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An Interview With...Neon Books

Updated: Dec 18, 2019

This is part of a series of interviews taking place with small press publishers. This interview series will be partially published online and partially in print, as a part of a nonfiction book to demystify publishing, published in January 2020 and written by Isabelle Kenyon. The following is an extract from an interview with Neon Books.


Neon Books is a UK-based independent publisher, producing a small-number of carefully-selected chapbooks, pamphlets and other ephemera each year. It also publishes Neon, one of the longest- running independent literary magazines in the UK.


Twitter: https://twitter.com/Neon_Lit_Mag

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NeonBooksUK/


Krishan Coupland is a graduate from the University of East Anglia MA Creative Writing programme. His debut chapbook When You Lived Inside The Walls is available from Stonewood Press, and his short fiction appears in Ambit, Aesthetica and Litro. He has won the Manchester Fiction Prize, and the Bare Fiction Prize. He runs and edits Neon Literary Magazine. He is unduly pre-occupied with theme parks. His website is www.krishancoupland.co.uk.



When did your press open for business and what was your first year like?

I started a literary magazine many years ago now – the press grew out of that. I found the work I received for the magazine inspiring, and wanted to be able to publish collections and chapbooks. It was around four years ago now that Neon Books published its first few chapbooks. That first year involved a lot of learning. Poetry chapbooks and novellas are difficult things to sell, but there were also some real high points that helped keep me going, including winning a Saboteur Award.


What are the most rewarding things about running a small press?

It’s immensely rewarding when something I’ve helped publish really reaches someone. Every so often someone will send an email saying how much they enjoyed the magazine or one of the chapbooks, and it makes my day every time.


This interview is part of 'Small Press Publishing: The Dos and Don'ts' released January 2020. You can pre-order the book here.


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