1 What's your company called?
Hoxton Mini Press.
2 What do you publish?
Collectable photography books about London and beyond.
3 What's the story of the company?
It began when Martin Usborne decided to self-publish I’ve Lived in East London for 86 ½ Years, our first photography book. It’s about Joseph Markovich, an old resident who lived in East London his entire life, leaving only once to visit the seaside with his mother. After the success of this book we decided that there must be a market for affordable—but still beautiful—photography books that could tell stories about this diverse pocket of London, so we started Hoxton Mini Press.
4 How's business?
Business is good. Independent publishing is not without its challenges but we’re pleased with the direction we’re heading in. We received an overwhelming response to our latest book, The East End in Colour by David Granick, which sold out before the publication date, so that has been exciting for us.
5 What do you enjoy about being independent?
It allows us to retain our brand identity and grow organically.
6 What do you think is the biggest single issue in publishing right now?
We can only talk from our own experience, but for a company like ourselves that prints abroad and sells predominantly in the UK, the weakening pound has really hit our margins. Prices will have to go up but consumers might not tolerate too much of a rise.
7 What one piece of advice would you give to a fellow independent just starting out?
Figure out your brand values and make them stand out.
8 What do you get out of belonging to the IPG?
The talks at the conferences are insightful and it’s great to be in a community of like-minded publishers.