Brookline independent publisher Hobblebush Books offers more flexibility

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Michael Cleveland photo Some of the books published by Sid Hall's Hobblebush Books in Brookline.

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Submitted photo Sid Hall at work at Hobblebush Books in Brookline.

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Submitted photo Tom Fitzgerald, author of "Poor Richard's Lament," speaking at a bookstore in Concord.

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Michael Cleveland photo Some of the books published by Sid Hall's Hobblebush Books in Brookline.

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BROOKLINE – Sid Hall knows how difficult it can be for unknown authors to get their work read by a publisher, let alone actually published.

This is especially true for poets, as Hall should know well: He is one, and has been for many years. While his work has been published for quite some time, he is aware that there are many talented poets who struggle to find someone willing to give them a chance.

That is where Hall’s Hobblebush Books comes in, and not just for poets.

Here is how he describes his publishing company on its Web site:

“Hobblebush Books is an independent press dedicated to publishing books of the highest quality that present a unique voice and make a difference. We publish both literary and non-literary titles. We create books that are beautifully designed and printed, and are a pleasure to hold in your hands.”

But he also describes it as a “traditional independent publisher” in that potential authors need to go through the process, which means submitting a manuscript for vetting. If it’s accepted, more work begins for Hall and his author: the work of editing, the work of design and, finally, the work of promotion. One advantage of working with a small publishing house, Hall said, is that the author can be more involved in that process.

“They can work much more intimately with us,” he said in an interview last week, “so they might have more approval over the finished product.”

Readers generally don’t notice, but that “finished product” involves much more than the writing and editing, Hall said: It involves the selection of the type, the design of the cover, how the type will sit on a page. Really, everything about the book.

This is something that Hall knows well because besides running Hobblebush, he designs books for other publishers, a business that has nothing to do with his publishing work.

“You need to really know the history of books and the history of typography to make the right choices,” he said. “When readers get a book, they shouldn’t even be aware that a good designer was there. But a poor design could bring them up short. I’ve been designing books for 30 years and feel I’m just getting good at it. It’s an art form.”

Hall started Hobblebush in 1993 and is the sole proprietor. He does have a marketing director, Amy Wood, who once worked for The Cabinet, and he often has one or more interns from local colleges.

“I’ve had a wonderful experience with” the interns he said.

Hall’s background is in editing and writing and he is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Reed College in Oregon, where he studied Greek and Latin classics. Initially, he ran a printing business in Brookline where he published the conservation newspaper “Our Place” for the town.

Eventually, he decided to put all of his skills – writing and editing primary among them – and his interests in designing and publishing – together, so he created Hobblebush, named for what he said is a common plant in New Hampshire, especially in the White Mountains, that goes largely unnoticed.

The company is doing well, at least partially because of Hall’s outside work for other publishers, although he admits that it is “a real tough row to hoe for any independent publisher.”

An important aspect to Hobblebush, he said, is its Web site (www.hobblebush.net), designed by a former intern, because it is “a great leveler” of the publishing playing field and brings in dozens of queries weekly.

Naturally not all are of interest but recently Hall found a book that has him absolutely thrilled. It is called “Poor Richard’s Lament: A Most Timely Tale,” by Tom Fitzgerald, and it will have its launch party Saturday, Feb. 11 (snow date Feb. 12) in Hollis from 2-6 p.m., at the home of Matt and Betinna Peyton-Levine, 16 Blood Road.

It’s there, Hall said, because the Peyton-Levines are not only friends of his, but friendly toward the arts.

“We’re very excited about this,” he said of the book that runs to more than 600 pages and that Hall called “a literary masterpiece, big and ambitious, extensively well-researched.”

The premise is this: Suppose Ben Franklin came back and found himself in contemporary America. What would he think? How would he react?

At a recent reading in Concord by the author, the book was well-received, said Hall.

“People today seem as fascinated with Franklin as people were in his own day,” he said, and the book goes a long way toward answering the question of “what are some of the things in our culture that we can blame on Franklin as well the things for which we give him credit.”

“The book brings all of that into focus,” Hall said.

As high is he is on “Lament,” Hall is also big on the books of poetry published by Hobblebush, particularly a series of books by individual New Hampshire poets.

“We’re publishing some of the best New Hampshire poets that need to be more widely known,” he said.

In the Hobblebush Granite State Poetry Series, he has published works by Charles Pratt, Becky Sakellariou and Julia Older, with more to come, but that is just in that series. Other poetry works include “Strange Terrain, A Poetry Handbook for the Reluctant Reader,” by Alice B. Fogel, and “The Battlefield Guide,” poems by Rodger Martin.

For more information about Hobblebush, visit hobblebush.com. For more information about “Poor Richard’s Lament,” go to poorrichardslament.com.

Michael Cleveland can be contacted at mcleveland@cabinet.com or at 673-3100, ext. 301.