A “Do-It-Yourself” Author-Publisher

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28435, 15 November 1957, Page 8

A “Do-It-Yourself” Author-Publisher

[By PIERRE VERNIER]

What does a writer do when he can’t get his works published, or when production difficulties hold up publication of his books? The answer, generally, is nothing. The author just sits back and waits, or, in desperation, he chooses another way of earning a living. But for Nuri Mass, a 36-year-old Australian woman novelist, this did not seem a satisfactory solution. She knew all about the problems of production bottlenecks. having suffered from them herself; and she also knew that many talented young Australian writers could not find publishers because of the limited appeal of their work. Many publishing houses could not undertake (as they would often have liked to) to bring out books of high literary merit but low commercial value, as this would have meant a financial loss. But something had to be done to help these writers, and Nuri Mass decided to do it. As author of a series of highly successful “play-learn” books for children and former editor of a book-pub-lishing department and of a children’s magazine, she had some experience of publishing, and she decided to start a venture of her own.

Two years ago, in September, 1955, she bought a whole printing plant—second-hand—and set it up in the garage behind her home

in the Sydney suburb of Summer Hill. Undaunted by the fact that she knew nothing about printing, and though she was, and still is, a busy housewife with two young children aged six and three to care for, she turned a blind eye to all the difficulties that lay ahead, and resolutciy turned to learning the job of typesetting and printing. A printer’s apprenticeship is generally six years, but Nuri set herself to master the craft without the benefit of apprenticeship It was laborious work at first, involving long hours of trial and error. To begin with, it took her two hours to set one page, but gradually she became faster and more expert.

One of the first books she produced as a “practice” piece was her own novel “Randy Blair.” Although the publishers had been enthusiastic about this work and accepted it for publication, they could not undertake to bring it out at once. Rather than wait two years for it to be published. Nuri hand-set the 194 pages herself and printed 1000 copies. The appearance of the book on the Australian market caused a minor sensation in the publishing world when it was known that a woman had printed it singlehanded. “ ‘Randy Blair’ in no way falls below the standard required in modern book production . . . ’’.wrote one newspaper “As the work.of a young woman without any professional assistance—and with no previous knowledge whatever of type-setting or printing—it is remarkable.”

Wireless stations also asked for interviews, newsreel cameras turned up in Summer Hill, and requests for copies of the book came from all over the world. Quite unwittingly, Nuri Mass had made history.

Her venture, which she called The Writer’s Press, was now well set on the road to success. After “Randy Blair” came three children’s publications by leading Australian authors, including Dame Mary Gilmore’s “Verse for Children,” which, in spite of its literary merits, had previously been rejected by commercial publishers. Yet. as the “Sydney Sun” put it, “ ‘Verse for Children’ is a masterpiece that any publishing house might well be proud of.” Then came two other books of verse followed by Nuri’s latest book, “Where the Incas Trod.” the story of her childhood among the descendants of the Incas in South America, where her father owned a mica mine. This work, like all of Nuri’s books, was illustrated by her artist-mother, Celeste Mass, who helped her and encouraged her in the difficult initial period. But part from her aid. Nuri Mass has operated the Writers’ Press entirely single-handed. Had she employed professional labour, she says, wages would have necessitated the handling of commercial work, and she was determined that the Writers’ Press should never become a “business." All profits made from the sale of the books have gone entirely to the authors, the Writers’ Press taking no share whatever. True, these profits have been small, for. although the books have sold well, their editions have mostly been limited to 1000 copies. But Nuri Mass has achieved her aim: she has published good literature at the barest cost, and given pleasure and encouragement to promising writers who. otherwise, might have become discouraged through lack of ability: to have their works printed. “One usually takes up privatelyprinted books with a sinking heart.” wrote the Sydney “Daily Telegraph” in a recent review of one of Nuri’s own books, “but this one is a pleasant surprise.” (U.N.E.5.C.0.)