Home > Free Reads > Interview with Paul Little of Full Moon Press

Full Moon Press is a new specialty publisher and their first books include an original novel by Rick Hautala, two great classic horror novels (with introductions by Dean Koontz and Brian Lumley), with a lot more in the works. Cemetery Dance sat down with the founder of Full Moon Press, Paul Little, to find out a little bit about his plans and why he decided to take the plunge into publishing.

Cemetery Dance: Paul, can you tell us a little bit about your background?

Paul Little: Yes, I am 35 years old, married to a wonderful woman named Callie. I have degrees in Engineering and Computer Science. I retired once already at the age of 29 from a job in Engineering after selling some designs to a major company. I also had a short lived (due to injury) NFL career. I have been employed for the last 5 years at Barnes & Noble in management of a high volume store.

I am an insatiable bibliophile with a library that consists of thousands of books, including a huge number of Cemetery Dance, Bloodletting Press, SubPress, Gauntlet, and Overlook Connection Press titles. My love of books as a collector will influence decisions on standards for FMP, also my background at B&N has opened some distribution channels not as readily available to some. Also working at B&N has provided valuable insight from customers as to what authors are hot, what turns readers on or off about a book or author, and what readers want to see.

CD: What inspired you to start Full Moon Press?

PL: My love of books. I started collecting Cemetery Dance and Bloodletting Press titles long ago, so I would have to say that those two publishers were a big inspiration, not to mention that Rich, Mindy, Brian at CD and Larry Roberts at BLP are great people.

One day about 2 years ago, after seeing a book at B&N about doing the work you love I thought, "Why can't I publish books?" So I set out to do the research into how to set up a publishing company. I spoke with authors, publishers, book designers, printing companies, and anyone I could find with a love of books and knowledge of the ins and outs of the business. As a result, I think I have found some of the best artists, printers, and designers in the business and I have set my sights on locating the best authors and works available.

CD: What are your plans for the first year? How many books do you hope to publish?

PL: We plan on making a big splash in the small press industry. Our goal is to deliver books that are true works of art as well as great reads. We intend to make a statement with our books and we are putting a minimum of 4 full page interior illustrations in every book. We hope to publish at least 10 titles in the first year. I know it's a lofty goal, but I think we can meet or exceed that goal with a lot of hard work and dedication.

CD: How did you land The Wildman by Rick Hautala as your first book?

PL: It's a little ironic actually. Rick Hautala's The Mountain King published by Cemetery Dance is a favorite book of mine. I was actively seeking to contact Rick to see if we had any work to publish and I was having no luck. After a few weeks of trying to contact Rick, I decided to kick things off with a different author, Scott Nicholson. As it turns out the agent I was working with for Scott asked if he could send me some submissions from other authors in the genre. I said yes and the next thing I know this guy is pitching Hautala to me.

Talk about irony. As a result I reverted to plan "A" and The Wildman is our first title. Nicholson's book is not far behind though and The Skull Ring is no less worthy of publication.

CD: How did you select Carmilla/The Evil Guest by J. Sheridan LeFanu as the first book in Full Moon Press Definitive Classics Series?

PL: That was an easy decision. Carmilla is a title that deserves more attention. Although it predates Dracula and was the Gothic vampire novel that inspired Stoker to write Dracula, Carmilla is surprisingly a less known work of classic horror. It has long been a favorite of mine and I am sure that most who read the book will feel the same. It is time the spotlight was shown on this lesser known but no less entertaining vampire novel.

CD: What criteria do you take into consideration for your Full Moon Press Definitive Classics Series?

PL: The work has to be one that has endured the test of time. Dracula is a book that people have read and reread over the years, not to mention the thousands of books and movies it has spawned. Frankenstein is also a classic that never seems to lose interest over the years and has spawned its share of books and movies. For example, Resurrection Dreams by Richard Laymon is a modern book that seems to have been influenced somewhat by Frankenstein. Our Definitive Classics Series will be comprised of books that continue to capture the hearts and minds of readers from generation to generation. Each book will be introduced and signed by one of today's best loved horror authors and will feature stunning artwork from the likes of Keith Minnion, Alex McVey, Glenn Chadbourne, Alan M. Clark and many others.

CD: Which authors are you currently working with? What can you tell us about the books you're working on?

PL: We have announced the upcoming books: The Skull Ring by Scott Nicholson, Pandora Drive by Tim Waggoner, Killer's Diary by Brian Pinkerton, Maelstrom by David Niall Wilson, and of course The Wildman by Rick Hautala so far. We are working on these projects and matching artists to the books.

We have several titles that we can't announce yet, but we do have some surprises in store. One of the names we will be working with very soon is John Saul! This is very exciting as Saul has been around for a long time, but hasn't had a limited edition out there yet. We can tell you that all of these books are well written and are sure to be favorites among our readers and all will have a limitation of 500 or less and will feature some stunning artwork.

CD: Who are some of your favorite artists?

PL: Alan M. Clark is a big one. I have 9 prints in my office and 7 are of covers or frontispieces that Alan painted for Cemetery Dance titles by Richard Laymon. Of course I also had to have the prints for The Wildman cover and frontispiece. I love the work of Glenn Chadbourne, Alex McVey, Keith Minnion, Zach McCain just to name a few as well. All of these artists will be heavily involved in upcoming Full Moon Press titles.

CD: Where do you see Full Moon Press in 5 years?

PL: In the first few years we plan on just publishing books, with a focus on publishing books that look as good in your collection as they are fun to read. At some point in the future, we will consider expanding to a magazine or comic line, but that will only come after we have established ourselves as a publisher that puts out high quality books that collectors long for. Until that point we plan to keep the sole focus on our books with the lifetime collectors in mind. It is possible that by the 5 year mark we will be involved in Magazine and Comics, but for now the focus is books.

CD: What is the address of your website and do you have a mailing list readers/collectors can join?

PL: We can be found at http://www.thefullmoonpress.com and there is a sign-up block on the website to get our newsletters and updates. Newsletters will go out on a regular basis to keep everyone informed about Full Moon Press updates.

CD: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today, Paul!

PL: It has been a pleasure! Cemetery Dance has always been a favorite of mine and Full Moon Press as well as the Little family will always be collectors and supporters of CD. Here is to continued success for Full Moon Press and Cemetery Dance!

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Click on these links to read more about these new titles from Full Moon Press or to place your order!

The Wildman

Carmilla/The Evil Guest

Frankenstein

Dracula