Press imprint, all now out of print, but after 1988 the press fell silent. Tony sold his Salisbury shop (after many years as a wine bar it reopened as the Rocketship Bookshop in 2019), then ran bookshops in Southampton and Ringwood, but has retired from bookselling. I subsequently wrote other books about Wiltshire and regional history for Sutton Publishing and Ex Libris Press, and have for many years conducted freelance historical research. In 2001 I revived Hobnob Press (with Tony Martin’s encouragement), to publish quality local books at an affordable price. After 2009 the focus changed slightly, to concentrate on print-on-demand editions of west country regional history titles and books by local authors, in some cases with a more academic and national or international interest. As publishing and bookselling evolve this seems an appropriate way forward, and a close working relationship between author and publisher is forged so that just a selection of worthwhile and significant books is published each year. Since 2011 my preoccupation has been editing the Victoria County History in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, so Hobnob Press has become a part-time activity.

By 2023 more than 200 titles have been published. New books regularly receive favourable reviews in the local press and historical periodicals, and most people interested in the history and landscape of the west country by now will have many Hobnob titles on their bookshelves.

Hobnob Press has always worked with other organisations, including the Wiltshire Record Society, the Dorset Record Society, the Wiltshire Buildings Record, and Sarum Chronicle, and several titles have been published on behalf of or in conjunction with local organizations, including the Friends of Shaftesbury Abbey, Chippenham Museum, Gillingham Local History Society, Swindon Local Studies Library, Gloucester Rugby Heritage, Gloucestershire Gardens and Landscape Trust and Salisbury Museum. In 2024 we are beginning a collaboration with the Victoria County History, based at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London. Details of some of these and other links will be found on the Hobnob and Friends page of this website.

Suggestions

These notes are intended for authors who are considering an approach to Hobnob Press with a book that they have written or are proposing to write. I describe the background, scope and philosophy of Hobnob Press, and plans for its future. I also deal with the practicalities of publishing, such as the editorial and financial implications, and the opportunities presented by advances in computer and printing technology. Hobnob Press works alongside other small publishers so that, even if a book proposal is not suitable for our own list, we may be able to refer it to a colleague.

Since 2001 I have published titles under the Hobnob Press imprint, and designed and typeset others for societies and individuals. With few exceptions these have been concerned with the local and regional history of Wiltshire and neighbouring counties, and have ranged from village histories and walking and popular guidebooks, to academic studies of archaeology, historical biographies and architectural history. The range and scope can be seen from other pages of this Hobnob Press website. From 2010 the strategy has been to concentrate on local and regional studies (Wiltshire, Wessex and South-West England) within the fields of history, archaeology, landscape, architecture, biography and literature, but I have also branched out into fiction and poetry by local authors. Local interest book proposals, such as village histories, reminiscences, etc, which fall outside these criteria may be referred to other publishers, with whom we are in contact.

Local history used to be regarded as the cinderella of the historical world, because in the past it was too often pursued in a blinkered and inexpert way, out of touch with the many exciting new historical and archaeological disciplines that have burgeoned in recent decades. In fact good local and regional history can and should be the meeting place for amateur and professional; academic and lay; historian, archaeologist, geographer, ecologist – a whole range of students whose work involves them in the study of particular places. Most academic social history these days includes micro-historical study of specific places or regions and so, at one level, is grounded in local history and topography. While there will always be scope, of course, for publishing local history at many different levels, in different formats and for different readerships, Hobnob Press tries to offer an outlet for locally anchored work of wider significance, written in an accessible way but to a high standard by experienced authors and scholars.

Conventionally publishers have had to estimate the potential take-up of specific titles, and bear (or pass on) the financial risk of what they perceive to be the appropriate print-run. Print on Demand technology offers exciting possibilities which Hobnob Press has embraced now for over a decade. Not only can books be printed in small numbers, as and when required, but individual copies can be supplied directly from printer to retailer (saving storage and handling), corrections can easily be made and books can be kept in print indefinitely, without wasteful overstocks and uneconomic remaindering. Increasingly such advantages can be achieved without compromising the book’s design and production quality.

I have already used this new approach to produce many books of impressive quality, and now concentrate on this area of publishing exclusively, which appears to have great potential for local and academic publishers and their authors. For it to be cost-effective, however, my authors’ work must require a minimum of editing, and they should be prepared to submit to me their texts and illustrations in accordance with our Stylesheet. We shall then design and typeset their books within established templates to develop identifiable series, publicise them to appropriate markets, and ensure that both author and publisher are fairly remunerated on sales, as set out in a simple agreement by email.

If you are considering writing, or have already embarked on writing, a book that you feel falls within our area of interest and you wish to consider us as publisher, please make contact using the form included on this website. We shall send you a proposal form to complete and then consider your proposal.