Interview: Hannah Fields from Folkways Press

One of the driving forces behind the Mistress of Books is to get womxn’s voices out there. When Hannah Fields said the same for her independent publishing house Folkways Press, I knew that we were about to have a great interview.

I stumbled across Folkways Press thanks to one of our contributors named David, who also co-runs the Paris-based feminist book club, Lilith. We met up for coffee in our neighborhood one day and he had an anthology called We Are Not Shadows out on the table that he wanted to talk to me about.

I was immediately intrigued by the gorgeous cover art. Recently (also thanks to David) I’ve been getting into small presses and independent publishing houses. Readers who have been with me for a while know that I dream of eventually turning MHOB into my own small press, and so I love meeting like-minded people and talking about all things publishing. 

I liked Hannah as soon as we started chatting. I discovered that we had the same point of view about diversity in publishing, had both gotten our master’s abroad, and we even shared similar childhood experiences, like our love of reading and writing from an early age. We both also cringe when reading the poems that we wrote as teens. 

It was an absolute pleasure catching up with Hannah to talk about her journey of launching Folkways, how it’s going so far, and where she sees the future taking her. 

Molli: Tell me about yourself!

Hannah: I just started working for a nonprofit that does global health, but in my free time I do Folkways! In 2015/16 I got my master’s in publishing from the University of Stirling in Scotland. It was a one-year master’s program, really hands-on and I liked that because you weren't just writing essays, you were also learning about the industry and that really helped my passion grow. It was a great experience. I lived in Scotland, I loved it there. I worked with Saraband Books where Sara Hunt is the publisher, and she really inspired me to keep going with it. 

I went back to Scotland in 2018/19 to get my Ph.D. in publishing. I made it through my first year and thought, “This isn’t for me.” It was a really tough decision, but I think it was the right one. I still learned some more that year being there and working with some more publishers. 

I didn’t start Folkways until February of 2020, and I wish I would have known what was coming (laughs). But at the time I thought, “I’m not going to wait, I’m just going to start Folkways and see what happens.” And that’s how We Are Not Shadows started, with it being the first book. It’s been a road that’s been filled with twists and turns. But I feel like even if you go in a zig-zag, you finally get to where you want to be even though you’d prefer a straight path (laughs). 

M: So do you do everything at Folkways on your own? Is it a one-woman operation?

H: I do most things on my own. I’ve hired some freelancers to help me with things like typesetting because I’m terrible at typesetting. As well as with copywriting and editing because I don’t trust only my eyes to look at something (laughs). And even doing that we still missed something in the book, which I know happens, it’s our first publication, and you just learn from that. I do all of the social media on my own, I designed the cover. I do want to eventually have more help, and my friend Alice that lives in Scotland - she’s been a great help. We eventually want to be business partners but she’s finishing her Ph.D. first. It will be nice when it’s not just me because there is just so much stuff to do. 

M: Have you been able to connect with people who are also in the publishing world who have been able to help you or guide you along through the process?

H: Oh yeah. There was Sara Hunt, but also the publisher at Renard Press, Will Dady. He’s been a great help, whenever I’ve had questions he’s answered them. I feel like especially amongst small publishers, there’s more of a willingness to reach out and help - we help each other. It’s been so nice to have that instead of just being out there without a paddle. 

M: Definitely! Do you find that there is a lot of competition within the small press community, or is it more about lifting each other up?

H: From what I’ve seen it’s more about people lifting each other up. Sometimes on Twitter you’ll see one publisher retweet something from another publisher, or retweet their calls for submissions, just helping each other. Or they’ll congratulate each other. I think there is that competition, which you’re going to expect in any business. But there are also people uplifting each other and helping each other, which is really cool to see. 

M: Tell me a bit about Folkways - what inspired you to create a publishing house? 

H: When I was doing my master’s my focus was on diversity in publishing. And, really looking into that, it seemed like independent presses are doing a much better job at being genuinely diverse. A lot of corporations will pick their “diverse authors,'' but they tend to pigeonhole them. Or, many of the “gatekeepers” at the large publishing houses will overlook more diverse authors just because they may not identify with their stories. 

So I thought about that and I thought about how I want Folkways to be a platform for writers who are often misunderstood, or just kept out because someone doesn’t identify with them. I want it to be a platform for people to use their voices. And I want to encourage writers, and give them a place to share their thoughts. I say on the website it’s marginalized voices, and so many people are in the margins. They’re forgotten and treated as a footnote almost. I feel like some publishers only choose writers who they think will be a money-making opportunity.

If you look up the definition for “folkways,” it’s about cultural expectations or what exists within a culture. I want Folkways Press to go beyond cultural expectations, and bring culture to everyone, instead of it just being pushed aside and ignored. So that’s kind of how it came to be! In the future, a big goal of mine is to be able to give back. The next anthology is focused on mental health, and I’d love to be able to give the money earned from that book to nonprofits working in that area. 

M: What has it been like to run a publishing house so far? Any best or worst moments? 

H: You know, it’s easy to start a business (laughs), but the financing has been difficult. And trying to sell a book during Covid, when people’s finances weren’t where they needed them to be, and people were losing their jobs - that was hard. A part of me felt so bad having a Kickstarter in the middle of a pandemic, but at the same time, I think people needed something to look forward to.

But, I don’t want to have to rely on Kickstarter all the time. I probably will for this next book, but I would rather be able to support the books going out and know I have that money instead of just hoping it gets funded. I guess there’s that worry too, like with any small business, but especially publishing, that you never know where it’s going to go, or if it will last, sometimes there’s that worry. I’d say that’s the hardest part. 

M: Oh, I can totally imagine that! But, overall, would you say it’s been rewarding?

H: Oh, yeah. Taking that risk to follow a dream is rewarding even if it has its ups and downs. I would still do everything the same. It’s been really rewarding, and I’m just so glad that I decided to just do it.  

M: That’s all that matters! So, how do you find your writers?

H: So what I’ve been doing is just putting out submission calls. I’ll put it on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. With this recent call for submissions I’ve been reaching out to people in the mental health community who I feel like would be a good contributor but also leaving the submissions open to other writers as well. 

With We Are Not Shadows, I just put it out there and had a pretty good response to it. It’s really just word of mouth I feel like and getting it out there on social media too.

M: I was on your website and I saw something that really stuck out for me: “Despite living in a time when more women are speaking up and speaking out about inequality, political issues, and the realities of their day-to-day lives, many continue to be treated as whispers in the void; hidden figures in the dark; shadows on the wall. This is what moved us to launch We Are Not Shadows as the first book from Folkways Press.”

I love that and was wondering if you could expand on that a little bit. What motivated you to go in this direction for Folkways’ first anthology?

H: I was sitting down and thinking, “What needs to be talked about right now?” At the time, there was Trump in the presidency and you saw more women talking, there were marches and things like that, but it didn’t feel like enough. I was also thinking about older women too, and how their stories are ignored as well. I was getting so tired of only certain women being given a place to speak, and I was like “I want more women to have a space to talk about what they’ve gone through.” 

I want to talk about issues that are glossed over and I think that’s what motivated me to just say, “Here’s this platform, let’s talk about stuff. Let’s get this out there. Let’s talk about things that people hear about, but that don’t really sink in.” Even now, I’m tired of women trying to talk about things and then getting pushed to the side, or given an eye roll. You’re still seeing things like that now, with Simone Biles having to talk about the importance of her mental health, and all of the abortion laws in Texas - things like that. 

There are so many other issues - I have endometriosis and there are more women talking about it, but there still needs to be more of a platform to get these stories out there. In the book there was a woman who talked about infertility and losing more than one child through miscarriage, those things aren’t really talked about either at length. So I just really wanted to open all of that up. It’s time to talk a bit louder about issues or experiences that are often ignored. 

M: Totally. It can be so frustrating sometimes - it feels like whenever the feminist movement takes one step forward, we take two back. But, thankfully there are people like Simone Biles and publishing houses like yours to keep us moving forward, no matter what. What do you see for the future of Folkways?

H: I would like the future of Folkways to just really become a big platform for others. I want to do an anthology focusing on indigenous voices. I want the DACA students in the US to be able to talk about their lives because they never really get to tell their stories. I want Folkways to be a place where stories can be told openly and safely. I want to put a megaphone in people’s hands and say, “I’m just here to get your story out there. It’s your voice that’s being heard.” That’s all I want to be. I just want to be the platform where they can say what they need to say. It’s not about me. I want it to be about other people. My goal is to have it be a place where people can stand up and say what needs to be said. 

Visit the Folkways Press website here. If you’re interested in submitting to their upcoming anthology click here.

You can find Folkways Press on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.