The idea for the book initially came from a conversation I had at the 1993 Federation of Worker Writers and Community Publishers (FWWCP), AGM. and Festival of Writing. I was treasurer of the organisation and also a delegate from my writing group, Eastside Writers in East London. Among many others, I met Stefan Szczelkun of wORrking Press, an independent publisher in South London. He said that wORking Press had not published any books about working-class women writers and was anxious to do so. He asked whether I would be interested in doing some research on the subject. At the time, I didn't think I was up to the task as I haven't got an academic background; but I started in a fairly modest way to trawl through my own collection of books. I then photocopied this list of 20 or so names and sent it to friends, colleagues and other interested bodies such as the Women's History Network, independent bookshops, Marx Memorial Library, Trades' Unions, the Labour Party and many others. The list provoked a lot of debate, some strong reactions and discussion of terminology. I had used class background as my starting point, and included women from many different cultures. There were famous women writers listed such as Alice Walker and Maya Angelou and as well as writers from the FWWCP and Yorkshire Arts Circus. All the women wrote primarily in the 20th century. At the same time I used the Fawcett Library and the Feminist Library in London to find reference works and secondary sources to check factual details such as births and deaths. I also went to Hackney Central Library and used their CD. Rom to scan the disc of "British Books in Print" to find publication details.
In Summer 1994, while still researching, I attended a conference organised by wORking Press called "Class, Culture and Identity". The conference was part funded by the FWWCP. It was there that I met Merylyn Cherry, Sammy Palfrey and Gail Chester. Sammy and Gail were both members of the FWWCP groups. Mel had just had a pamphlet published by wORking Press focusing on working-class women writers. Sammy had written a dissertation on women's writing during the Miners' Strike and Gail was leading a workshop at the conference on the problems of being published as a working-class woman. Stefan decided that these four separate pieces could come together in a very interesting book and we began to work together to make this happen.
We had several all day meetings to discuss format, design, layout, illustration and marketing. We composed Advance Information sheets to send to interested parties and bookshops. We opted for a full colour cover to attract people to the book, whilst also trying to break into the academic market. I rang round several printers that different community groups recommended, getting verbal and then written quotes. We decided on Spiderweb in Finsbury Park because Eastside had used them before and they had had a lot of experience in book publishing. (A lot of the smaller publishers do not have, and so their bindings can be poorer quality and liable to fall apart after a short while.)
At the same time, I was learning how to use a desk-top publishing package on the computer for the first time so we could do the typesetting and layout ourselves, and keep costs to a minimum. We chose the fonts, where to italicise, where to type in bold. Gilda O'Neill, another author on the list who I met at the Women Writers Network (London) agreed to do the introduction. My brother Matthew Richardson, who is an illustrator, designed the cover with symbols from a working woman's life. Finally, the whole book was ready to be proof-read by Sammy. Once this was completed it was off to the printers with discs, the hard copy, the originals for the art-work and instructions to the printer. Deadlines had to be negotiated and re-negotiated. The first run of covers came out in very dull tones and had to be done again. Meantime we were organising the launch at Eastside Books. Denise Jones and Roger Mills sent invitations to a huge list and sorted out the guests. Liz Thompson from Eastside Writers (and in the book!) was doing a reading and Gilda O'Neill was to come and speak, but at the last minute had to drop out with laryngitis. With a week to go, I went to pick up 200 of the print run of 1000 from Spiderweb. It was a very exciting but also scary moment. Opening a fresh box of books, smelling them, seeing them printed after months, 2 years of work was brilliant. But how would we sell that great mound of books and at least break even?
The launch night was great, a real high. We managed to sell 32 copies of the book which was a brilliant start. Eastside kept some in their window. We all began selling to family and friends. Those who didn't buy, got a copy for a Christmas present anyway! We also blitzed national and local press, TV. and radio, at the end of 1995. To some we sent review copies, others a copy of the cover and a Press Release. Because Pat Barker had just won the Booker Prize, and she is listed in the book, we based the press release around that. We then followed up this mailing with 'phone calls. To date, we've been reviewed in Everywoman, with reviews promised in New Woman, the Pink Paper and other, smaller publications. Just into the New Year, I was interviewed (live!) by Viva Radio, a women's radio station that broadcasts to the whole of London. To get "Writing on the Line" into print has been much harder work than I ever imagined. Researching and writing it was hard enough and was a goal in itself. To continue that with learning a huge range of new skills that I'm still learning has been frustrating but ultimately rewarding. Working as a collective where each gave ideas and helped each other built confidence and is empowering. I recommend it!
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This article was originally Printed in
'FEDeration'- the magazine of the
Federation of Worker Writers and Community
Publishers.