http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMay 2020 69
like the midwives who helped
me give birth to my first baby!’Plans for the future
This is a year for celebration and
we plan to celebrate with our staff,
authors, friends and associates
throughout the year at various
events and shows.
Looking forward into the future,
publishing beautiful inspiration
books that people want to own and
enjoy will always be our passion,
and we very much look forward to
continuing on that happy journey.be either the subject or the author.
So, Katie might identify an emerging
trend or a new take on an established
subject and then research a suitable
author for it, or she might discover
a fantastic new artist who is doing
amazing work and develop a book
idea with them. Whichever route
she takes, it begins by spending
time getting to know the author,
and ultimately developing a clear,
shared vision for the book which
she then discusses with myself and
the other members of the board prior
to exchanging contracts.
Our books are very much a fusion
of author, editor, designer and
photographer all working as a team,
honing their individual expertise
together until the book is born. In
fact, this is what one of our author
artists, Adebanji Alade said recently
on publication of his first book, The
Addictive Sketcher: ‘I’ve had a book
in me for years, but I didn’t know how
to bring it to life. I am so grateful that
Search Press contacted me; they wereArtist. The first will be published in
July: Drawing Dramatic Landscapes by
Robert Dutton (www.searchpress.com/
book/9781782217589/the-innovative-
artist-drawing-dramatic-landscapes).
Pastels and oils are still hugely
popular and there will always be
a strong demand for those media.
We are lucky to have a wealth of
best-selling artists in our list, but if
I had to single any out, it would be
Giovanni Civardi for drawing, Jean
Haines’, Matthew Palmer’s, David
Bellamy’s watercolour titles, and
Billy Showell’s botanical books,
all of which are hugely popular.How has the rise of the digital
age affected book publishing
and book selling?
The ethos of the company, then
and now, is to publish the very best
we can in high-quality, good-value,
beautifully produced books that
inspire and nurture creativity.
The digital age has certainly had
an impact on mainstream publishing,
but highly illustrated instructional
books, such as those we publish,
seem to have been protected against
the digital revolution. New technology
has not quite been able to replicate
the reader experience of learning an
art or craft from detailed illustrations
and well-written instructions.
People still love to own and cherish
books, building a bond with them that is
not at all possible to do with their digital
content. That’s why every book we bring
to the market is lovingly produced and
a thing of beauty in its own right.How do you set about sourcing
and commissioning authors and
book ideas, and how does the
process take place?
I have a highly skilled and experienced
editorial director, Katie French, who
drives our output for us. Her starting
point for commissioning a book can* Search Press thought it
would be fun to release some
of those early titles from the
Search Press archives and
make them available as free
PDF downloads to celebrate
its special anniversary. Please
visit http://www.searchpress.com and
click on the 50th Birthday tab
to access all the free downloads.Search Press’s author’s party, 2013Haidee-Jo Summers in the Search Press marquee, Patchings Art, Craft & Design Festival, July 2019