Publishing Veteran O’Hare to Launch Press

By Judith Rosen -- Publishers Weekly, 4/18/2008 9:00:00 AM

Former Nicholas Brealey Publishing president and publisher Trish O’Hare, who has also held senior positions at Jossey-Bass and National Book Network, is starting her own press, GemmaMedia, which will release its first books this fall. Gemma will publish eight books a season through a combination of traditional frontlist publishing and print-on-demand, and Ingram Publishing Services will distribute to the trade.

“It’s a great time for small presses. Lots of people are self-publishing. But to my mind, there’s still a role for a publisher’s point of view,” said O’Hare, who sees Gemma as straddling the space between self-publishing and large houses. “I wanted to take advantage of the new technology and to have some flexibility in where I work. I saw opportunities and voices not being heard.”

Among the voices that drew O’Hare when she was putting together her first list are BBC journalist Richard Downes, who describes the disintegration of Iraq in his memoir, In Search of Iraq: Baghdad to Babylon, and first-time author Carol Miller, who explores the hidden culture of American gypsies in Lola’s Luck.

Although the bulk of Gemma’s list will be nonfiction, O’Hare also plans to introduce short works of fiction, which were originally published by the Irish publisher New Ireland as part of its Open Door series. Designed to enhance adult literacy, the series also showcases new works by Roddy Doyle, Sheila O’Flanagan and other established novelists and short story writers.

In the coming year O’Hare would like to expand Gemma to include e-books and even some young adult titles. “I’ve been running a small press for the last five years,” said O’Hare. “You can’t survive without technology. You have to have a mixture of e-publishing and straight-ahead publishing. There’s still a place for books, but you have to mix it up with other media.”