PRH plans to extend north with Northern Fiction Alliance members

Penguin Random House is exploring an editorial presence in Manchester, possibly in 2019, in collaboration with Northern Fiction Alliance members, with potential financial support from Arts Council England and assistance from the local City Council, The Bookseller understands.

It is understood that while the publisher does not currently plan to move specific people or imprints to Manchester, PRH is exploring an editorial presence as an extension of its activities, and as a collective with some of the 11-strong Alliance, starting on a small-scale and with scope to expand.

It is understood that Manchester City Council and Arts Council England (ACE) are in discussions about the possibility of supporting the Alliance members in different ways. While the timing is still unknown and there is not yet a designated building, discussions are ongoing, and the project could launch later this year. The number of people involved in the collective is not yet known.

The Bookseller has heard differing reports as to whether a particular building has been found as premises for the venture but there are reports that discussions have reached an advanced stage. At this stage, The Bookseller understands no contracts have been signed and the plans are not confirmed. The building, when confirmed, will be used for scouting and editorial services and a number of other services, offering desk and office space to a number of northern-based publishers such as Dead Ink, Comma Press and Bluemoose Books. The Northern Fiction Alliance was founded in 2016 by Comma Press and now includes 10 other small presses.

Rebecca Sinclair, brand and communications director at PRH, told The Bookseller: “Penguin Random House and the Northern Fiction Alliance are in the early stages of exploring ways of working together in the North. There’s still a lot to work through at this stage but we’re excited about the opportunity.”

The news follows much discussion of publishing’s London-centric reputation and calls to change. Earlier this week the Northern Fiction Alliance revealed it would host a Regional Diversity Roundtable on 29th January, in light of the Publishers Association’s survey on inclusion published last week. Sarah Cleave of Comma Press said of the roundtable: "We all know how London-centric the publishing industry is; the question now is how do we open more doors for people living and growing up outside of the capital.” She said the industry needs “to start rethinking where we choose to set up our offices and creative spaces in order to make them more inclusive”.

The PA’s www.thebookseller.com/news/pa-seeks-address-staffing-diversity-fall-932516">report had showed that regional diversity remains an issue in the sector and the PA said this will be one of the trade body’s central priorities for 2019.

In November, both PRH and Hachette discussed aims of opening offices outside of London at the Building Inclusivity in Publishing conference, organised by the London Book Fair and PA. Sinclair acknowledged publishing's "London-centric" nature at the time and said, following feedback from colleagues, regional offices were something PRH was "considering”.

And in his 2019 predictions, Nathan Connolly, publisher of Liverpool-based Dead Ink, told The Bookseller  in December: “I anticipate that we will see a major publisher announce an office in the north… Perhaps even more interestingly, we will see the industry become more cooperative next year as indies and commercial publishers work closer together to supportively build a more dynamic industry.” 

Last summer Connolly hosted three Vintage editors for almost a week as part of an informal work shadowing and networking scheme, which he said he hopes to run again.

Manchester City Council and ACE have yet to respond to a request for comment.