Polyamory, polyfidelity and non-monogamy: new approaches to multiple relationships...

...is certainly the most cumbersome sub-title of any Five Leaves book, and the cover of Breaking the Barriers to Desire: new approaches to multiple relationships would certainly be in our top three of worst covers (so bad I'm not putting it on here). In our defence, it was published in 1995 when we were still learning about covers. And typing 1995 makes me realise that yes, Five Leaves is a year older than we normally advertise. Have to bring forward our twentieth birthday bash.
Anyway... every two or three years I wince, when polyamory and all that is back in the press again. There's been a telly programme, which I did not watch, and today Laura Penny (who else?) is in the Guardian advocating non-monogamy.
Just to be clear, polyamory is not something that the Five Leaves batallions get up to in the office when proof-reading gets all too much. We'd never publish such a book now, but several of our early books - commissioned in our pre-flight year as Mushroom Bookshop Publications - were about sexual politics. Not that we've got anything against sexual politics, or polyamory for that matter, but our areas of publication quickly changed once the link with the Bookshop had gone. The book itself, edited by Kevin Lano and Claire Parry, sold reasonably, with the still-extant American magazine Loving More buying the last 150 copies. And that was that. Except it wasn't.
Twice, late in the life of the book, the Guardian and the Sunday Mirror featured the book through no effort our our part. In both cases we got loads of phone calls (in those pre-email days), from journalists wanting copies for further features and reviews. The second time the book was featured thirteen journalists rang, including one desperate journo at The Sun who called several times. Like we would talk to The Sun. And the number of calls from the public or people wanting to order the book? In each case, next to none. The second time it was three calls and bookshops worldwide were scarcely troubled by as many people ordering the book. By then we had no copies to give out to journalists anyway.
All we could conclude from this was that journalists were (and perhaps are) REALLY interested in non-monogamy and that the public was (and perhaps is) not, other than maybe those involved in responsible polyamory who had already bought the book. We still get occasional calls, but the book is long gone and we have lost touch with the editors and contributors.

Poly put the kettle on

Just catching up with the Guardian... The colour supp of a few days ago had a long article about polyamory, about those who are involved in multiple relationships. This subject appears pretty regularly in the press. I notice this because, in 1995, the book Breaking the Barriers to Desire: new approaches to multiple relationships appeared from Five Leaves. The firm grew out of the old Mushroom Bookshop Publications - the publishing imprint of the radical bookshop in Nottingham. Mushroom had a strong interest in sexual politics, so when Five Leaves took over the shop's advance publications list this, and one or two other sexual politics titles came out, before the new imprint moved away, or possibly to safer ground. Barriers - which had probably the worst cover design ever (I plead guilty) - sold reasonably, then stopped selling, and the remaining stock was eventually sold at a big discount to the American magazine Loving More. We should have held on to some copies as it is a book referenced in many articles on "polyamory, polyfidelity and non-monogamy". But the real interest is within the press. We know this because towards the end of the book's life Angela Neustatter wrote an article in a newspaper about polyamory, citing the book. I'd been away for a couple of days and returned to find my answering machine entirely full of messages from journalists wanting review copies or to interview the editors, Kevin Lano and Claire Parry, with whom I'd lost touch. Journalists continued to ring for days (admittedly, I never returned the calls from the Sun). I could not contact the editors. I had nothing to say on the subject personally as I know more about Polyfilla than polyamory, but assumed that Angela's article would see off the remaining stock. Well, we sold a couple more copies, maybe half a dozen, and gave out many more review copies than that. I think there was a subsequent big feature in the Sunday Mirror, which resulted in maybe another sale or two. For years aftewards we'd get excited calls from journalists desperate to write on this subject and in need of source material. In other words, the public in general is not that interested in polyamory, but journalists are. Including from the Guardian, obviously. Tidying my office recently, I found one forgotten copy of the book. I only need the existing file copy, so a single copy of Breaking the Barriers to Desire is available from us at info@fiveleaves.co.uk, with a cover price of £5.99. If anyone buys it I'll send the £5.99 to a suitable charity - Relate maybe, or the journalists' benevolent society.