by ERIN MACLEOD

Not so long ago, Emma McKay was sifting through manuscripts at ECW Press and getting great books made—books like Kid Koala’s Nufonia Must Fall and Paul 107’s instant classic on graffiti, All City. She was knee-deep in cool projects when ECW closed its doors in Montreal. What’s a girl to do? Well, if you’re McKay, you start your own company, of course. Since then, she’s built MudScout Media from the ground up. “It’s all about getting down and dirty and finding the hidden gems,” she explains. The Mirror forced Ms. MudScout to take a break and talk about how this crazy book-making stuff works.

Mirror: So how did this all start?

Emma McKay: After I lost my job, people kept coming to me with projects, and I was considering developing them for other publishers, and then I thought, “Why don’t I just do this myself?” Because, well, I’m a bit of a control freak. (laughs)

M: Is there anything you learned from being at ECW?

EM: All kinds of things. Everything from the kinds of books you are acquiring to how you’re pitching them and the way money is spent. Also, a lot of the problems at ECW had to do with distribution, with the collapse of General [a company that distributed most smaller press titles throughout Canada—its demise meant terrific debt and sometimes collapse for many publishers]. I guess a lot of my strategy now has to do with direct sales versus distribution.

M: Instead of having all sorts of different levels.

EM: Yeah, and everyone taking their cut. I can just get the book directly to the audience and try to keep enough money to keep making books.

ALREADY FAMOUS

M: A lot of publishers talk about their “publishing program.” What is MudScout’s?

EM: I like books that already have an audience. One day it might be really wonderful to publish first-time novelists, but it’s not something I’m trying to do right now because I feel it would be very, very hard to break. The authors that I have so far are those that already have a certain following or presence. It gives my books legs. I don’t want to publish into a void. I want to publish books that I know will already have people out there who will like them.

M: Some think that Canadian publishing is basically run on grants because we can’t compete with the States.

EM: Grants are really important. I’m not eligible just yet, but I am building my publishing program with that in mind because a grant would definitely help me. It’s wonderful that we have opportunities in Canada to make art that is funded and a huge role that small publishers play in this country is helping people with things that might otherwise not get published. Because we do have the support, it is important that we take a few chances.

M: Like Lederhosen Lucil’sThe Joy of Hosen.

EM: Yes. It’s sort of a way to partner up with interesting artists who are out there doing interesting things. Definitely Lucil has her own flavour. I didn’t fully realize how big it would be! I think it’s a very unique thing with all sorts of little details. And she’s good people. It’s a good book to launch—the first official MudScout book.

M: What new projects is MudScout working on?

EM: I’m especially excited about Pipe Fiends. There’s a halfpipe at the Big-O that is pretty legendary. Skateboarders have been looking after it for years and 2006 is its 30th anniversary. I’m also working with hip hop journalist Fritz tha Cat and I’ve got a couple of postcard books in the works—one with Roadsworth.

M: Would you encourage more people to start their own publishing business?

EM: Yeah. I think you can take it in your own hands. Nobody else will have creative control. It’s basically about who pays the print bills, but if you can muster up the cash and deal with the hassle, you’ll reap the benefits. It makes a lot of sense to me.