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1) What made you decide to take the step into publishing as opposed to say, writing about the occult?
A: As you will be able to tell from my answers I am actually not much of a writer. I am however a lover of fine books and have been an avid occult book collector for years. One day while serving overseas, I was sitting in my room looking for some new titles to add to my library and I remember being completely amazed at the bindings and the beauty of some of the books that I was viewing and something in me just clicked. I said to myself “I can do this! I want to do this for a living!” I wanted to make books that inspired in others what I was feeling at that moment. I wanted to make true things of beauty in and of themselves that would stand the test of time and be passed on from generation to generation. Nephilim Press was born.
2) When Nephilim Publishing first came on to the scene in 2009/10 , you came under scrutiny and a few suspicious would- be authors tried to imply your motives could have been to steal their work. How did you overcome the “new kid on the block” prejudices and obstacles to be where you are today, publishing authors like S. Connolly? What was the first book Nephilim Press officially published?
A:Ah yes those blessed conspiracy theorists. You know it never ceases to amaze me that people on the forums actually believed that I was part of some vast conspiracy to steal new authors works and sell them as my own. Every time I would try to have a friendly dialogue and post excerpts from the US copyright office some other publishing law expert would come on and talk about how it could be nothing but a scam. I eventually ignored them altogether and waited them out. The waiting was the hardest part. I was getting submissions all the timie but man they were not very good. I can’t even tell you how bad they were because I don’t think I can recreate perfect confusion. Anyway after 2 years we actually announced that Nephilim had closed its doors due to our inability to lock down a decent title to print. That’s when Eric Koetting called me on the phone and said he’d like to work with me on “the last book I’m ever gonna do.” Azazel was born and it is our first title to come to print.
3) You tend to lean towards the deliciously dark side of things. On your about us section on your website http://www.nephilimpress.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; you mention you prefer to publish books on “Subjects that have been mentioned in passing, but no serious treatise on them has ever seen the light of day.” Have you ever been approached to publish something that was just too taboo? How do you handle those situations?
A: I probably should not mention this but what the hell. I had an organization send me a manifesto for consideration. These people were hard core Satanists that wanted to wage a war against Christianity the world over. Not just Christianity but Muslims, Jews, you name it. They were all about hard core terrorist tactics and techniques, basically ISIS but not as warm and Fuzzy. I sent a copy of the manuscript to my attorney and he immediately typed up a letter for me explaining how we could have no legal ties in any way shape or form with any organization like that. I am still breathing so I guess they didn’t take it personally. Some other Taboo subjects have been hurting animals and hurting your self and honestly I don’t see the personal need to publish something like that just to make a few bucks so I simply tell people it’s not for us. People usually get the message. Usually…
4) What are your thoughts on the current trend of grimoire scalping? Is this something Nephilim has experienced problems with?
A: I think it is unfortunate that titles get hyper inflated but in the end the owner of the book can do what they want. I have people call me all the time and ask if have any more copies of this book or that book and I hate to tell them no but that’s how limited print runs go. I have a strict policy at Nephilim about the sales of our books, when the market value of our books go up our price stays the same. We do not buy back our own titles and we do not scalp our own titles. If it was $50 the day we first sold it then it will be $50 even if it is selling online for $500.
5)It must be amazing getting to read everything and try out the rituals before the general public. Have you ever had any truly frightening or mind-blowing experiences with any of the rituals from the books you’ve published?
A: I have a strict policy about giving my opinion on the contents of our books out to the general public. I want the customer to make up their own mind without anyone from my business swaying them one way or another. I don’t want to be the reason a person buys a specific book. I don’t think its fair to the authors and I don’t think it is fair to the customer. I am not talking about write-ups. Those are facts about the book. I am talking about telling of experiences or which rituals I like best or what worked for me. Theres a million dollar statement if ever there was one. What “worked” for me. If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me, “does it work?” I tell them all the same thing. That’s a question only you can answer for yourself. No one else can do the work for you.
6) For those of us who don’t know much about this sort of business, how long does it take the average book to become a complete book? ie from the point you are handed the final copy to the point it is finished?
A: Once we get the final draft from the author the book goes into editing. We have professional editors, that problem with Gateways Through Stone and Circle was an isolated incident, and the book goes through various forms of editing and proof reading which takes anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks depending on the amount of work needed. Once the author approves the editing the book then goes to layout and design. This is where fonts, page ornaments, graphics and everything else internal are added and formatted. This generally takes about 2 weeks. Once the layout is done the Author has to approve it again and then its off to the printer. The printer and binding take 6 weeks so anywhere form 8 to 11 weeks for a book to get done. This of course means nothing in the real world as god knows anything that can possible happen to screw everything up will happen and FU$% UP the timeline.
7)Do you have any other publishing interests, ie genre’s outside of the occult? What are they? (feel free to put websites if you like
) A: Yes, I publish a weekly periodical on the cultivation of small table flowers used in the hospitality and tourism indus……..Just kidding. No other interests.
8) What is your personal favorite form of magick and how long have you been practicing? What age were you when you first started being interested in the occult?
A: This is something that is very personal and private to me and I only discuss it when in the company of others like me. Lets just say I walk my own path. I don't want people to let my beliefs or practices sway their decisions in any way at all. This is why most authors fail when they try to become publishers. Most have such a concrete ideology of practice and belief that they can't represent any authors other than those who completely agree with their agenda. Does that make sense. Because of their rigidness to doctrine they alienate everything else. I guess you could be that way if you have 50 authors all writing about Thelema or some other subject but look at how you restrict your potential customer base. Of course there are those who will say it's not about the money. You ever notice no one starving ever makes that statement. It's always the author or company with the most success that claims that. Funny huh. You are not going to convince me that the Devil is not a capitalist.
9) Have you got any juicy new grimoires coming out soon that you can tease us with ? Maybe a sneak peak -telling us the subject matter and whose book it is?
A: HMMM….. Believe it or not Humberto Maggias book on St Cyprian was done but we had a copyright dispute with one of the publishers whose material we used so Humberto had to do a re-write of an entire section. It is close now but no date. Aaron Leitch is finishing up his new anthology on Offerings and it sports an all star author list from the most well known names in the field now. It should be going to editing within a week or two. We also have Frater Rufus Opus’s 7 Spheres at the printer now and we did a facsimile reprint of the 1895 Book Crystal Gazing. Normally we don’t do reprints but everyone that loved Gateways was writing to us and asking us for quality information to supplement Ashens book. The Crystal Gazing book is the perfect companion to Gateways and I would say that 80% of the info in the book is relevant to the operations in Gateways.
(priestess notes: make sure to join the Nephilim Press email subscription list to be kept up to date on upcoming grimoires! sign up at http://www.nephilimpress.com-one" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; of our favorite stores for affordable high quality modern magickal grimoires! )
We would like to thank Mr Redd for taking the time out of his hectic schedule to answer these questions. It was very exciting to be able to chat about such a fascinating subject- Occult publishing. Mr Redd and those like him are the unsung heroes of the occult world. For without our trusted publishers, we would not have our books to help form our paths, enrich our minds, and feed our very souls.
