Girls Gone By Publishers: Chalet School to Malcolm Saville

Every Friday, a fabulous newsletter as regular as clockwork

There are several really good substack newsletters out there for anybody interested in the nuts and bolts of putting a book together, such as Mark Diacono who is letting people read his next book live as he writes it, and Jamie McGarry from the Valley Press who has plenty of publisher insights over at By the Book. One of my favourites newsletters in this field is the one Girls Gone By Publishing (though not on substack, you have to sign up from its website).

If you’re not familiar with GGBP, here’s how they describe themselves:

Girls Gone By Publishers re-publishes some of the most popular fiction from the twentieth century, concentrating on those titles which are most sought after, and difficult to find on the second-hand market.

It’s run by Clarissa Cridland (who has a huge amount of experience in the book trade with major publishers and is now Vicar for the benefice of East Mendip Trinity in Somerset) and former teacher and book collector Ann Mackie-Hunter. And together they do a fine job.

But what I particularly look forward to is Clarissa’s weekly report on how everything is going. This often starts with brief thoughts about world events, general life at the vicarage, any personal health news, how their cats Jack and Jill are behaving (sometimes in considerable detail), and then on to an update about how close various books are to a state of completion.

This week for example, the newsletter announces three new titles, and tells us about final updates to the text of another new title Lorna's Last Year at Wynyards as well as a cover update. Then very honestly, Clarissa reports that she’d begun typesetting Gay from China at the Chalet School by Elinor Brent-Dyer before the text had its first proof “so that is now happening”.

She’s equally up front about Pat at the Helm by Phyllis Matthewman for which she had forgotten to sort out an introduction - happily, that is also in the process of being sorted.

Next up, she’s about to scan in the text for Over the Sea to School by Mabel Esther Allan, the first of the three titles about Dundonay House school, set on Skye and published in early 2024. All overseas orders for Rosamund Heads the Chalet School by Lisa Townsend were sent on Monday and Tuesday, delivery of Malcolm Saville Short Stories is expected on October 31, there’s low stock of Jo to the Rescue by Elinor Brent-Dyer (12 copies) and Storm Ahead by Monica Edwards (6 copies) (“I do not want these here for ever!” she adds), and finally there’s news of the forthcoming Friends of the Chalet School newsletter. There are no idle hands at GGBP.

Anyway, I’d strongly recommend signing up, especially if you’re interested in their catalogue but even if you just like a civilised newsletter once a week.

As for my own regular three monthly update, you will have gathered that The Book Lover’s Almanac is now out and available everywhere fine books are sold. I am of course biased, but I think it’s a smashing thing to dip in and out of, is beautifully illustrated, and will make a fine Christmas present for the right person. For the wrong person, it would be terrible.

Meanwhile:

• I continue my bookathon for The Year of Reading Welshly (just finished Grits by Niall Griffiths which was not my cup of tea and just started The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi which I’m enjoying much more) which needs to be finished and delivered to the publishers by next August

• Studios of Their Own (which has to be done by about Christmas) continues to progress apace, though there are some last minute changes to the entry list

• I have just finished going through the layouts for 100 Words for Rain, out next spring-ish and it’s looking good (only found a few things to change)