She arrives at the La Vanguardia newsroom loaded with a suitcase and many hopes after passing through the Barcelona International Book Fair, a city that bids her farewell on a rainy day, as if making her feel at home before embarking on the trip back to Bilbao. . Mamen Peinador, a philologist, has given life to what her writer friend Cristina Maruri calls "a boutique publishing house": Ediciones Escondidas.
How did this project come about?
It was during the Covid lockdown, to help a friend, who had had a publishing house before. There were three of us at first, but then I was left alone, without knowing anything about publishing houses, but it was a world that attracted me. I began training in business management and in the publishing sector.
And so far, how has the experience been?
fantastic! More than a profession it is a hobby. And hook. It gives a lot, it takes a lot of time (everything!), but it is a passion. The world of books and I have always been united. In the end, when you study Philology you spend five years with a book in your hands. Then I tried to do my doctorate and you are in libraries all day, surrounded by books and paper. I always had in mind to do something related to the world of books, but setting up a bookstore seemed like a slave to me. I saw no other way out. I have dedicated myself professionally, and continue to do so, to give language classes to adults. And then, when this project came about, all my creative part that was kind of held back a bit, came out here.
Why Hidden Editions?
For two reasons. One because I started this project secretly from my family. Nobody knew that I started this business. I was afraid that they would tell me "don't get involved in this" and even more so in the pandemic. But, precisely, the pandemic helped me to be able to focus on the publishing house because I had a break from work in classes for a year, which was an ideal time to create this project.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Exact.
And what was the second reason for giving this name to the publisher?
Well, apart from the fact that I was doing it in secret, the idea was to get new writers or people who don't consider themselves writers, but who have written works. There are many people who have writings.
In fact, there is another seal of the publisher that is even more hidden, is not it?
Yes, it is Furtive Editions, which is for self-publishing. It was created to accommodate all those people who come to us and who do not fit into our editorial line.
Ediciones Escondidas began by publishing poetry, but it also touches on stories, novels, letters... Very varied, but without the intention of getting closer to the style of the big publishers?
No way. At the Barcelona Book Fair I have seen what the world of large publishers is like. I will never be able to compete with them and, besides, I don't want to. The line of Ediciones Escondidas focuses a lot on women, on poetry and on short stories above all. I think that in these times in which we live so fast it is very easy to read poetry. You always have a moment to read a poem. I had it very clear.
Is it also influenced by social networks? We write little, we read little... The immediacy?
Sure, the world is now online. There are studies that indicate that our attention is shorter and shorter, the period of time we are in front of a book has been reduced. We live quickly, our life is running and running, we arrive exhausted.
And why this commitment to women?
Because I am a woman.
But have you also edited men?
Yes, but the book of poems by Fernando García and black and white photographs by Alberto Otaduy has a tremendous feminine sensibility. And it is so, we are very mixed men and women. In the end, being a woman, I am creating an editorial line from my point of view, from what I feel. And this book of two men, In case I didn't tell you, I see it from my feminine sensibility.
But does it have a claim point?
All women are at that vindictive point, perhaps because it is already well. We had a macho upbringing, society is still very macho and I am macho myself even though I try to escape from it and I feel very much like a woman. There comes a time in your life when you begin to realize that you are a woman, that you are free and that all these years have passed and you have been turned off.
Precisely, a woman, Annie Ernaux, has won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Yes, I love it as a writer, although I don't appreciate the Nobel prizes very much because I think they don't only value the writer, but that she is a woman, that she is from a social minority... it is terrible that women are still awarded for the fact of being a woman and not because of our work.
Is this why at Ediciones Escondidas you do a very traditional job, with a very direct relationship with the writers?
The editorial is very me and I am like that. I really like personal treatment, I am very sociable, I like to do things well. When you make a book, each part of the book must have a meaning. Nothing is chosen at random, the cover, the color, the size, the paper, the typography... Victoria Carande's book of poems has an exquisite paper, as is her poetry; the photography book has a quality paper and, in addition, reflects that she is a network poet. The black on white of her poems has a great impact. I take care of all these details, without rushing.
But, what is more important before, during or after in the process of publishing a book?
Well, for now, the before and during. I have been unconcerned about the aftermath, although I say to myself: "But if I live by selling the books?"... But I live with such passion the relationship with the writers beforehand to get to know them well. I am lucky that they give me the manuscripts and they tell me: "Do with them what you want". Of course, for that you have to know them. We hang out a lot, we talk, and then that's when I lock myself in and say, "I do this like this." This preview and in the editing process itself I give everything. And then I say, "what now? They're not going to sell themselves!" Until now it is the least important thing to me, but now I have realized that it has.
Any reference?
I identify with small independent publishers, which is who I am. And I look at some of them, but not many because I don't want to be influenced. But the book world has pleasantly surprised me because there is no competition, we help each other.
And after all this work, what is a book?
A traveling companion. A life partner.
And what is a reader?
I am the reader.
But what is the reader profile that you imagine when you edit a book?
It's just that I think everyone has to like it, except children and young people. I see people like me, very similar to me, who need a moment to disconnect from the world. I imagine a reader looking for a refuge in what I am doing, it is like an oasis. And so I imagine all my readers as someone who has a complicated life, as most of our lives are now, and who sits down and says, "I'm going to read, I'm going to enjoy myself, I'm going to relax, I'm going to think In Myself".
In other words, you offer escape and, at the same time, consolation.
Yes, yes, perfectly.
And what response are you getting from readers?
At the moment, positive, although it is logical that not everyone likes it and that what makes you think about improving. They tell me that I am very brave for writing poetry.
Cristina Maruri, collaborator of La Vanguardia, is one of your writers.
Yes, he is surprising a lot with Tell me a story and take me to another place, because he has the ability to amalgamate a story, a fairy tale that, at the same time, is explaining a reality that many of us would not want to see. She is very poetic and very anarchic with her prose. It's something new.
Raimon, the singer-songwriter, says that the songs come to him…
Like the books to me. I am super lucky, writers come looking for me because they like what I do and how I do it.
And are there many future books in the pipeline besides the card book?
Another of poetry and photography, a novel, another self-published novel...
Well, at this rate, Ediciones Escondidas will no longer be hidden.
I hope so, although I want him to always leave some hidden secret, that he always surprises.
