One thing I am sure about: I can tell good literature from bad and boring books from exciting. I can find it; I can recognize it and I can make sure it’s well translated. Much other stuff that comes with setting up a publishing house I am far less certain about. This is the first time I am doing it. I am learning as I go along. Fascinating. But also the cause of many sleepless nights.

Let’s take this blog for example.

I came up with the idea of Peirene exactly a year ago. And my first step was to register it as a limited company. I’ve got a certificate. It decorates my wall. Beautiful. Since then I have attended a number of conferences on publishing in the 21st century. These type of conferences fall neatly into two categories. On the one hand the “moaning and groaning” ones where publishers pass around leather bound books and we all have to smell them and stroke them and the evils of the digital age that will destroy our beautiful books are denounced. These conferences leave me with a sour taste in my mouth and the thought in my head that surely 600 years ago the monks were talking about the arrival of the printing press in a similar way. And then there is the other type of conferences, the “publisher wake up, embrace the digital age there is no turning back”ones. I love them, they are inspiring. They talk about opportunities and challenges that will lead to new - perhaps even unknown - shores, where not only the way we publish text will change but also how we perceive and create text. And blogging is part of this world.

I’ve  been stalking my competitors’ blogs for a while now. I have read - in good old fashion - three books on how to blog. And from now on I’ll blog.  At the moment more pain than passion. But will it turn into a passion one day? And more importantly – will it help to turn Peirene Press into a success?