Overview
I am a book editor and publishing professional with over 25 years experience. I started work in the early 1990s at a community publishing organisation specialising in oral history and life stories. In a decade working there, I helped over 1000 people get their stories into print. I’m currently editor-in-chief at Route, an independent publishing house. Route publishes memoir, literary fiction and biography, with a strong line in music titles. In addition, I work with organisations to help them tell their stories in books, and individuals with personal projects, offering the full range of publishing services.My primary role is as a book editor, with particular strengths in developmental and structural editing. I have a good eye for the story, and work closely with authors to help them make their book the best it can possibly be. It is work I enjoy, and am comfortable with. The books I produce have won many accolades and awards, and are often well reviewed. A selection of my recent titles is listed below. Consider me if you’ve written a memoir, literary fiction or biography. I can help.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Music
Fiction
Literary Fiction
Languages
English (UK)
English (US)
Awards
- Rolling Stone Book of the Year
- Mojo Book of the Year
- Reader's Digest Music Book of the Year
- Rough Trade Book of the Year
- Morning Star Book of the Year
- James Tait Memorial Prize for Fiction Shortlist
- ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research Shortlist
- Pen Ackerley Prize Shortlist
- NME Book of the Year Shortlist
- Northern Soul Book of the Year
Work experience
Route Publishing
Jan, 2000 —
Present
Editor and publisher of independent press that runs its own book programme. In addtion, Route offers publishing services to individuals, companies and organisations.
Yorkshire Art Circus
Apr, 1992 —
Apr, 2003
(about 11 years)
Editor, writer and publisher for a community publishing organisation with the mission statement 'Everyone Has A Story To Tell'. Specialised in oral history books and helping people tell their life stories through publications, exhibitions and performances.
Portfolio
‘One of the best books about popular music ever written.’ – Record CollectorWhen you hear a certain song, where does it take you? What is the secret that connects music to our lives? Heart warming, moving and laugh out loud funny, Bringing It All Back Home is ... read more
The book of the Paul Laverty and Ken Loach film.Fergus met Frankie on his first day at school and they’ve been in each others’ shadow ever since. As teenagers they skipped school and drank cider on the ferry over the River Mersey, dreaming about travelling the... read more
As part of a research process with Jospeph Rowntree Foundation, M Y Alam spent time interviewing British Pakistani men and gathered their views on issues which are generally prone to misrepresentation elsewhere. Over a period of time these sessions became much... read more
‘At a time when the poor of the world seem to be rising up, I found myself deeply moved and completely enthralled by this film.’ – Michael MooreCosta and Sebastián arrive in Cochabamba, Bolivia, to shoot a period film about Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. ... read more
Four Friends. One Mission. Lots of Spirit.A bittersweet comedy about a Glasgow boy locked in a family feud who just wants a way out. When Robbie sneaks into the maternity hospital to visit his young girlfriend Leonie and hold his newborn son Luke for the first... read more
On October 7th, 1955, a little known poet called Allen Ginsberg premiered a new long poem in the Six Gallery in San Francisco. ‘Howl’, penned in the shadow of the Cold War, would cause a sensation among the crowd that gathered that evening. It would not be lon... read more
On 22 May 1963, a group of men representing Fryston Colliery Welfare ran out against the much-vaunted Bradford team, Thackley AFC, to contest the final of the West Riding County FA Challenge Cup, the ‘ultimate prize’ for local amateur teams. Captaining the Fry... read more
We know the world does not revolve around us, but for consumers in the instant society of the 21st Century, it very much looks like it does.Throughout the course of a normal day, we are bombarded with around 3,000 messages. Each one is an attempt to make an em... read more
Stories from our so called generation.Up close and personal, Born in the 1980s tells the story of a generation coming of age. As the reality of the adult world begins to bite, love and lust, broken dreams and heartbreak and emotional take the place of teenage ... read more
The magic couple Amadou and Mariam are one of the most loved and successful acts to come out of Africa this century, but their story is not one of overnight success. They have been singing their warm notes for more than thirty years.This autobiography traces A... read more
A young man listens as his grandmother (Dolores) recounts stories from her life, which he writes down in the hope of making sense of them all. Following a fortune-telling Galician childhood and romantic adventures with a much older lover, Dolores’s story takes... read more
Someone is waiting for a train, or it could be a bus or an aeroplane. They are alone. For company, in their coat pocket they are carrying a book of stories. They sit down and take out the book. It falls open on the first page. What would be the perfect read fo... read more
Do daughters step into their mothers’ shoes? How does this central relationship colour women’s lives? The tales in this anthology address these questions with honesty and vigour, weaving humour and warmth into the telling of small but significant tragedies.Cel... read more
‘Judas, the most hated name in human history! If you think you’ve been called a bad name, try to work your way out from under that. Yeah, and for what? For playing an electric guitar?’ – Bob DylanIn 1966 There Was… the sell-out tour to end all tours. Bob Dylan... read more
‘Another gangster with all the presence of a ghost. Just stories you hear over the years. Heavyweight. King shit. Bad arse. Red Laal… If there did exist a Pakistani Don Corleone, then this was him.’Kilo has fallen down the rungs of the criminal ladder and is o... read more
What happens when you only know your dad when you're a young boy and then, one day, when you are middle-aged, he phones to say he'd like to see you again before he dies? In the space of one year, Ian Clayton makes a voyage around China, America and his father ... read more
Carpet Burns is Tom Hingley’s account of his life as lead singer of Inspiral Carpets, one of the big three bands of the Manchester movement who, along with The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, changed music for a generation. Tom’s own words provide an account of... read more
Of all the iconic musicians and scenes that emanate from Manchester, Simon Wolstencroft is the one who joins up the dots. He learnt his chops playing with Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke, but turned down The Smiths because he didn't like the cut of Morrissey's jib... read more
Colombia, November 1993: a reconstructed old passenger train is carrying one hundred musicians, acrobats and artists on a daring adventure through the heart of a country soaked in violence. Leading this crusade of hope is Manu Chao with his band Mano Negra. Ma... read more
Official book of Palme d'Or winning film I, Daniel BlakeDaniel Blake, 59, has worked as a joiner most of his life in Newcastle. Now, after a heart attack and nearly falling from a scaffold, he needs help from the State for the first time in his life. He crosse... read more
Presenting twelve bedtime stories for adult reading that capture those moments of deep emotional significance which return to us in our dreams. This nocturnal collection reveals intimate insights into individual fantasy, the pursuit of our deepest desires, the... read more
Ever since men painted on cave walls, they've been making art out of their feelings for women. Byron and Keats did it with words, Bowie and Lennon did it with music. Joel Willans's prize-winning stories feature men battling for women's hearts with weapons as d... read more
'Shows the power of the novel to illuminate a moment in history; the moment when terrorism became the new rock 'n' roll, the paths that took us there and the paths we have taken since.' - David Peace A coalition government. A widely mistrusted ruling elite. Ri... read more
What's haunting Kennedy? He believes that literary characters exist just like you or me, but he's getting nowhere trying to prove it. His Falstaff project is an embarrassment; Barbara's wanting a baby; there's that trouble from last autumn; he can't even tell ... read more
This darkly comic and highly original novel is set over two weeks in 2004, where we find protagonist Dr Mark Chopra, a chaste and passive neurologist. One evening Mark is summoned to help his intriguing friend Ian, whose girlfriend Laura has, simply, vanished.... read more
'When I was fourteen I did something terrible. At least, that’s what some people tell me.'Four teenagers make a pact to lose their virginity away from the watchful eyes of parents and priest. Fifteen years later, they reflect on the past and unravel how it all... read more
In June 1968, a group of Muswell Hillbillies made their official album debut as Fairport Convention. In the next fifteen years, three of those founding Fairportees Richard Thompson, Ashley 'Tyger' Hutchings and Simon Nicol along with the next generation of Fai... read more
King of Clubs is a personal memoir of visionary showman James Lord Corrigan. Written by Corrigan's confidant Maureen Prest, this is the only insider's account of what really went on at his world famous Batley Variety Club, both in front of house and behind clo... read more
It's the swinging sixties and a young man leaves behind a humdrum Northern life and heads for London. He lands smack dab in the middle of Carnaby Street. Within months he is in a band and a year later he's invited to audition for Fairport Convention. He shares... read more
June 1981: That night. The night we made love in desperation. So much emotion, so much need. But now I’m sure of one thing. It’s rapid cell division rather than stress that has been messing with my biology.Dallas is on the telly, Abba are number one, Starsky a... read more
'Ian's book is brimming with laughter, tall stories, great memories and endless rounds of wonderful beer. It's also a call to arms to save this unique institution.' - Roger Protz, Editor Good Beer Guide 2000-2018Where do we go to meet old friends? What is our ... read more
When British bands took the world by storm in the mid-sixties, the world turned and looked at London. Despite the fact that the most successful of these bands hailed from the North West corner of England, for the USA, London was the source of these thrilling n... read more
A Guardian Book of the YearA Rough Trade Book of the YearReader’s Digest Editor’s ChoiceA Dagsavisen Book of the YearThe first insider's account of life inside The Fall, Steve Hanley's story unfolds like a novel; from 1979 when he joined his schoolmates Marc R... read more
