Dirty Leeds enjoyed a brilliant launch on Thursday 24 September. Then there was a signing the next day. There’s been interviews. There’s been features. And now (fingers crossed) the reviews will start coming in.

Dirty Leeds, I’m proud to say, is one of the best books I’ve worked on as a publisher.  Here’s an interview with the author, Robert Endeacott. He can go on a bit, but it’s well worth reading. The interview, I mean. The book is quite splendid too.

Stu: Describe the book in 25 words or less.

Robert: A mix, fact and fiction: Don Revie/Leeds United 1961-’74, the fictional side is the life of  boy Jimmy O’Rourke during the same era.

S: Right – Dirty Leeds. If you didn’t mention in the 25 words, what is Dirty Leeds (assume not a reference to the refuse collectors’ strike) and what made you decide to write about it?

R: Haha, good one about the bin strike!  ‘Dirty Leeds’ as a  title, is ironic in that the Leeds team from 1964 were labelled as ‘dirty’ by the media following a careless (and in fact, inaccurate) FA report. The story idea has been with me a long time, thanks in many ways to my dad working on the LU groundstaff for 26 years, plus me being lucky enough to have supported the team when they were at their very peak (I was born in 1965).  Don Revie has for many years, had a terrible reputation which was often unjust and usually unkind.  I just wanted to not only write about him as he is one legendary Leeds character, but I wanted to set the record a bit straighter, about him as well as about the best football team of the era who certainly were no angels but were not the thugs the press tried to make out. The city of Leeds was always dirty too – in the city centre are some beautiful white buildings which were normally black due to the pollution and neglect – so I wanted to use some the city’s grime factor
in the story as well.

S: The book has a great testimonial from David Peace – did any money change hands? 

R: Yes of course it did, and he still hasn’t paid up!  No, no money was involved of course, it’s just proof that David is a great chap and, I hope, proof too of his great taste!
S: Do you get sick of people asking if your work is autobiographical?
Not in the slightest, I like people asking such things as it means at least something I’ve written is being noticed.

S: And is it? 

R: Blimey, I’m sick of people asking these sort of questions! Yes, there are events happening in Jimmy’s story which have happened in my own life, despite his character being 15 years older than the real me.  I’d feel a bit of a fraud if I wrote about personal dramas which in reality I knew nothing about.

S: Is the book autobiographical?

(no reply)

S: Moving swiftly on… How would you describe yourself? As in, what kind of writer are you?

R: The old adage ‘write about what you know’ does apply to me, but you can learn masses of knowledge by doing lots of in depth research. I try to be down to earth with my writing and I try to use ‘Less is more’ as a general guideline.  I also love to laugh and I’d be a proud man if every one of my jokes or humorous writings hit the spot with readers!  I certainly don’t think of myself as anything special as a writer but I’ll fight my corner if I’m criticised and I think it’s unjust criticism.   

S: What kind of a writer do you think you need to be to ‘make it’?

R: It’s a definite individual matter – personally, I couldn’t live with myself if I made it by copying another author’s writing style or even their material, but I’m sure it happens just as it does in every media.  It depends on a person’s perception of what ‘making it’ is, I suppose, and how important book royalties are compared to reputation and the amount of respect a writer earns.  Here, I’m enjoying this (possible) assumption that I have actually made it, because in monetary terms that is so so far from the reality I assure you!  In other words, I’m not remotely wealthy, but wealth is more a personal thing with me than a bank balance and I am in a rich part of my life at the moment.  

S: When did you start writing and at what point did you have the balls (pardon the pun) to call yourself a writer? 

R: I started to write in earnest around 2001 and luckily was pointed in the direction of a great writing group called The Opening Line with Ian Duhig mentoring a group of we aspiring writers.  However, and this is true, one of my earliest childhood memories is copying, word for word,my favourite kids’ book and dreaming of being a writer.  I had other dreams too of course and for the life of me, I’ve no idea what that book was!  n adult life iIt didn’t take much balls as such, as I asked the opinions of a lot of friends and family – was I being a Billy Liar, was I risking making a real arse of myself and, more importantly, would they read my stuff if I carried on with this mad scheme of writing?  I took lots of encouragement and genuine goodwill and support from the people closest to me and from those whose opinions I respected.  So, in short I’d say i was lucky, but I do believe that you make your own luck in life, certainly when it comes to career choice (which is not as important in life as most of are taught to believe).

S: Do you think it’s a bit of a psychological thing - making that leap and saying ‘I’m a writer!’? 

R: I try not to think or talk about it too much – if someone asks ‘what do you do?’ and you reply that you’re a writer, it usually signifies their not believing you or their thinking you’re barmy or a liar or simply not very good because they’ve never heard of you (me).  So you can’t win.  And who cares anyway?  I’d rather listen to interesting people rather than try and interest people by making myself sound interesting!
S: Tell us about some of the knockbacks you’ve had – has there been loads?

R: I’ve been very lucky, because I’ve sought advice from other writers and I’ve listened to that advice.  I’ve had very few knockbacks and not many bad experiences as a writer.  For instance, David Peace was great counsel with ‘Dirty Leeds’ but he didn’t pull his punches: I was way too keen to get in touch with publishers very early on but DP told me to exercise much more caution than I was doing, because there were too many weak areas in my story idea as well as the style I wanted to write it in.  Shame he’s a Huddersfield fan but I forgive him.

S: How do you cope with them? 

R: I’m not good at rejection and I am far too sensitive to criticism as well!  As I said though, I’ve not had to endure too many rejections in this game, and I definitely landed lucky in contacting Stu Wheatman at Tonto Books who, even if he had rejected Dirty Leeds, was generous and helpful enough to have tried helping me make progress.

S: Is there a good writing scene in Leeds? 

R: There’s a great writing scene in Leeds and a fantastic laissez faire attitude (or punk/indie writing attitude, as I like to think of it) plus there are some great indie publishers too, and poets of course.  But I’ll tell you something that is seriously lacking here – literary agents and people singing the praises of all the talents within Leeds.  It does seem, in the world of literature, that if you’re not based in London or you’re without an agent, then you must be inferior a writer and too risky to invest in.  Which is bollocks of course!  Trouble is, in my experience, people from Leeds are crap at bigging their selves up!

S: Do you think it’s important to have those kind of support networks?

R: My friends and family are the ‘support networks’ I rely on the most, and of course not only do they help me but they tell me when I’m being a bit too ambitious. Or when I’m being a bit of a prat!  Which never happens of course, never.

S: You’ve had a few books published now, and obviously this one is the best – how did you go about finding a home for your work? 

R: I may have misconstrued this question (sorry if I have) but if by ‘home’ you mean genre or what shelf category bookshops need to slot my books in, I don’t think I have one really!  My first two novels, ‘One Northern Soul’ and ‘No More Heroes’ are rites of passage/life stories about a football supporter, but they’re not simply Football books. 

S: As a publisher, I get submissions all the time from writers who clearly have not done their ‘publisher research’ – what tips would you offer? 

R: Do that publisher research!  No REALLY, do the blooming research and save yourself time and trouble as well as the publishers, most of whom will probably be overworked already.  Find out which current publishers deal in the genre you’ve written in (and if you don’t know what genre your book is in then you need to go back to basics as it is crucial).  When you’ve sussed out the ‘possibles’, either refer to the Writers & Artists Yearbook for those publishers’ contact details and submission guidelines, or get trawling on the internet.  Then you need to pluck up the courage to ring them or at least email them, politely enquiring as to whether or not they’re considering new work and if they are, what’s the best way of you submitting your work?  I’ve not spoken to many but I must say that just about all of them were very receptive, warm and polite, even if they weren’t remotely interested.    

S: What’s your next project? 

R: I’m involved with two projects at the moment, one is football fact & fiction again, dealing with the story of a certain England manager during the 1970s, while the other is a ‘co-operative’ type of book by fans of The Stranglers, my favourite band (along with the Beatles but they’re my favourite PAST band, if that makes sense).  In effect, The Stranglers book is an alternative history/biography of the band, and I’m more the Editor than sole Author, though I will be contributing a fair few words to it.  There are genuine similarities between Leeds United and The Stranglers, daft as it might seem for me to say that, and I’m delighted to be a fan of them both.

S: What does the future hold?

R: Oh right, thanks for an easy question to finish with!  With respect to my own writing ‘career’, much depends on how successful Dirty Leeds is.  Naturally, I’m hoping it will sell well and even though I’m not in this for the money (I’ve never been in any job just for the money) I do have responsibilities and bills that need money of course.  On a wider scale, this year I was genuinely hoping to see a revolution where we had just MPs in office who were concerned only with the interests of their constituents and not their flipping expense claims.  I know it’s too simplistic of me to hope for honesty and transparency in government (local AND national) whilst it was no doubt naive of me too to hope that all those guilty MPs would come clean, resign and be succeeded suddenly by honest and transparent replacements, but what the hell, you can dream.  And I’m also dreaming of having had published one book for every year I’ve been alive, so I need to get cracking as i was told by a clairvoyant a few years ago, what age I’ll die at.  So stop interrupting me please, I’ve got well over 30 books to write! 

I didn’t ask if the book was autobiographical again. That’s going to be my ‘Jeremy Paxman’ for everyone I interview from now on. My next interviewee is Charlie Walduck whose autobiography I’m publishing on Thursday though. So his reply is quite likely to be yes.

As part of the Dirty Leeds celebrations – I’m giving away copies of the book! Oh, aye – you heard right! All you have to do to be in with a chance to win is to email me a response to this by 12pm tomorrow – that’s Tuesday 29 September. So – tell me two good things about Leeds. That’s it! No trick question. Anyone who makes me laugh or opens my eyes to something in Leeds I didn’t realise was ‘good’, then I’ll send you a copy of the book.