Tenant Profile: Dale Maplethorpe

We recently welcomed Dale to Harland Works so thought it’d be the ideal time to find out a little about him and his work.

How would you describe what you do?

Being a copywriter is what pays my rent but running the publishers is much more interesting. I own a small publishing company called Tempered where we write a narrative driven magazine called This Is Empty and are currently finalising our first novel called All Things In Between.

I have a big interest in both fiction and non-fiction so wanted to create something that blended the two together. Our magazine has interviews with musicians and comedians such as James Acaster, Richard Herring and Clipping, but we wind them into some kind of overarching story which lets the zine read more like a story. The same goes for the novel that I’m working on which is written in first person by me but a fictional version of me who starts obsessing over a character he’s created.

Why did you create your business?

I love writing. With books, I feel like there are absolutely no rules. The last book to be banned was Mein Kampf so as long as you’re not promoting mass genocide all bets are off. The kind of things that would be seen as too much to put on the screen or stage can only find a place in a book and I love that level of unpredictability that comes whenever you open one.

That being said, with writing, I don’t like the process of waiting for something to be published, I’d much rather get it finished and move on to the next thing so knew doing it myself was the only option. Not to mention I’m awful at it so chances are no one would have published me anyway.

Starting Tempered and the magazine made a lot of sense because I’ve always written and Seb (our illustrator) is crazy talented and wanted to do something more creative than what his current full-time job allows. Putting those two things together worked and so it’s something we’ve decided to pursue a lot more hands on.

Where does your Tempered Publishing name come from?

A lack of originality and a love of Sheffield.

Any defining moments?

I’ve gotten to interview some great people which is always fun. A highlight was when I spoke to Paul from Celebs Go Dating, who is without a doubt the most handsome and softly spoken man ever. He complemented my beard when we had a chat and that’s now front and centre on my Hinge profile.

What do you love about running a small business?

I’m doing what I like which is fun. I’ve had awful jobs in the past that have pushed me to bad places so been able to go to work and write a script about OJ Simpson on an episode of Hot Ones is the dream.

What do you like least?

People who have Instagram accounts for their houses. Oh, you mean about running a small business? There’s a lot of anxiety when it comes to income but that’s massively overshadowed by how much I like doing what I do.

Any tips for anyone thinking of setting up on their own?

In publishing? Don’t. There’s already too much competition out here. In anything else? Follow your dreams pal.

What would you say to anyone else running/setting up a small independent business thinking about getting a unit at Harland Works? What works (or not!) for you being here?

The quality of Cronuts in the cafe is ruining the elastic on my jeans and I also share a space with two dogs so I’m probably the most unproductive I’ve ever been. The unit is great though! It’s comfortable, reasonably priced and everyone I speak to is lovely. 

What's your favourite social media platform and how do you feel it works best for you in building a relationship and community with your customers?

Probably either twitter (@TemperedBooks) or Instagram (@TemperedPublishing). Twitter is fun because we upload a lot of stuff about music so it’s nice to get people’s take on things. The people we tag are also much more responsive on there which has led to us interviewing the likes Backxwash and Xenia Rubino, both of whom I’m absolutely obsessed with.

That being said, Seb is so talented that the work we do is incredibly visual, as such posting it on an app dedicated to images and videos, like Instagram, helps us get our brand across better.

How can people find out more about you and what you do?

Our website’s probably the best bet, its https://www.temperedpublishing.co.uk. We upload digital copies of our magazine on there and have a new one coming out in a couple of weeks featuring an interview with Sheffield poet Laurette Otis Mensah and narrated by a fictional Gordan Ramsay (the real one never returned our calls).