A: Well, it's rather a long story...but since you asked...  As an undergraduate, I became fascinated with the late 18th/early 19th century Gothic novel.  Unfortunately, though, after I had finished The Castle of Otranto, The Monk, Melmoth the Wanderer and the works of Ann Radcliffe, I started looking around for other Gothic novels....in vain.  Although frequently alluded to in scholarly works, the novels of such writers as Francis Lathom, Eleanor Sleath, T. J. Horsley Curties, Eliza Parsons, and others were all out of print and could not be found at any library or bookstore.  Later, when I was doing research on Francis Lathom for an essay on him, I found the situation even more serious than I had thought -- on the entire continent of North America, many of his works were available in only one place: the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, on microfiche.  After driving from Seattle to Lincoln and back to get these microfiches, and sitting at the Seattle Public Library straining my eyes trying to read them, I decided that that was ridiculous, and that someone ought to be republishing these books.  Shortly after, one of those cartoon lightbulbs flashed over my head, and I thought, why shouldn't I be that someone?  Recently graduated from law school with no job and no prospect of useful employment, I did what any sensible person would have done...I started typing The Animated Skeleton.  In March 2005, we published our first two titles and we have never looked back.  Now we have more than 50 books in print with dozens more on the way, and we have expanded far beyond the Gothic, into Victorian literature, 20th century novels, and even scholarly monographs.

A: While most publishers base their decision of what books to publish on what they think will sell, our motives are far more selfish and yet far less mercenary.  In about 90% of cases, Valancourt Books publishes books that I want to read but could not find for sale or at any nearby library.  In other cases, books are proposed to us by scholars or by readers.

A: For all intents and purposes, Valancourt Books is a one-person operation.  I wear many "hats", so to speak -- I'm not only publisher, but also managing editor, copy editor, proofreader, typographer, designer, art director, general counsel, bookkeeper, accountant, salesman, marketer, shipping/receiving clerk, customer service representative, representative at trade shows, etc., etc.  In some cases my partner does the cover design.  Two cats are onsite to provide moral support (we tried letting them proofread the first couple books, with disastrous results.)

A: Valancourt is a character in one of the most remarkable novels ever published in the English language, Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho.  It's also the name of one of our cats.  As far as why the press is named Valancourt Books, it goes back to a quote by William Makepeace Thackeray: " 'Valancourt? and who was he?' cry the young people. Valancourt, my dears, was the hero of one of the most famous romances which ever was published in this country. The beauty and elegance of Valancourt made your young grandmammas' gentle hearts to beat with respectful sympathy. He and his glory have passed away. Ah, woe is me that the glory of novels should ever decay... Inquire at Mudie's, or  the London Library, who asks for 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' now? Have not even 'The Mysteries of Paris' ceased to frighten? Alas! our best novels are but for a season..."  This quote perfectly sums up what we do.  Like Thackeray, we are saddened to see the best and most popular novels of yesteryear consigned to oblivion and unattainable to modern readers. 

Q: I have a question about book pricing.  Why are some of your books $12.95 and others $21.95?  And what's with the $60 hardcover books?

A: A number of factors determine a book's price.  One major factor is its page count.  Simply put, a 100 page book is much cheaper to print than a 400 page book.  Another factor we take into consideration is our cost to obtain the book.  If it's a book so rare that it only survives in one or two copies worldwide, and we have to pay for a reproduction, or worse yet, drive 1000 miles to a university library to transcribe it, the cost will necessarily be higher.  For example, to obtain the excellent illustrations for our edition of The Demon of Sicily, we had to drive to Cleveland and back -- such expenditures of money and time are necessarily priced into the books.

We are also avid readers and very sensitive to book prices, and we try to keep them as low as possible.  In general, our prices are comparable or even less than those charged by similar presses, such as Penguin or Broadview.  For example, our edition of Bram Stoker's Lady Athlyne, an extraordinarily rare book unavailable at any price until our edition, sells for $16.95, while Penguin's edition of Stoker's Dracula's Guest sells for $15, even though it is widely available online.  Similarly, our edition of Richard Marsh's rare stories The Seen and the Unseen sells for $18.95, while the Ash-Tree Press collection of his stories sells for over $100.  And our volume of Joanna Baillie's six Gothic plays sells for only $19.95, to Broadview's volume of only three of her plays, which sells for $22.95.

A: Bookstores expect discounts of 40-55% off retail price from publishers, and because of the small nature of our operation and our small print runs, we are not always able to offer such a large discount.  So the bookstore will mark the book up in order to make its standard exorbitant profit.  We apologize for this, and we suggest that you order the book from Amazon.com, where all our books are always available, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at or below retail price, and with free shipping and no tax.

A: Yes!  Our books are designed with both students and scholars in mind and include introductions, notes, and other supplementary materials to make our books perfect for use in classes.

A: Many of our books have been adopted for college courses around the US. Castle of Wolfenbach, Witch of Ravensworth, and The Castle of Ollada have been particularly popular, but others, including Gaston de Blondeville, The Veiled Picture, The Snake's Pass, etc., have also been adopted for courses in the past.  Recently, our books have been taught in courses at the University of Mississippi, University of Nebraska, Marquette, University of Wisconsin--Madison, University of Arizona and many others.  Oh, and we just received our first textbook order from a high school, which we thought was great.  They'll much prefer The Witch of Ravensworth to Alas, Babylon!, or whatever else would have been on the syllabus.

A: Yes.  Please check out our updated policy on review copies.

A: Yes.  For every order of 15 copies or more of one of our titles, we are happy to send you a free desk copy.

A: We always welcome suggestions for new titles.  If there is a book you'd like us to reprint for use in your courses, we may consider such requests, provided the title fits with the types of books we publish.  Recently, we published Bram Stoker's The Snake's Pass following a request from an instructor teaching a course in 19th century horror.

A: The first step would be to send us a short email, introducing yourself and telling us a little about your idea.  If we're interested, we'll ask for a more detailed proposal, a copy of your CV (if you're an academic), and a writing sample in jargon-free prose. 

A few caveats for prospective editors.  (If any of these seem rather basic, be advised that we have seen all of them before, from English PhDs.)  When contacting us about an edition, please make sure you spell your own name correctly, as well as those of the author and text you're interested in.  You wouldn't believe how problematic that seems to be.  Also, if your emails include frequent references to your desire for lucre, you would probably be better served trying another press.  We make very little money selling obscure books and in most cases the greatest reward you'll receive from doing an edition with us is the personal satisfaction of making a contribution to literature (oh, and a nice entry on your CV to help you get promotion or tenure).

A: Unlike other presses, which may circulate your proposal to an editorial board, scholars in the field, etc., you'll find the process with Valancourt much more streamlined.  You only need to convince one person (me) that the book you're proposing is interesting and deserving of being reprinted, and that you'd be able to do a good job editing or introducing it.  Usually you'll get an answer one way or the other almost instantaneously.  Depending on your point of view, this is one of the great benefits (or one of the great difficulties) of working with Valancourt -- you will be dealing one-on-one with the person who will be sending you your contract, copy-editing your introduction, proofreading your text, designing the cover of your book, etc.  Most editors seem to find working with Valancourt to be a worthwhile experience.  In 2007 alone, Gerald Monsman, Professor at the University of Arizona, produced six editions for the press; Allen Grove, Professor at Alfred University, has done three editions and is at work on his fourth; Natalie Schroeder, Professor at the University of Mississippi, has completed three editions and is at work on two others.  The overwhelming majority of our editors are so pleased with the process and the final result that their first question on receiving printed copies of the book is, "When can I start another one?"

A: A few things.  First, you need to be able to write in clear, lucid English.  We are not interested in jargon-filled introductions employing the latest in "literary theory," which will be only semi-comprehensible to most readers now, and totally irrelevant a few years down the road.  Second, we need people with great attention to detail.  The text will need to be proofread multiple times, and we need people who are not scared off by such tedious work and who will be able consistently to spot errors and correct them.  Also important is a passion and enthusiasm for the text you're working on. 

A: If money is a major concern for you, please try pitching your proposal to another press. The books we publish are very obscure and of interest mainly to a handful of libraries, scholars, and collectors.  None of our books are very lucrative, and considering the amount of time and love we put into these books, we make precious little money off them, and since we aren't making much off them, we aren't able to pay you much either.  Generally, in cases where an editor writes an introduction and endnotes and types or scans the complete text of the novel (i.e., submits a complete, proofread edition of the novel), we are happy to pay annual royalties based on sales.  If the press ends up being responsible for preparing the novel's text and you only submit an introduction, most likely you can expect payment in free books.  Unless you're absurdly famous, like Stephen King or someone, in which case you can probably count on some modest amount of cash money for the introduction.

Q: I cannot find Valancourt's books at my local bookstore.  Where can I purchase them?

A: Our books are currently available only at a few "brick and mortar" bookstores -- typically specialty stores dealing with mystery, horror, or fantasy fiction.  Stores like Barnes and Noble and Borders simply don't have shelf space for all the books being published today and give preference to Oprah's Book Club titles, rather than obscure books no one has ever heard of. However, our books are always available online at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, or nearly any other online bookseller.  Many of them are available at a discount at these sites.  In addition, Barnes and Noble and Borders will special order any book in print (including ours) if you make a request at your local store.

A: Our books are all available on the various international versions of Amazon (Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.co.jp, etc.)  Also, major booksellers around the world, such as W.H. Smith, Fnac, etc., will have no trouble special ordering our books for you.

Q: I own a bookstore and would like to carry Valancourt's books.  How can I go about ordering them, and do you offer a discount to booksellers?

A: For single copy orders, you may find it easier to order through Ingram or other major distributors.  For larger orders, please contact us directly for the best discount.

Q: I own a bookstore and I have a customer who would like to order copies of some of your titles.  How can I order them?

A: Please email us with the titles of the books you are interested in.  We will send you an invoice online to be paid using a credit card on Paypal's payment system, or we can mail you an invoice for payment by check.

A: Absolutely!  Our books are distributed through Baker & Taylor and their affiliate Yankee Book Peddler.  Our books are currently marketed on the AP Plus! approval plan list for YBP.  We also work with every other major library supplier in North America, including Coutts, Blackwell's, The Book House, and Emery-Pratt.  We are also happy to sell direct to libraries.  Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

A: Yes.  Please email or call us to let us know the books you are interested in.  We will ship the books and send you an invoice to be paid by check later.

Q: Our library has a limited budget.  Why should we purchase Valancourt's books?

A: Most of our titles are reprints of exceedingly rare books, most of which are held by only 1-5 libraries worldwide.  These titles have long been inaccessible to researchers, but now are available to university libraries at very affordable prices.  In the short time that we have been marketing to libraries, our books have been acquired by 50 or more major libraries, including Harvard University, Yale University, NYU, National Library of Scotland, UC Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and others.  The bibliographers at these libraries have recognized the importance of our titles and the positive addition they would make to their libraries' collections.

A: Absolutely!  We always welcome new ideas.

A: 99,999 times out of 100,000, no.  We specialize in new editions of old, out of print books, not new titles.  But if by some miracle you have the next Harry Potter and no other press would take it, sure, we'll take a look at it.