Hazel Cushion - founder of Accent Press

Hazel Cushion - Founder of Accent Press a successful publishing company who are just about to open offices in New York so they can expand into the US and Canadian markets.  She has won several awards, her books have featured in The Booksellers Top Ten Charts and in February 2007 was invited to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace. 

Q: What made you decide to set up a publishing house – how did you go about doing it?
 
Hazel: “After my mother’s death I started writing because she had always encouraged me too. I had quite a few articles and stories published; this made me keen to develop my writing.  When I returned to the UK after September 11th I joined a writers group and received the encouragement there to apply for an MA in Creative Writing. For various reasons I’d never got a degree when I was younger and, having turned 40, it suddenly seemed really important to do something for me. It was a wonderful, liberating and thoroughly enjoyable experience. As part of the course I learnt how to put a book together and I was hooked – I immediately knew that I wanted to be a publisher rather than a writer.  From a practical point of view, publishing doesn't have to be based in London any more so it was a business I could set up from home, all I really needed was a computer.”

Q: What sort of publishing is it?

Hazel: “We mostly publish mainstream fiction paperbacks including crime, women’s’ fiction, biographies etc but we also have an erotic imprint Xcite Books and an educational company Curriculum Concepts.”

Q: What was your biggest break?

Hazel: “Selling our first book into WH Smith’s top 300 stores over the telephone. It was called Sexy Shorts for Christmas and was raising money for Breast Cancer Campaign. Top authors including Katie Fforde donated stories for the book.”

Q: Have there been times when you felt like giving up?

Hazel: “Never – I have finally grown up and found out what I want to be when I’m older! I love what I do.

Q: If I was thinking of writing a book – what tips could you offer?

Hazel: “It’s really hard to get published so many people think they’ve got a book in them.  In reality it’s really hard to get published in the UK alone 110,000 books are published each year.  Most people start at the wrong end writing a book in the hope it will get published.  In fact the ones on the best seller list – the most successful authors are not creatives they are canny business people who can write.  Over the next coming months I will be chatting to two authors about their tips to writing a book and how to write a short story.

Q: What gems could you give to other women starting their own business?
 
Hazel: “Sit down and write a business plan as this will really demonstrate that your idea is financially viable and will be needed to secure funding. It also makes you look at the hard detail and throws up the problems that you may have mentally tried to gloss over! It won’t be fun but it is vital. Don’t be afraid to get advice but stick to your core idea and values.”

Q: Do you believe they are lucky or is it down to just hard work?

Hazel: “I work incredibly long hours and very hard but I love it and find it enormously rewarding. I think you create your own luck in life.

Q: Do you consider you are successful and are you still ambitious?

Hazel: “Yes, I think I’m successful because I have created a thriving business from scratch. I have also created jobs and opportunities for others and that is very rewarding. Inevitably I’m too close to it to always see the progress but we’ve come a very long way in just five years. I’m still very ambitious because I’m always seeing new opportunities around the corner.”

Q: What are these ambitions?

Hazel: “We have recently moved into the education market and I’m ambitious to develop awareness of the importance of thinking and listening skills in Primary education. I’m dyslexic and so am delighted to also be working with the Quick Reads initiative that produce books to improve adult literacy."

Q: Who are your role models?

Hazel: “I love feisty women like Sharon Osborne who have gone on to carve out their own career but I would have to say my mother was a real role model for me. She brought us up on her own after my father left her with four girls under the age of five. From her I learnt that if you want something to happen, then you have to make it happen."

Q: Is your husband supportive?

Hazel: “My husband was initially unhappy about my desire to do my MA but quickly realised how important it was for me. He now works as the Financial Director for Accent Press and has also learnt lots of new editing skills."

Q: Tell me about your triplets
 
Hazel: “We have two girls and a boy and they are incredibly different – people often struggle to believe they are triplets. We now live in an old Victorian Primary School which is our home and office which makes for a much easier work/life balance. Yes, they moan that we are always working but then again we have been known to close the office and go sledging in the winter!”

Q: What do you wished you’d known when you started your business?

Hazel: “That I was unlikely to sell 12,000 copies of our first book!”

Q: What do you enjoy most?

Hazel: “All of it but especially the sales and marketing. Publishing suits me as I have a very short attention span. Luckily we always have new books and projects to work on and that keeps me buzzing.”

Q: What’s your proudest moment?

Hazel: “Being invited along with 100 other business women (including Sharon Osborne) to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen and all the other female members of the Royal family.”

Q: What next?

Hazel: “We have just opened an office in New York and are expanding into the US and Canadian market. It’s a bold move but an enormous market which makes it an irresistible challenge!”

For more information about Hazel's Books and her publishing company go to www.accentpress.co.uk/