Ings Press’s first author reflects on the experience

Ryall Hill’s collection of Bradford-based short stories, Bradford District Lines, was launched a couple of months ago and is still going strong. We catch up with the author to find how the experience has been for him.

When I began to plan Ings Press, I wanted to focus on personally selected projects with authors I rated. Some of these will be well-published authors but it feels particularly rewarding to pick up someone who hasn’t yet had the success they deserved.

One such author was Ryall Hill. I had heard him reading at local events and I had read some of his stories on his Substack page, and I very much believed he deserved publication. When I realised that authors such as Bill Broady and Michael Stewart were equally enthusiastic about his work, not only did I feel vindicated but I felt I had to get the book to the reading public, especially in Bradford, where the tales are set.

A couple of months after the highly successful launch events for Bradford District Lines, it seemed like a good time to catch up with Ryall and see how the experience had been for him.

Mike, founder of Ings Press, stepped in when I thought I’d exhausted all opportunities to be published.

I’d finished writing Bradford District Lines in December 2023. After a year pursuing agents and publishers I resigned myself to sharing my work solo. Throughout Bradford City of Culture year 2025 I took any opportunity I could to speak about the collection, and released two stories a month for free on Substack.

I found myself with a couple of dozen subscribers, one of whom was Mike. We met a few times on the Bradford Literary Scene, then he suggested Ings Press publish the book.

Mike delivered an author-centric ethos through regular meetings where we discussed design, paper and binding quality, launch events, marketing and finances. I supported the print run by buying 60 of the 200 run at half price for me to sell at cover value.

Mike paid for and ran the launch events, even recruiting another Ings Press author to support them, the revered Bradford writer Bill Broady.  

It’s now two months from the launch and we’ve sold well over half the print run at launches, on this and Foyles’ website, from Salts Bookshop and Giddy Arts in Saltaire, and Plenty At The Square in Thornton. Mike got the collection a full page feature in the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, which has also helped sales.

I’ve recouped my investment in the first print run through my sales, and my royalties are stacking up for those copies sold by Mike. We’re now discussing a second edition, further outlets, digital and audio editions and marketing for Christmas.

In less than a year my first experience of having a collection published has moved me on from feeling I’m a writer to an author. Mike and I have worked as a team to deliver a collection we’re both proud of, and I believe he’ll achieve that for many others.

In the excitement of new publications, such as Colin Speakman’s Collected Poems, So Let It Be, and Carole Bromley’s Ghosts and Ginnels, it’s important to stress that Bradford District Lines is still going strong and can be bought in Salts Mill Bookshop and Giddy Arts, Saltaire, with more outlets coming soon. It is also, of course, available online, here.