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Self-publishing online: the emerging template for sales success

With the self-publishing revolution rapidly transforming the industry, Harry Bingham explains how indie authors can now unlock huge sales through some simple techniques for connecting with readers online.

In a past era – not long ago in terms of years, but whole aeons in terms of the industry –self-publishing involved the creation and sale of print books. Lacking access to major national distribution chains, that activity was inevitably small-scale. If you sold 500 books and broke even in the exercise, you had done well. If you sold 1,000, you were a self-pub superstar.

That version of self-publishing still exists, and is perfectly reputable. But the rise of Amazon and the advent of the ebook have, together, utterly transformed the boundaries of the possible. You want to reach readers worldwide? Sure, no problem. You want to earn good money from every book sold? Consider it done. You want to sell tens of thousands of copies, make a prosperous living, have a close bond with thousands of readers? Of course. These things aren’t easy to achieve exactly, but they’re no longer remarkable. These truths, however, are weirdly invisible, in part because of the continuing cultural authority of print and the High Street. A typical traditional trade publisher today sells about 75% of its work in print. The remaining quarter will be made up mostly of ebooks, together with a small but rapidly growing slice of audio.

But these – very familiar – figures are deeply misleading. For one thing, they ignore Amazon’s own publishing activity; the firm is, after all, a publisher as well as a retailer. They also ignore all the sales generated by indie authors (or self-publishers; I use the terms interchangeably).

These two non-traditional sources, Amazon plus the indies, now account for a stonking 42% share of all adult fiction sales. And never mind format! If you look at where books are sold – print, digital and audio – it turns out that around 75% of all adult books – fiction and non-fiction – are sold online. The same is true of almost half of all books for children. (These stats come via AuthorEarnings.com and relate to the US market only, as no comparable estimates exist for the UK. That said, although the British trajectory is broadly similar, online penetration in the US has probably proceeded further.)

These data lead us to the two rocket-fuelled propellants of the self-pub revolution:

1. Traditional publishers have a lock on high-street bookselling. Indie authors simply can’t gain access to national chains without a corporate publisher on side. But anyone has access to Amazon. All you need is an email address. Uploading an ebook is particularly simple, but creating print books isn’t much harder, and most big-selling indies will be profiting from audio too.

2. Amazon’s royalties are extraordinary. If you sell £100 worth of ebooks (post-VAT) on Amazon, the firm will pay you just a shade under £70. If you sell the same value of ebooks via a traditional publisher and literary agent, you’re likely to see less than £15. In most industries, would-be insurgents have to do something better than the incumbents in order to thrive. In this industry, the royalty gap is such that you can sell fewer books, and price them more cheaply, and still make a ton more money.

Those royalties are the golden flame that attracts self-pubbers – a commercial advantage of vast potential. But how to unlock it? Because the beauty of Amazon – its accessibility –is also its terror. Amazon currently lists 5,000,000 ebooks for sale. Every three months, that number increases by 250,000. How do you compete against those millions? How will your book find its readers?

Hit and hope is not the answer. That has never worked, and never will. Equally, you can’t just use social media to bellow in people’s faces: ‘Buy my book, it’s great.’ The problem there isn’t just that it’s repellent to act that way. It’s also – and mostly – that no one buys books because people are shouting at them. And OK, if you’re deft enough and committed enough, if you blog and tweet and post and engage with enough people, on enough sites, and do so while making sure that no more than one in ten of your messages are sales-related – then, sure, you’ll sell some books. But not many. It’s not a way to succeed. So what is?

The answer is simple: you connect with readers. You get people to read your work and, if they like it, to give you their email address, so you can be in touch whenever you have a new work out. Some readers will give you an address, but forgetfully and without commitment. Many, however, will stay committed to you and your books, so that they will buy and buy when you prompt them to. That fact means you can, as your list builds up, create little sale tsunamis. Fifty sales in a day. Then a hundred and fifty. Then a thousand. That, in itself, doesn’t sound so impressive. Sure, if you have a mailing list of 3,000 names, and a third of those buy your book within 24 hours of your email, you’ll sell 1,000 books. But what comes next? You need to be selling in the tens of thousands to make a living.

The answer is Amazon. Its marketing algorithms are constantly on the lookout for books that sell. And if those data-bots encounter a surge of sales in a newtitle, they recognise that the product is hot. It’s something that Amazon wants to market. And it does that, automatically, via marketing emails, by popping you onto bestseller lists, by elevating you on relevant searches, and much else. A small list can generate revenues out of all proportion to its size.

In 2015, I marketed my crime novel This Thing of Darkness in the US using what was then a very small email list of just 330 names. I was dealing with new-born twins at the time and did nothing to sell that book beyond one email to those readers. Over the next 12 (sleepless) months, I earned about $30,000 from that book and its sisters. A small list; a stunning result.

This technique lies at the heart of almost every recent indie success story. Better still: it’s totally ethical. It’s how things should work. It’s word of mouth re-engineered for the digital age. So all those questions about how to market your books now narrow down to just three:

• How do you most effectively collect email addresses?

• How do you maximise the effectiveness of your email-driven sales surge?

• How do you make sure that all your titles get that Amazon-love, not just the one you’re currently launching?

The first question is easily answered. No one likes giving away their personal data, so you don’t ask the reader for anything. Rather, you offer them something: ‘Get an exclusive free story to download.’ You make that offer, or something along those lines, in the front- or end-material of your ebook. That call to action links to a page on your website, where your reader can give you the email address to which you’ll send the story. (All that stuff can be automated, of course. You can do it yourself or pay a tech-guy, as I do.) Naturally, you disclose that readers will receive further emails from you, but that’s not some kind of small-print marketing subterfuge. On the contrary: readers like to be in direct contact with favoured authors. This is ‘permission marketing’ at its truest.

In terms of maximising sales effectiveness, you need to make sure that your book’s metadata is as solid as it can be. That means writing a strong book description. It means making sure that your choice of Amazon category is logical. It means making sure that your keywords are well-chosen to get you on the right sub-bestseller lists and the right thematic searches. Those things sound scary and technical, but they’re not hard. It’s a morning’s work, no more.

As for making sure that sales success in one title bleeds over to the rest, the answer there is also simple. The moment to market another of your books to a reader is in the glow of that moment when they’ve just finished one. So make sure you list all of your titles in the back of all of your books. When it comes to your ebooks, don’t just provide a boring, unclickable list; you need to insert links direct to the e-stores where your books are available. Those links mean that your reader doesn’t have to be more than two or three clicks from making another purchase. Two or three clicks from placing more money in your pocket.

And that, in essence, is that. To be sure, a number of tricks remain. Instafreebie (www.instafreebie.com) is an extraordinary way to kick your mailing list off from scratch. Facebook lead-generation ads still work well for some authors, in some contexts. If properly used, Bookbub (www.bookbub.com) is a delightful machine whose primary purpose is to make you richer. Launch teams can ensure a flurry of great reviews when your book launches on Amazon. The sequencing of things like pre-orders, Kindle Countdown deals, email blasts, pricing changes and so on can make serious differences to how well you do overall.

And do remember that, while ebooks are likely to dominate your self-pub revenue stream (as they do mine), you can succeed in any format. 2015 was the Year of the Colouring Book, as far as the publishing industry was concerned, and indeed Amazon.com duly reported that 11 of its top 35 print sellers were adult colouring books. That much is well known, but get this: five of those 11 top-sellers were indie-published. The issue isn’t format, it’s sales channel. And, if you create great content and work hard to connect with your readers (or crayon-wielding adults), there’s no reason why you can’t succeed.

Likewise, while Amazon is likely to provide a clear majority of your revenues, the other e-stores can start to perform well for you too. Some indies report that Amazon represents less than 50% of their overall income, though, if you’re just starting out, you should probably work with Amazon exclusively.

But all these things are refinements. They’re not the strategy. The strategy is simply this: you write a great book; you find your first readers, probably via giveaways on Facebook or Instafreebie; those readers like your stuff and choose to give you their email address in return for some exclusive material; you use those email addresses to kick start your sales for the next book. Then – rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.

The very best part about all this? The more you use this motor, the more powerful it becomes. Your mailing list increases and your sales grow. Each year, a higher income than the year before. The self-pub revolution is still young, but it’s mighty. It has given authors wholly new options, a wholly new authority. I don’t know what the industry will look like in ten years’ time, but it’s changing fast, and changing radically. And, just for once, authors are on the winning side.

Harry Bingham is the author of the Fiona Griffiths series of crime novels (and much else). The sixth book in the series, The Deepest Grave, was released by Orion in 2017. He is traditionally published in the UK and self-published in the US, and greatly relishes both routes. He also runs Jericho Writers, an online club for writers. Readers wanting more detail on the techniques mentioned in this article can get them via https://jerichowriters.com/academy.

See also...

• Finding my agent, here

• Getting hooked out of the slush pile, here

• Notes from a hybrid author, here

Should I make an audiobook?

James Peak looks at the rapid growth, popularity and profitability of the audiobook market that has been made possible by new technology, and lays out a clear route and valuable tips for anyone considering producing their own audiobook.

It was 1999. I was lost and disoriented at the London Book Fair. I staggered into a lopsided little tent right at the back, where a wizened old lady whose palm I crossed with silver peered into her misty orb. ‘What does the future of book publishing hold?’, I asked her. Then, more stridently (thinking of the small Caribbean island I so richly deserve), ‘And how can it make me some money?’ Focusing deep inside the glass, she muttered something about young wizards, colouring-in for adults, and rebooted ladybirds. Staring deeper, she whispered a mysterious incantation: ‘Buy amazon’ and rushed outside to phone her stockbroker. I seized her crystal ball. The mist inside cleared to reveal a strange vision: some books would become peculiar electronic files, beamed straight to the pockets and handbags of readers via their tiny, shiny, computery-phoney things; some books would be read on scrolling screens; some would even be listened to with stylish white headphones. I ran from the tent. I’d seen the future. I was going to be rich.

Twenty years later that future is here – and 70,000 of my colouring books about wizarding ladybirds have been pulped. Authors today must expect to be heard as well as read. It’s a change that begs several questions: should I write differently if my words are destined for the ear as well as the eye? Whose voice will my readers be hearing? What will this all cost me? Should I bother to make an audiobook at all?

The market is growing

Over the last few years, the UK’s big four publishers have been racing to hire teams of audio editors, build in-house studios and forge links with independent audio producers, in order that they may deep-fill their back catalogues with spoken versions, not only of their bestsellers but their midsellers too. Penguin Random House audio now has a catalogue of over 11,000 titles, and Harper’s audio business grew 47% year on year to June 2017. Why is this land-grab for audio making good business sense? One reason might be that audiobook distribution has vastly simplified. Publishers no longer need to cough up to burn CDs, expensively design and package boxed sets, and lobby for shelf space in high-street bookshops. Instead, the ubiquity of the smartphone has enabled a streamlined distribution network from printed page to listener’s ear.

The economics look great. In common with ebooks, the endless replicability of the mp3 file negates all physical costs of production. An eight-hour book can retail at well over £20. Once produced, it’s re-deliverable, pretty much free, forever (or at least until the tech changes again). As a result, the entire audiobook market has digitised and found millions of new listeners ready to put their hands into their pockets. According to a 2017 American Publishing Association report, 26% of the entire US population listened to an audiobook in the last year, and US sales were up from $2.1 billion in 2016 to $2.5 billion in 2017. Voice-enabled home smart speakers, like Amazon Echo and Google Home, support digital audiobooks, with 19% of listeners already using this new tech to listen.

Excitingly, the same report found that, with audiobooks, people multitask. 68% do housework and listen; 65% bake and listen and 56% exercise and listen. This is big. It means people are finding entirely new hours in their days to consume book content. Print books demand a reader’s full attention. If you exercise or bake with a printed book on the go, you’ll sustain terrible injuries and your muffins will be dreadful.

Who is behind all this?

So who is behind this sensational reboot? Amazon – through its subsidiary Audible, the early-to-market US audiobook producer that was snapped up back in 2008 for a mere bagatelle ($300 million) and which now presides over an estimated 90% of the global audiobook market. There are other players on the audiobook market (Scribed, Kobo, Storytel) but competition-wise, the dominance has raised hackles. In 2015 anti-trust regulators began investigating, as simply too much, an exclusivity agreement that made Audible the only provider of audiobooks to Apple’s massive, global iStore. The Amazon-Apple arrangement came to an end in 2017, which the European Commission said was ‘likely to improve competition’ in the future. For now, though, the Amazon-Audible platform is overwhelmingly the biggest game in town, and it is most probably the main place where your audiobook will live.

Audiobooks are not just for big publishers. Amazon has extended its jaw-droppingly efficient infrastructure to the self-publishing sector, through Audible’s Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). It is aimed at book rights-holders and self-publishing authors in the US, UK and, since 2017, Canada too. Although the quality of the most cheaply produced audiobooks can vary, it has lowered the barriers to entry. An audiobook can now cost just a few hundred pounds to produce if you are prepared to narrate and edit it yourself, and a couple of thousand if working with a professional voice actor and studio. Amazon then advertises the audiobook on the same page as the printed book on amazon.com. Royalties of up to 40% of cover price can quickly add up to significant sums, if it sells. After an initial production outlay, writers are finding it’s possible to turn a profit. How much of a profit is difficult to establish, as Amazon are cagey about releasing their sales data.

How to do it

If you are going to make an audiobook, there are pitfalls into which you should not stumble. Here is an overview of a linear route to market:

Writing > voice casting > recording > editing > releasing > marketing

Writing

Your book is a strong candidate to become an audiobook if it’s literary, historical, thrilling, romantic, fantastical or erotic, or if it’s a memoir, diary or self-help book. Sci-fi can also be enormously popular, and a few specialist UK audio companies (including Big Finish Ltd) found success with audio products before the current land grab, working within classic sci-fi like Dr Who and Blake’s 7. Graphic novels, art books and cookbooks may struggle with audio, as they depend so heavily on a visual element. However, some big publishers are experimenting with recording children’s picture books, using familiar voices, high-end sound design and music to create adaptations. Imelda Staunton’s version of The Gruffalo (Macmillan 1999) is a lovely example of this. If you have a children’s picture book that you can adapt to work without pictures, its brevity can be its saving grace, as the finished audiobook might be only five or ten minutes long, and costs or recording and editing correspondingly low.

Voice casting

Deciding whose voice to use may be easy if cost is an issue: your own will be cheapest, and nobody knows the nuances of your book like you do. However, if time is a factor, or you are not sure if your own voice is strong enough, you could book a test session at a local recording studio (£50-£100) or find a quiet space and read into your smartphone for a full 30 minutes, taking feedback from sample listeners. At the end of a test session you’ll know if narrating is something you have an appetite for and if your voice will do your book justice.

Alternatively, hiring a professional narrator can be a really effective way to draw out the drama, romance, thrills and mystery in your book, particularly if there is lots of multicharacter dialogue or if it needs careful pacing or tone. The best narrators are absolutely spellbinding, bringing emotion and passion to your words.

A typical 100,000-word novel might be 8-10 hours long and will take a professional ‘voice’ 20-25 hours to record properly. Their services do not have to be horrifically expensive if you have your negotiating hat on. Often, voices combine audiobook work with lucrative commercial work and acting careers. Many are represented by agents keen to monetise time, and recording audiobooks can soak up spare hours. Reasonable charges for audiobook voices are around £200-£400 per day, and for this you can expect adequate preparation and reading time thrown in.

If only a particular (high-profile, celebrity) narrator will do, or you really need transparency on costs at the outset, try passing your book on via that person’s agent, with a letter explaining why they simply must do it! If you can enthuse them, you might be able to ‘buy them out’ to record the whole thing for a fixed price.

Recording

If you decide to voice your own book in your own home, you’ll need a very quiet and small space, and ideally it should be soundproofed and acoustically deadened. Bare, flat walls reverberate sound, but hanging heavy fabrics at angles can minimize this.

You’ll need a decent condenser microphone, a ‘pop shield’ to stop plosive sounds like ‘P’ and ‘B’ distorting your recording, and a computer with a solid-state drive or the fan turned off so that it is near silent.

You’ll need decent audio recording software, like ProTools or the open-source programme Audacity, with Garageband being a simple entry-level programme that is already pre-installed on many Apple computers.

Make sure you read your book from a tablet, as rustling noises from paper scripts will be picked up by your microphone. Regular hydration will stop horrid clicky mouth noises being picked up by the microphone. You will quickly get into the habit of re-doing sentences that you’ve fluffed, and these mistakes can be edited out afterwards.

Recording in a studio with an engineer can be expensive (£75-£150 per hour) but many will consider buy-outs for a project, particularly if they can schedule sessions around other work. As the author, you should be welcome at all recording sessions, to review production and comment on pace and narration style. Beware of studios that don’t welcome you to sit in, as it might indicate quality isn’t key. Many studios provide a producer to sit alongside the engineer, to listen to performances, ask for retakes and rewrite sentences that were better on the page than they sound. Having several pairs of ears in these recording sessions can eliminate the need to re-record later.

Editing

If you are producing your own audiobook at home, you’ll have to review and edit every page into chapter-sized chunks for ACX. This can be fiddly, but it is immensely satisfying if you are a tech-savvy multitasker. Editing consists of: removing extraneous noises from the recording; joining different takes together without losing the sense of drama and pace; adding music and effects; and delivering sound files to exact technical specifications.

To pass ACX’s quality control for release for sale on Audible and Amazon, you’ll need to deliver audio files ‘at 44.1khz . . . measuring between -23dB and -18dB RMS . . . with a maximum -60dB noise floor.’ This sounds more difficult that it is.

If you recorded in a professional studio, then you’d be well advised to keep the editing with the same team, because they know your book very well by this stage.

Releasing

Once edited, your audiobook’s individual chapters are uploaded onto ACX, where it enters a quality control queue. Audible learned quickly that consumers won’t pay £20-odd for distorted or echoing audio recordings. Their quality control is stringent but, equally, their feedback about problems with files is helpful and precise.

If all is well, a couple of weeks after submission your book will appear for sale. Because of the quality-control filter, and a greater volume of audiobooks being submitted than even a year ago, you’d be well advised to pause advance marketing activity until your new audiobook is confirmed as available.

Marketing

Increasingly, reviewers are listening to audiobooks and plumbing them into their blogs and channels. There are many audiobook specialists, e.g. at www.rtbookreviews.com, https://audiobookreviewer.com, www.hotlistens.com and http://briansbookblog.com.

Just as for books, marketing audiobooks is effort-based. If you’re prepared to run a campaign of social media ads, serenade bloggers, lobby to appear on podcasts, organise online book tours and engage in all those dark arts, then your sales will benefit. Upon request, ACX provides free download codes to send out to reviewers, so you may push your audiobook as much or as little as you please.

Making an audiobook is a fascinating, exacting, collaborative process that can give your book another dimension, and, hopefully, your bank balance a boost. There are many brilliant audio engineers and narrators out there who can help your words reach ears as well as eyes. If you decide to start production, good luck, and don’t forget your pop shield.

... As I was roaming around the London Book Fair in 2018, the old lady in her lopsided little tent beckoned me in. Inside her crystal ball was another glimpse of book publishing’s future: a dazzling mishmash of text, audio, video, animation, graphics, music, sound effects and artwork, all inside a virtual ecosystem of content verticals delivered on space-age devices. And then another image appeared, of a dog-eared paperback. It reminded me that, as long as your writing is wonderful, readers will buy it – however it’s delivered.

James Peak co-owns Essential Music Ltd (http://essentialmusic.co.uk), which has been producing BBC dramas and documentaries since 1996, and audiobook and podcasts since they were invented. He co-writes BBC Radio 4’s John Cleese Knows Nothing with John Cleese, and is co-author, with Duncan Crowe, of Scoundrels, a series of comic novels published by Black Door Press (www.blackdoorpress.com). He welcomes questions about your audiobook projects at james@essentialmusic.co.uk.

Notes from a hybrid author

Nick Spalding’s success with writing comedy fiction and self-publishing ebooks led him to be noticed by publishers and literary agents. Deals followed that have seen him published in print both in the UK and abroad. Epitomising a new breed of ‘hybrid author’, he describes his publishing choices so far and stresses the value of always keeping your options open.

I’m not sure if the term ‘hybrid author’ is one that sits all that well with me, to be honest. It makes me sound like some kind of hideous experiment, conducted in one of those sterile laboratories you see in badly made sci-fi horror movies. In my mind’s eye, I can see myself stumbling out of a glass pod, surrounded by cold gas, covered in green goo and moaning loudly about royalty payments. There’s probably a Kobo grafted onto one hand, an iPad grafted onto the other, and a Kindle shoved up my arse. Not a pretty sight.

Nevertheless, hybrid author is the accepted term for what I am, so I’m just going to have to lump it. What authors don’t have to lump these days is a single path to publication. You now have more options than ever when it comes to getting your book into the grubby hands of readers all over the world.

You can submit the book to agents and publishers in order to get your book into print ‘the old-fashioned way’, with one of the large publishing companies that have dominated the industry for decades, or you can go smaller scale and try to get your work published via one of the new digital-only publishers that have sprung up in recent years. Lastly, you can choose to self-publish both ebook and paperback versions of your book via the various companies available online that provide such a service – the most powerful and successful of which, of course, is Amazon. The most important word here is choice. Writers have a clear choice these days – and consequently far greater control over their careers.

It was Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) platform that gave me my springboard to a career as a writer. Without it, I wouldn’t be covered in all that green goo and walking round with a Kindle up my backside – metaphorically speaking.

So what exactly is a hybrid author then? I would describe a hybrid author as one who uses as many different paths to publication as possible. A hybrid author is a writer who likes to keep his or her options open. Someone who keeps a foot in as many camps as they possibly can – without rupturing something important.

The publishing industry is about as predictable as an episode of Game Of Thrones, so I think it’s vitally important to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket – if you are lucky enough to have more than one basket available to you. I do, so that’s why I continue to self-publish books, alongside securing traditional publishing contracts when appropriate (and I always find it very appropriate when people offer me a lot of cash, funnily enough).

My road to being a successful hybrid author was largely through trial and error, with a fair bit of luck thrown in for good measure. Five years ago, I wrote a semi-fictional memoir, Life. . . With No Breaks, in a 30-hour period as an experiment, and had no idea what to do with it. So when the Amazon KDP service came to my attention it seemed like the perfect place for it to find a home.

I then wrote a second memoir called Life . . . On A High and a fantasy adventure called The Cornerstone, and released both in the summer of 2011. My sales then started to pick up – proving that the more books you have out, the more books you sell, as your platform grows and people start to recognise your brand name.

Then one evening I was discussing with my girlfriend what to do next. I wanted to write a book that would appeal to as many ebook readers as possible, and from the year or so I’d spent self-publishing it had become very apparent that a majority were female. A popular genre for female readers is romance, so I decided to combine Spalding-style humour with a romantic storyline. Love. . . From Both Sides was born – and the rest (as people who like to indulge in obvious cliché would say) is history.

Love. . . From Both Sides was released in September 2011. In the first six months of its life, it shifted 1,500 copies. Not a bad haul if you’re just starting out – but I’d been around a while, had built a pretty good reputation, and all of my other books were selling far better. I was quite the disappointed lad, I can tell you. It took a cover change and a price drop for Love. . . From Both Sides to take off. I cut the price from £1.49 to 99p, and added two cartoon images of Jamie and Laura to the cover. That was at the start of March 2012. By the end of April I’d sold over 36,000 copies, and developed a nosebleed.

Given the rampant sales, I figured I’d better write a sequel, so in the middle of May I released Love. . . And Sleepless Nights and sat back to await developments. And developments turned out to be combined sales of 300,000 for the two books by the end of October, along with another 100,000 sales of my other three titles.

You don’t sell that many books without somebody sitting up and paying attention. I started to get emails from both agents and publishers during the summer, and by the autumn I’d sewn up a deal with Hodder & Stoughton to republish Love . . . From Both Sides and Love. . . And Sleepless Nights, along with a third title, Love . . . Under Different Skies.

So why change from a purely self-published author, to one also published by a traditional publishing company? My decision was due to a combination of things. The first –and I’m not going to lie to you here – was the rather large advance Hodder offered. The second was the fact they could get me into the paperback market – something which I was unable to do as a self-publisher. Thirdly – and separate to the Hodder deal – having an agent enabled me to secure several foreign rights deals, which I would not have been able to negotiate on my own.

I believed (and still do) that forming a relationship with an agent and a publisher is still ultimately the best way to secure a long-term livelihood as a writer. Self-publishing is a brilliant way to establish a career, but for longevity you need help.

That help doesn’t just have to come from agents or publishers though. Your fellow authors can be incredibly helpful too. Around the time I was writing Love. . . Under Different Skies, I was fortunate enough to be asked to join a collective of successful authors, working together under the banner of Notting Hill Press. Made up of several of the UK’s best romance and humour writers, it is an absolutely fantastic thing to be a part of, and I was more than happy to place Life. . . With No Breaks and its sequel with them. I’m still fairly new to this industry, so having a group of experienced and talent authors to turn to for advice has been a godsend. I now have five titles published with NHP (and I retain control over all of my rights) and plan on publishing more with them over the coming years.

After all that excitement, the next step in my career was to write and sell a new book called Fat Chance (Lake Union Publishing 2014). This was an entirely new project, so I was bloody nervous about getting a deal for it. It’s one thing to write sequels to a story that you know is already popular; it’s quite another to write about an entirely new set of characters in a brand new setting. Luckily, my agent stepped up to the plate again magnificently, and scored me a contract with the newly created publishing arm over at Amazon.

This was an absolutely brilliant deal for me, as Amazon are the industry leaders right now when it comes to selling books, so who better to be published by? I’m sure that Fat Chance has done better with their Lake Union imprint than it would have with any other publisher, given the clout that Amazon can exert when it comes to promotion and publicity. Proof? When I wrote this article, Fat Chance was in the Amazon UK Kindle Top Ten. I hope to have further titles with Amazon Publishing over the next few years.

So right now I find myself in the position of being published by Hodder & Stoughton with the Love . . . series, published by Amazon with Fat Chance, a member of Notting Hill Press with five other titles, and still self-published under my own steam with a further three. You don’t get much more hybrid than that! Unless I buy my own printing press and start churning books out to throw at passers-by in the street, I think I’ve covered as many bases as I possibly can for the moment.

None of this means I am guaranteed any kind of success in the future of course, but by diversifying as much as possible, I feel that I’ve given myself the best chance of having some longevity in this business.

So what does all this tell you – other than the fact I am a jammy bastard, obviously? Probably that the way an author goes about his or her work in the 21st century is vastly different from the way things were 15 years ago. The march of technological progress has multiplied the avenues through which a writer can sell a book to the reading public, and changed his or her relationship with publishers and agents.

Making sure you investigate each and every avenue open to you is a must. Even if you choose not to walk down them (and I’m fully aware of how laboured this metaphor is becoming – don’t worry, I won’t mention it again after this sentence) you should at least consider each one thoroughly, because not doing so may cut off a potential revenue stream for your work. And if there’s one thing no writer should ever do, it’s miss out on an opportunity to make money!

Are there downsides to being a hybrid author? Yes, absolutely. Juggling all these different ways of working can be extremely stressful. I am not only a writer, I am also a marketer, a publicist, an editor, a proofreader, a webmaster, an admin secretary, an amateur accountant and an online researcher. I would stick a broom up my backside and sweep the floor at the same time, but the Kindle keeps getting in the way.

It’s not a career choice for everyone, certainly. But it’s the only way to be a writer that I’ve ever known, so I don’t know any better! Being a hybrid has worked for me in the past, and I very much hope it will continue to do so in the future. While it is a lot of hard work, it is also a lot of fun, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

What I would change is the first paragraph of this feature, because I am painfully aware that while I’ve tried my best to give you an idea of what it’s like to be a hybrid author, there’s every chance that the only thing you’re actually going to take away from this article is the image of a snot-covered Nick Spalding with a Kindle stuck up his arse.

Nick Spalding previously worked in the communications industry, mainly in media and marketing. Because Nick concluded that talking rubbish for a living can get tiresome (for anyone other than a politician), he thought he’d have a crack at writing comedy fiction – and has now sold nearly 1.3 million books. His novels include the bestselling comedies Love. . . From Both Sides (2012), Fat Chance (2014), Bricking It (2015) and Checking Out (2018). You can contact him via Twitter: @nickspalding and Facebook: www.facebook.com/spaldingauthor. See also his website and blog: www.nickspalding.com.

Making waves online

Simon Appleby outlines how writers can use the internet to get noticed.

Make some noise!

Whether you’re a published writer with an ongoing deal, or an aspiring writer with lots of ideas or even a finished manuscript, the challenge remains the same. How do you get your name known, your words read, your manuscripts taken on, your book bought? Whether you’re looking for a traditional publishing deal, you’re considering self-publishing, or have some other approach in mind, this article is intended to help you promote your work online.

The prevalence of smartphones, tablets and mobile internet means that book and author websites are, more than ever, in direct competition with every form of media, not just other websites. This includes TV-on-demand services such as Netflix, social media platforms, instant messaging and online gaming.

The smartphone phenomenon

Internet statistics company Statista estimated that the number of smartphone users in the UK will have reached approximately 46.4 million by 2018.

But it’s crucial to find a way to get people’s attention and build a devoted following of your own. Readers are bombarded with options and are unlikely to stumble upon your site by accident. You need to lure readers and critics to your writing, and, in turn, attract publishers.

Risk-averse publishers (and agents) look to the internet for inspiration and to gauge marketability. Much of your activity should demonstrate to a publisher that people like your work and would pay to read more of it. The E.L. James’s global phenomenon Fifty Shades of Grey began life on an internet fan-fiction forum, the ultimate reminder that there are many ways to be discovered as a writer. Equally, Hugh Howey achieved extraordinary success – which included worldwide fame and lucrative publishing and film-rights deals –from self-publishing his books, as did paranormal romance writer Amanda Hocking.

But it didn’t come easily and even those who’ve achieved international recognition still need to work hard. Published authors are expected to show a continued commitment to their own success – marketing, publicity, social media. Gone are the days when landing a publishing deal meant you could sit back and let the publisher do all the work. It’s important to develop the skills first, because you’ll have far less trouble adjusting to the work once the publishing deal is in place.

The technologies, platforms and communities involved in online promotion evolve constantly. But the concepts behind developing a manageable approach to promoting your writing on the internet – to get you closer to your readers and them closer to you – stay virtually the same. This article doesn’t deliver detailed DIY instructions, but it does, hopefully, offer ideas for developing your internet presence in a structured and accessible fashion.

There’s a lot of noise out there, and to be heard you will have to make some of your own. The technical side of things is not rocket science – there are numerous (and free) solutions which do most of the hard work for you. But it does take persistence and a good idea of what you want to accomplish and who you want to appeal to. This means setting aside some time to plan your approach. It’s just like writing – you put the building blocks in place and then, once you start, you won’t be able to stop!

Set up your own website and blog

Chances are you’re already doing this, but if not you should be. To get started, check out authors who are selling themselves well (and badly). Websites that are easy to navigate, visually appealing, functional and up to date tend to generate the best response. Your website should reflect your style, allowing your visitors to get a sense of who you are. You can look at professional authors’ websites for inspiration, but it’s also possible to find great examples among lesser-known authors. A good website needn’t be expensive or difficult to maintain. Many household names use basic, off-the-shelf website themes.

It’s important to include as much information about your published books as your visitors can find on major retailer websites. Ideally, give them extra content they won’t find anywhere else. If you can, let visitors in on little secrets or give them insight into the writing process. For example, you might include some interesting copy you wrote for your book but didn’t include in the final version.

Include a blog on your website. It’s a great way to impart useful or interesting information and drive users to your site. For example, you could publish some of your work to find out what people think about it, or discuss other authors’ work, the writing market, or the processes you go through in your writing. Perhaps you could write about the books you liked as a child, topics you researched to write a book, or places you went while researching. Google looks for information it hasn’t seen before, and a blog is a great way to update your site.

Place your blog at the centre of your online universe so that all your social media presences point to it. Also, decide what level of engagement you want to offer visitors. Do you want to allow people to comment on your blog posts, for example?

Finally, remember what you write will be available on the internet for a long time, so think carefully about how you talk about yourself, your life and about other writers. And don’t put anything in writing that you wouldn’t want a potential reader or publisher to see.

Get discovered

Good content will only help promote your writing if people are aware of it, so make sure you have a solid understanding of search engine optimisation (SEO). Research the key terms people use to search (there are many keyword research tools available) and include them in your content, but take care to ensure they only appear in context. Search engines prioritise unique, high-quality information, which your readers find useful and interesting, so keep it relevant, fresh and clearly written.

Explore social networking and communities

To help people find your website or blog, you must be a willing participant of the social internet. There are innumerable online communities relevant to authors. But you can find them just as you would find a good book – by searching according to your tastes and listening to the recommendations of your friends. By joining these communities, you can potentially transform your online reputation. It won’t happen overnight, but if you continue to engage and participate in discussions, you’ll increase your friends and visitor numbers, encourage people to read your words, and boost your reputation. Here are the main categories of community that could be relevant to you:

• Writing communities – where you can get your work evaluated and rate the work of others. These are both a source of useful feedback and encouragement, and a place to get noticed by publishers (sometimes even leading to book deals).

• General book communities – where book owners, librarians, collectors and authors come together – an instant source of like-minded people. Popular communities include Good-reads, LibraryThing and Shelfari.

• Forums – these can be wide-ranging or focused on one subject, but if you find one you like, hang around and join in. However, don’t expect to drop in, plug your work and reap the gratitude of other users if you’re not prepared to stick around.

• Social networking – this is the broadest category, encompassing thousands of sites large and small. Find the ones that are right for you and that you’re comfortable with. Don’t set up a Twitter page if you don’t want to spend time engaging with other users, for example.

Make ‘friends’

There was a time when ‘social media’ meant Facebook and Twitter to most people. The social media landscape is now much more fragmented – you also have to consider Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, SoundCloud and many more, as well as book-oriented networks such as Goodreads and LibraryThing. You can’t work with all of them and do a great job. The key is to focus on platforms that allow you to reach your audience, and, more importantly, suit the content you want to create.

Some quality author websites

Roald Dahl

www.roalddahl.com

A great wealth of content available, but avoids any unnecessary visual whizbanggery.

Laline Paull

www.lalinepaull.com

Simple and elegant, this site feels very much on brand to promote Laline’s debut novel, The Bees.

Shannon Selin

www.shannonselin.com

Shannon’s focused content marketing has resulted in over 100 weekly blog posts on all things Napoleonic.

Haruki Muarakami

www.harukimurakami.com

US site that embraces the aesthetic of Muarakami’s book cover designs.

Gillian Flynn

www.gillian-flynn.com

Helps broaden Flynn’s appeal by showcasing all her writing and not just her most famous book.

Anthony Horowitz

www.anthonyhorowitz.com

A welcoming, fresh and engaging site, recently revamped.

Chris Cleave

http://chriscleave.com

A site that demonstrates how, with WordPress and an off-the-shelf theme, you can make a site that has good content and a high level of engagement with its audience.

Nick Harkaway

www.nickharkaway.com

Just like one of Nick’s books, this is a website that draws the visitor in via his the slightly anarchic, off-kilter ‘pathways’.

Joe Wicks

www.thebodycoach.co.uk

Great selling inducements wrapped up in a very clean, modern and inspirational package.

Don’t forget LinkedIn. While this was once the province of traditional professionals, today authors, agents and publishing people use LinkedIn. And there are numerous groups for discussing topics of interest to authors. You may be able to use it to find collaborators (perhaps an illustrator or photographer), and a smartly completed LinkedIn profile is your online CV – essential if you want to be taken seriously.

Use the right tool for the job

It may not be so simple in life, but online there’s a tool for almost every situation. I can’t tell you every item a good toolkit should contain, but I can suggest some general principles and a few key tools, all of which are free and easy to use.

• Stay on ‘brand’: keep a standard biography and a decent photo of yourself handy when setting up your user profiles. It helps to represent yourself consistently across every platform. Always try to use the same username as well. Keep a note of the profiles you set up and update them periodically.

• Social conversation: use social networking sites, micro-blogging services (i.e. Twitter) and your own site to engage with your current and potential readers and your fellow authors.

• Share and enjoy: there’s a platform on which to share any type of content you create, from video (YouTube, Vimeo) and photos (Flickr, Photobucket), to audio/podcasts (SoundCloud). Research the most visited platforms in each category – there’s no point targeting unpopular ones. When you share content, think about whether you need to maintain your copyright, or whether you want to grant people permission to share or use your work by choosing a Creative Commons license (http://creativecommons.org).

• Listening and measuring tools: it’s good to know when to drop in and contribute to a conversation that’s taking place about you or your work. It’s also great to know when someone has just linked to your website. You can set up Google Alerts to notify you when these things happen. Or, to follow the blogs that interest you and keep track of new writers and industry trends, use Really Simple Syndication (RSS), which could also provide you with topics to blog about. I suggest NewsBlur or feedly, but there are numerous feed readers available.

To understand what tools work for you, you need to measure their impact. Monitoring websites can help, as can blog statistics within packages such as Google Analytics. You can also find tools that will help you identify how often you, or your chosen genre of writing, are being discussed.

• Cheat: to keep the content on your social media channels flowing, use tools that suggest news articles and blog posts for you to share, based on your preferences and interests. These can be real time-savers if you want to post something every day. Similar to functionality within social media dashboards such as Hootsuite, these tools also enable you to schedule content so you can spread out your activities over a longer period.

• Stay current: make sure any information about you is current and detailed. Keep your Wikipedia entry up to date if you have one, taking care to stay factual. Update information about yourself on sites such as LibraryThing, and make sure your publishing company knows about your online activities so it can promote them.

Engage with your audience

As a writer spending time online, you are inevitably going to come across comments about your work at some point – sometimes positive, sometimes critical, and occasionally abusive. Keep your cool and remember, when deciding how to react to something, one of these four responses will usually be appropriate:

• Endorse: a positive comment, such as a good review, or someone saying they’ve been inspired by your work, is worth shouting about. Link to it in your own social media, tell your publisher and respond to the creator, helping to cement his or her enthusiasm. It’s good to endorse others’ work too. Link to the work of another author who has inspired you, or who has recently created interesting content. It’s possible that author or others may return the favour at some point.

• Engage: talk to fans and critics on their forums of choice. Respond to constructive criticism professionally and never take it personally.

• Ignore: if you can’t say anything nice . . .

• Enforce: if anyone becomes abusive, infringing your rights or just going too far, take measured steps to do something about it (such as contacting their forum moderator or ISP), but never descend to their level. Anything you say in anger may come back to haunt you later.

One more thing. Never pretend to be someone you’re not, anywhere, for any reason. Always represent yourself honestly as ‘the author in question’. Successful authors, who shall remain nameless here, have seriously damaged their credibility and careers through the practice of ‘sock puppetry’: leaving glowing reviews of their own work under false names and trashing their rivals’ books. There really is such a thing as bad publicity.

Delve into some online PR

Put simply, this involves talking to people about your work to get them to write about it. If you’re willing to take the time to contact bloggers and offer review copies, interviews, competition prizes or other content they can use, some of them are likely to respond positively. Understand their pressures – they want to find things to write about, but they may also be bombarded with offers every day.

Use some of the same organisational skills that you use when researching and talking to agents and publishers, and when looking through the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook. Do your homework on blogs too. Before you approach a blogger, read the blog thoroughly to make sure your work is right for that blog. And read any submission guidelines the site may have. Keep a record of who you contact, and when, to make sure you don’t send repeated messages to the same person. And follow up any communications you’ve made with sites that offer to look at your work. Finally, always present yourself professionally. It’s all common sense, but in my experience that doesn’t mean everyone does it properly.

Promote your book on a budget

You can get creative and be noticed even with little or no money to spend. By creating content to promote your book yourself, you can save expensive marketing costs.

Ways to do this include writing blogs or articles ‘in character’. Or, you could set up a Twitter feed in your character’s name, or write microfiction. Enlist the services of friends and family, and their cameras, video cameras, computers and, most importantly, skills to create images or videos that you can promote yourself with. I know you’re creative, or you wouldn’t be reading this, so there’s no doubt you can think of a way to get yourself noticed (and don’t get hung up on being wholly original, or you might never get started).

Look to the future

Self-publishing and digital reading have changed the publishing environment permanently. The economics have changed, as has the ease with which new publishing companies can be created and authors can self-publish their books. That’s both good and bad news for an aspiring author. While your chances of seeing your work on sale are higher than ever, the competition for attention from both readers and publishers is fierce.

Today, no author can afford to neglect his or her digital profile. It’s vital you take digital self-promotion seriously and treat it as an ongoing campaign that needs regular thought, attention and time throughout your writing career.

Simon Appleby is the Founder and Managing Director of Bookswarm, the only digital agency in the UK dedicated to delivering projects for publishers, authors and others in the world of books. Bookswarm has extensive experience in website design and development. It has delivered author websites for a wide range of writers including Martina Cole, Stephen King, Patrick Ness, Penny Vincenzi, Karen Maitland, Clare Furniss, Hanif Kureishi, Katy Birchall, Peter Fisk and Marcus Chown.

Book sites, blogs and podcasts

This is a small selection of the best book sites, blogs and podcasts recommended by the editors of the Yearbook.

BOOK SITES AND BLOGS

The Artist’s Road

website http://artistsroad.wordpress.com

Founder Patrick Ross

Blog created to record the cross-USA road trip that the author Patrick Ross took in the summer of 2010 while interviewing over 40 artists with the aim of discussing the motivations, challenges and rewards of their lifestyles, and passing on their creative wisdom. It now details his insights into living an ‘art-committed life’ through writing and creativity.

Better Novel Project

website www.betternovelproject.com/blog

Founder Christine Frazier

Deconstructs bestselling novels to discover what common elements they all share and shows how writers can use these to create reliable story structures.

Book Patrol

website http://bookpatrol.net

Founder Michael Lieberman

Founded in 2006 in the US as a blog to promote books and literacy, it is now a hub for all things book-related. Posting about book news, book reviews, technology and related content, the site has its own online shop selling a large collection of curated material.

Books & Such

website www.booksandsuch.com/blog

Founder Janel Kobobel Grant

Blog from a literary agent’s perspective, advising on writing query letters and improving MSS before submitting them to agents. Also addresses how to find an agent and get published. Highlights the importance of the editing process in adding to writing quality. Discusses the various aspects of traditional publishing and self-promotion for authors.

Nathan Bransford

website http://blog.nathanbransford.com

Founder Nathan Bransford

From the perspective of an author and former literary agent advising about the writing, editing and publishing process, based on his own experience. Added tips on improving plots, dialogue and characters, writing a query letter and synopsis and finding a literary agent. Analyses and debates a range of topics including ebooks and their pricing, social media options, marketing, cover design and plot themes. Includes a publishing glossary and FAQs.

Cornflower Books

website www.cornflowerbooks.co.uk

Founder Karen Howlett

Reviews a wide range of books and has a monthly online book club, debates cover designs and includes a ‘writing and publishing’ section. Also includes interviews with well-known authors about their books, writing process and routine. Selects ‘books of the year’ in different genres, and discusses literary festivals and prizes.

Courage 2 Create

website http://thecourage2create.com

Founder Ollin Morales

Ollin Morales shares the experience of writing his first novel: pitfalls to avoid, dealing with stress, overcoming challenges, how his lifestyle benefits from writing, and inspirational quotes. Blog chapters describe his creative journey and what he has learned about life through the writing process.

The Creative Penn

website www.thecreativepenn.com

Founder Joanna Penn

Focuses on the writing process and how to market and sell your book. Advises writers on dealing with criticism, finding an agent and writing query letters. Debates traditional publishing, ‘hybrid’ and self-publishing options, and also advises on POD, ebook publishing as well as online and social media marketing. Includes audio/video interviews with mainly self-published authors.

Daily Writing Tips

website www.dailywritingtips.com

Founder Maeve Maddox and others

Publishing new content every day with articles covering the whole writing spectrum: from grammar and punctuation to usage and vocabulary.

Dear Author

website www.dearauthor.com

Founder Jane Litte

Focuses on romantic novels. All reviews are written in the form of a letter to the author. Includes interviews with authors about their writing style.

Fiction Notes

website www.darcypattison.com

Founder Darcy Pattison

Darcy Pattison is a published non-fiction writer and children’s author, as well as an experienced speaker. Her blog collates her own articles and thoughts on children’s writing, reviews of her work and information on her speaking engagements where she specialises in novel revision and metamorphosis.

Jane Friedman

website http://janefriedman.com

Founder Jane Friedman

Focuses on digital publishing and discusses the future of publishing. Provides tips for writers on how to beat writers’ block, DIY ebook publishing, marketing your writing and publicising it online through blogs, social media and websites to create your ‘author platform’ and publish your book. Includes guidance on copyright and securing permissions.

Goins, Writer

website http://goinswriter.com

Founder Jeff Goins

Focuses on advising authors about their writing journey and how to enhance their writing style. Highlights how authors can build a core fanbase ‘tribe’ through a focused approach and adding value to social media and blogs.

Goodreads

website www.goodreads.com

Founded in 2006 to help people find and share the books they love. Users can see what their friends and favourite authors are reading, rate books they’ve read on a scale of one to five stars and write reviews, and customise bookshelves full of books ‘Read’ and books ‘To Read’. Users can receive news on books, poetry, author interviews and more via their regular newsletter. Now owned by Amazon.

Helping Writers Become Authors

website www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com

Founder K.M. Weiland

Tips on story structure, creating memorable characters and plot development. Advice about finding writing inspiration and the writing process, as well as addressing the story revision and MS editing stages. Includes an extensive list of books for aspiring authors.

Live Write Thrive

website www.livewritethrive.com

Founder C.S. Lakin

Set up by a writer specialising in fiction, fantasy and YA, this blog focuses on helping writers discover what kind of copy-editing and critiquing services their work will need once it is finished. As a copyeditor and writing coach, Lakin offers her own editorial services and advice on how to choose the right editor. There are also articles by guest bloggers and tips on grammar.

Lovereading

website www.lovereading.co.uk

Independent book recommendation site designed to inspire and inform readers, all with the aim of helping them choose their next read. Features include: categories broken down by interest; downloadable opening extracts of featured books; like-for-like recommendations for discovering new authors; expert reviews and reader review panels. Direct purchase available.

A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing

website http://jakonrath.blogspot.co.uk

Founder Joe Konrath

Blog by a self-published author which discusses the writing process and focuses on self-publishing, encourages writers to self-publish ebooks, and looks at developments and trends in this area. Includes interviews with self-published authors about their books and guest posts.

Omnivoracious

website http://www.omnivoracious.com

This blog from Amazon covers an eclectic range of genres. Casting a wide but focused lens over publishing the posts include: reviews and articles; the best books of the month; current news and discussions; tips for writers; awards in writing and interviews with authors.

Positive Writer

website http://positivewriter.com

Founder Bryan Hutchinson

A motivational and inspirational blog for creatives, particularly writers, focusing on how to overcome doubt and negativity and to unlock your inner creativity. It includes handy tips on marketing and interviews with other authors.

Reading Matters

website http://readingmattersblog.com

Founder Kim Forrester

Created in 2004, Reading Matters offers reviews of modern and contemporary fiction on a clean and navigable website. The site’s main focus is Irish and Australian literature and reviews are personable and informative. Every Tuesday the site acts as a platform for guest bloggers to share their favourite books and promote their own blogs.

Romance University

website http://romanceuniversity.org

Co-founders Tracey Devlyn, Kelsey Browning, Adrienne Giordano

An online ‘university’ for all who are hoping to learn the craft of writing romance. Three new blog post lectures are added by contributors and industry professionals weekly. Each Monday, posts focus on the theme of ‘crafting your career’, which include the business of writing, agents, publishing and self-publishing options, and marketing your work on social media and blogs. Wednesdays focus on ‘the anatomy of the mind’ in relation to different facets of romance writing and Fridays on the elements of the manuscript writing process, e.g. creating characters and plot.

Lauren Sapala

website http://laurensapala.com

Founder Lauren Sapala

This blog gives pep talks to writers in moments of self-doubt. With posts about how to get inspired and stay focused, its aim is to nurture and empower your creative flame.

Savidge Reads

website https://savidgereads.wordpress.com

Founder Simon Savidge

Follows the reading of Simon Savidge whose writing has featured in several literary and lifestyle magazines. Comprised mainly of books in the literary fiction genre from modern classic to contemporary fiction. His chatty reviews are entertaining and open, and give insight into the mind of a self-proclaimed ‘book-a-holic’.

Terribleminds

website http://terribleminds.com/ramble/blog

Founder Chuck Wendig

Comical, easy-to-read blog about author Chuck Wendig’s trials and tribulations whilst writing.

There Are No Rules

website www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules

Blog by the editors of Writer’s Digest. Focuses on the writing process, plot and character development, writing query letters and creating your author platform through social media and public speaking. Tips on how to overcome writing challenges, improve your writing and revise your MS so that it is more likely to be accepted by an agent. Includes a range of regular webinars with industry professionals including agents offering advice. Also discusses and advises on the self-publishing process.

This Itch of Writing

website http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting

Founder Emma Darwin

An author’s advice on the craft of authoring successful books both fiction and creative non-fiction.

Well-Storied

website www.well-storied.com

Founder Kristen Kieffer

Articles, resources and podcasts, offering all the necessary tips and tools to turn your writing dreams into reality.

The Write Life

website http://thewritelife.com

Founder Alexis Grant

This blog, by writers for writers, is designed to encourage individuals to connect and share experiences. There is no single expert, but a running dialogue connecting fellow writers during the stages in their writing. Posts tend to focus on how to become a writer rather than the writing process itself, with advice on blogging, freelancing, finding an agent, promoting and self-publishing amongst other topics.

The Write Practice

website http://thewritepractice.com

Founder Joe Bunting

Focuses on how to get published; includes advice for writers on different stages of the writing process and submitting MSS to agents (e.g. ‘8 Tips for Naming Characters’, ‘Your Dream vs. Rejection’ and ‘Bring Your Setting to Life’).

Writer Unboxed

website http://writerunboxed.com

Co-founders Therese Walsh (Editor-in-Chief), Kathleen Bolton

Comical tips on the art and craft of writing fiction, the writing process, and marketing your work. Includes interviews with established authors also offering advice.

Writers & Artists

website www.writersandartists.co.uk

You can join over 40,000 subscribers to receive informed and up-to-date news, views and advice on all aspects of writing and publishing on the site brought to you by the creators of this Yearbook. As well as guest blogs, videos and articles from established and debut writers across all genres, there are sections on self-publishing, a community area for sharing work, a calendar of book-related events, including those hosted by Writers & Artists, and much else besides.

Writers Helping Writers

website http://writershelpingwriters.net

Co-founders Angela Ackerman, Becca Puglisi

Writing tools for authors, to help them visualise and create dynamic characters and improve their plot and writing, including a ‘Character Pyramid Tool’, ‘Character Profile Questionnaire’ and ‘Reverse

Backstory Tool’ . Also provides multiple thesauruses such as the ‘Character Trait Thesaurus’ , ‘Emotion Thesaurus’ and ‘Setting Thesaurus to help authors improve their descriptive writing. Downloadable advice sheets on blogs and social media marketing for authors also available.

PODCASTS

This is a small selection of podcast series that are readily available and published on a regular basis. They seek to inform the listener about the publishing industry and provide guidance to aspiring and established writers on how to improve their writing.

Begin Self-Publishing Podcast

website https://beginselfpublishing.com

Host Tim Lewis

Aims to promote self-publishing by demystifying the whole process and gives advice on how to safely navigate all services available to self-published writers.

Books and Authors

website www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrsfl/episodes/downloads

Hosts Mariella Frostrup, Harriett Gilbert

Provider BBC Radio 4

A weekly podcast with highlights from BBC Radio 4 programmes Open Book: Mariella Frostrup interviews publishers and bestselling authors about their work; and A Good Read, in which Harriett Gilbert hosts a lively discussion with her guests about their favourite books.

The Creative Penn Podcast

website www.thecreativepenn.com/podcasts

Host Joanna Penn

Published on Mondays, this weekly podcast informs aspiring authors about available publishing options and book marketing through useful information and interviews.

Creative Writing Career

website http://creativewritingcareer.com

Hosts Stephan Bugaj, Justin Sloan, Kevin Tumlinson

Hosted by leading industry professionals whose credits include writing for Pixar, FOX and HBO, this US podcast provides practical advice to writers on all forms of multimedia writing. Topics covered include books and comics, video games and e-publishing, and writing screenplays for television and film.

Dead Robots’ Society

website http://deadrobotssociety.com

Hosts Justin Macumber, Terry Mixon, Paul E. Cooley

Created for aspiring writers by aspiring writers, this fun podcast offers advice and support by sharing anecdotes and discussing current topics of interest.

The Drunken Odyssey

website https://thedrunkenodyssey.com

Host John King

Started to create a community hub for writers, this podcast is a forum to discuss all aspects of creative writing and literature.

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

website www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

Host Mignon Fogarty

Provider QuickandDirtyTips

This award winning weekly podcast provides a bitesize guide to the English language. Each week tackles a specific feature from style and usage, to grammar and punctuation, all in the hope of providing friendly tips on how to become a better writer.

The Guardian Books Podcast

website www.theguardian.com/books/series/books

Hosts Claire Armitstead, Richard Lea, Sian Cain

Provider theguardian.com

The Guardian’s book editor, Claire Armitstead, provides a weekly podcast that looks at the world of books, poetry and great writing, including interviews with prominent authors; recordings of Guardian live events; panel discussions examining current themes in contemporary writing; and readings of selected literary works.

Helping Writers Become Authors

website www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/podcasts

Host K.M. Weiland

As a published author, K.M. Weiland produces these podcasts on a weekly basis to help guide aspiring authors on how to craft and edit a manuscript ready to be sent to a literary agent.

I Should Be Writing

website http://murverse.com/subscribe-to-podcasts/

Host Mur Lafferty

This award-winning podcast is about the process science fiction writer Mur Lafferty went through to go from a wannabe writer to a professional and published author. It documents the highs and lows of a writing career and provides comprehensive how-to tips and interviews.

The New Yorker : Fiction

website www.newyorker.com/podcast/fiction

Host Deborah Treisman

Provider WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Published monthly. New Yorker fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, invites an author whose work is being published by the magazine that month to join her in the podcast. Each author selects a piece of short fiction from the magazine’s archive to read and analyse.

The Penguin Podcast

website www.penguin.co.uk/articles/in-conversation/podcasts/penguin-podcast

Provider Penguin Books UK

This series, published fortnightly, gives intimate access to bestselling authors through interviews where they discuss their work and give examples of five things that have inspired and shaped their writing.

Reading and Writing Podcast

website http://readingandwritingpodcast.com

Host Jeff Rutherford

This interview-style podcast encourages readers to call in and leave voicemail messages and questions ready for the host to ask the guest writer, who discusses their work and writing practices.

The Self-Publishing Podcast

website https://sterlingandstone.net/series/self-publishing-podcast

Hosts Johnny B. Truant, Sean Platt, David Wright

Provider Sterling & Stone

As the hosts of this podcast proclaim, self-publishing is a new publishing frontier. The trio explore how a writer can become truely ‘authorpreneurial’ , getting their books published and making money without resorting to agents and traditional publishing models.

Story Grid

website https://storygrid.simplecast.fm

Hosts Shawn Coyne, Tim Grahl

Hosted by a book editor with more than 25 years’ experience in publishing and a struggling writer, the duo discuss what features bestselling novels have in common and how authors can utilise these to write a great story that works.

Write Now With Sarah Werner

website www.sarahwerner.com/episodes

Host Sarah Werner

A weekly podcast produced specifically with aspiring writers in mind. Sarah Werner provides advice, inspiration, and encouragement to writers to find a suitable work-life balance that will enable them to take their hobby to the next level.

The Writer Files

website https://rainmaker.fm/series/writer

Host Kelton Reid

This long-running podcast explores productivity and creativity, seeing how accomplished writers tackle writer’s block and keep the ink flowing and cursor moving.

WRITER 2.0: Writing, Publishing, and the Space Between

website http://acfuller.com/writer-2-0-podcast/episodes

Host A.C. Fuller

This podcast tackles both traditional and self-publishing. It includes interviews with bestselling authors from every genre, as well as leading industry professionals such as agents, book marketers and journalists to give a broad update on the publishing industry.

The Writership Podcast

website https://writership.com/episodes

Hosts Leslie Watts, Clark Chamberlain (a member of the Author Marketing Institute’s podcasting network)

This podcast provides help, support and advice to fiction writers on how they can develop the appropriate skills to self-edit their completed manuscript.

Writing Excuses

website www.writingexcuses.com

Hosts Maurice Broaddus, Valynne E. Maetani, Amel El-Mohtar, Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells

This weekly educational podcast is in its 12th season. Written by writers for writers, it offers sensible and strategic advice to all who write, whether for pleasure or for profit, on how they can revise and edit their work to create a better story. Each week there is a homework assignment and suggested reading that complements the theme of each podcast.

Editorial services and self-publishing providers

This is a selection of the rapidly expanding list of companies that offer editorial, production, marketing and distribution support predominantly for authors who want to self-publish. As with all the organisations mentioned in the Yearbook, we recommend that you check carefully what companies offer and precisely what they would charge.

@YouCaxton

23 High Street, Bishops Castle, Shropshire SY9 5BE

tel (Shropshire) (01588) 638728

tel (Oxford) (01865) 693429

email newbooks@youcaxton.co.uk

website www.youcaxton.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/YouCaxton-Publishing/133150206770479

Twitter @YouCaxton

Partners Robert Fowke, Robert Branton and Steven Edwards

Specialises in high-quality memoir and general nonfiction, selected fiction and high-end, full-colour productions and art books. Offers support for self-publishers: structural editing; copy-editing; proofreading, cover design and interior layout; print and ebook production and distribution. Authors are able to follow progress of their project via an online reporting system. Additional services include: a range of marketing tools for self-publishing author websites and web pages; a book packaging and design service for publishers; a publication project management service for academic and corporate clients; and a high-quality fine-art printing service for photographers and artists. Founded 1986 as Lazy Summer Books Ltd of Oxford.

Albury Books

Albury Court, Albury, Thame, Oxon OX9 2LP

tel (01844) 337000

email hannah@alburybooks.com

website www.alburybooks.com

Twitter @AlburyBooks

Collaborates with writers and illustrators to republish and/or self-publish their work through the Albury BookShelf platform. Provides print-on-demand and/or short print runs and co-edition deals to small publishers and individuals. Rights management also available. Clients may publish under their own imprint, or an Albury-managed imprint. Each book published is listed for sale in the Albury online store and made available to major booksellers. Founded 2013.

Amolibros

Loundshay Manor Cottage, Preston Bowyer, Milverton, Somerset TA4 1QF

tel (01823) 401527

email amolibros@aol.com

website www.amolibros.com

Director Jane Tatam

Offers print and ebook design, production, copy-editing and distribution through online retailers. Sales and marketing services include design and production of adverts, leaflets, author websites, distribution of press releases and direct mail campaigns.

arima publishing

ASK House, Northgate Avenue, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP32 6BB

tel (01284) 700321

email info@arimapublishing.com

website www.arimapublishing.co.uk

Offers print-on-demand options in hardback and paperback formats. Distributes print books through wholesalers, and to online retailers. Proofreading and image scanning also available; prices on application. Also provides a typing service for handwritten manuscripts. Authors receive a royalty rate of 30% of full cover price for direct sales from the arima online bookshop, and 20% for general sales.

Arkbound

Backfields House, Upper York Street, Bristol BS2 8QJ

tel 0871 268 2929

email editorial@arkbound.com

website http://arkbound.com

Social enterprise supported by the Prince’s Trust: can offer fully sponsored publishing to talented writers from disadvantaged backgrounds, but also provides a range of services and packages to authors who can afford to self-publish. Editorial services include copy-editing and proofreading; enhanced book promotion and mentoring also available. Arkbound is founder of the Zooker literary award and runs an annual writing competition. Founded 2015.

Author Design Studio

email contact@authordesignstudio.com

website www.authordesignstudio.com

Twitter @authordesigner

Contact Aimee Coveney

Creative design and digital marketing consultancy specialising in author services including award-winning book and ebook design, website design, book trailers, social media training and more.

Author House UK

1663 Liberty Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403, USA

tel 0800 197 4150

website www.authorhouse.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/AuthorHouseUK

Twitter @AuthorHouse

Offers editorial services, interior and cover design, illustration, marketing and publicity advice and distribution for hardcover and paperback print-on-demand books, as well as ebook conversion and distribution services. Colour and b&w publishing packages start at £799, speciality packages at £1,499 and ebook-only packages at £499.

Authoright

53–59 Chandos Place, London WC2N 4HS

tel 020-7993 8225

email info@authoright.com

website www.authoright.com

Twitter @Authoright

Ceo & Co-founder Gareth Howard, Coo & Co-founder Hayley Radford

Marketing and publicity firm for new and unpublished writers, based in London and New York. Offers a range of services to traditionally published and self-published authors, including structural editing, copy-editing and proofreading, cover design, website design, press releases, blog tours and marketing and publicity campaigns in the UK and US. Case studies and testimonials available on request.

Azimuth Print Ltd

Unit 2A, Princess Street, Bedminster, Bristol BS3 4AG

tel (0117) 332 0055

email sales@azimuthprint.co.uk

website www.azimuthprint.co.uk

Contact Mike Edmonds

Produces wirebound, perfect-bound and hardback books in a variety of sizes, in colour or b&w. Authors can send their own artwork, use the artwork templates supplied by Azimuth Print or commission their own designers. Also prints promotional materials including leaflets and posters. Founded 1989.

Blue Ocean Publishing

tel (01763) 208887

email blueoceanpublishing@btconnect.com

website www.blueoceanpublishing.biz

Professional, personal self-publishing of books, ebooks, brochures, CDs, DVDs and games for individuals and organisations. Complete design and editorial services are available, as are advice on MSS and assistance with marketing, writing and distribution. Founded 2007.

Blurb

website www.blurb.co.uk

Twitter @BlurbBooks

Founder and Executive Chairman Eileen Gittins, Ceo Rix Kramlich

Self-publishing platform and creative community that enables individuals to design, publish, share, sell, and distribute photo books, trade books and magazines in both print and digital formats. Publications can be sold online through the Blurb bookshop and the iBooks Store. Photobooks and trade books, novels or poetry can be printed in hardcover or softcover and in a variety of sizes. Prices are based on extent; for details see www.blurb.co.uk/pricing-calculator.

Book Create Service Ltd

22 Coleman Ave, Teignmouth, Devon TQ14 9DU

tel (01626) 870999

email enquiries@bookcreateservice.com

website www.bookcreateservice.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/bookcreateservice

Twitter @BookCreateS

Book layout and cover design services for new and experienced authors, as well ebook conversion. Price information available on the website or via a telephone call.

Bookollective

email hello@bookollective.com

website www.bookollective.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/bookollective

Twitter @bookollective

Contacts Esther Harris (editorial), Aimee Coveney (design), Helen McCusker (publicity)

One-stop agency for authors, publishers and industry professionals. A collaboration of experienced service providers, Bookollective offers a range of bespoke packages, including editing, design, digital marketing, blog tours and publicity. Fiction and non-fiction covered. Named as one of the The Bookseller’s Rising

Stars list, 2017.

BookPrinting UK

Remus House, Coltsfoot Drive, Woodston, Peterborough PE2 9BF

tel (01733) 898102

email info@bookprintinguk.com

website www.bookprintinguk.com

Twitter @BookPrintingUK

Contact Naz Stewart

Offers colour and b&w printing and print-on-demand books in a range of bindings. Can provide custom illustration and interior layout options, as well as typesetting. Supplies templates for formatting manuscript files before sending. Can also distribute print books direct to customers. Prints bookmarks, posters and flyers.

Daniel Burton Editing

tel 07519 707490

email daniel@dburtonediting.com

website www.dburtonediting.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/D. Burton Editing

Twitter @dburton_editing

Contact Daniel Burton

Offers copy-editing and proofreading services, as well as providing engaging content for blogs, newsletters, websites and social media. A range of PR services also available. Works with authors across a variety of genres, including children’s fiction and crime thriller. Founded 2014.

Cameron Publicity and Marketing Ltd

180 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HF

tel 020-7917 9812

email info@cameronpm.co.uk

website www.cameronpm.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/CameronPublicity

Twitter @CameronPMtweets

Director Ben Cameron

Publicity and marketing campaigns for publishers and independent authors including media awareness, websites and social media. Founded 2006.

The Choir Press

132 Bristol Road, Gloucester GL1 5SR

tel (01452) 500016

email enquiries@thechoirpress.co.uk

website www.selfpublishingbooks.co.uk

Contact Miles Bailey

Self publishing company offering short- and long-run printing and print-on-demand options in a variety of sizes and bindings, as well as ebook conversion and distribution. Preferred formats for printed editions are illustrated non-fiction. Offers custom cover design or can incorporate author-supplied images. Copy-editing, structural editing and proofreading services also available. Founded 1982.

Clink Street Publishing

53–59 Chandos Place, London WC2N 4HS

tel 020-7993 8225

email info@clinkstreetpublishing.com

website www.bookpublishing.co.uk

Boutique self-publishing imprint from Authoright, with an experienced team of editors, project managers, designers and publicists publishing and promoting writers across all genres. Also has links with literary scouts with a view to securing foreign translation rights. Case studies and testimonials available on request.

CompletelyNovel

website http://completelynovel.com

Twitter @completelynovel

Provides online publishing tools for authors to upload their manuscripts to create and distribute print-on-demand books and ebooks. A number of sales and distribution options are available. Website also offers a cover-creator option, as well as self-publishing advice on topics including editing, cover design and social media marketing.

Dissect Designs

email timbarberart@gmail.com

website www.dissectdesigns.com

Twitter @dissectdesigns

Bespoke book cover designs for ebooks and print editions at affordable prices. Non-fiction and fiction. 50% deposit payable via PayPal required.

eBook Versions

27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX

website www.ebookversions.com

Offers ebook and paperback self-publishing and distribution through online retailers and trade wholesalers including Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Apple iBookstores, Kobo Books, Gardners Books and more than 300 independent high street booksellers. Fees begin at £95 for ebook conversion of a manuscript of up to 100,000 words. Print-on-demand paperback pre-press production is available from £295. OCR scanning of hardbacks, paperbacks and typescripts is also offered.

eBookPartnership.com

PO Box 2173, Seaford, BN25 9EL

tel 0845 123 2699

email helpdesk@ebookpartnership.com

website www.ebookpartnership.com

Twitter @ebookpartners

Ebook conversion and distribution services. Conversion to standard and fixed layout ebook files. Complex conversion specialists. Worldwide distribution and management of ebook files for authors, publishers, businesses and non-profit organisations. Extensive network of retailers, libraries and subscription services. Set-up fee; clients retain 100% of royalties. Client admin system, no fees for changes to listings. Founded 2010.

Frank Fahy Publishing Services

5 Barna Village Centre, Barna, Galway, Republic of Ireland

tel +353 (0)86 2269330

email frank.fahy0@gmail.com

website www.frank-fahy.com

Specialises in preparing manuscripts for book production, either as printed books or digital ebooks. This can include, as required, copy-editing and/or proofreading, or preparing presentations for submission to publishers. Estimates are free of charge and authors’ individual requirements discussed. Publishing projects of all kinds considered, from individuals, institutions or businesses. Founded 2007.

FictionAtelier

email fictionatelier@gmail.com

website fictionatelier.wordpress.com

Contacts Lucy Ellmann, Todd McEwen

Two published novelists give independent, experienced, one-to-one, anti-workshop editorial help to serious writers of fiction. Editing and line editing £75 per hour. Flat rates available for reading and a detailed response.

Firsty Group

4 The Courtyard, London Road, Newbury, Berks. RG14 1AX

tel (01635) 581185

email info@firstygroup.com

website http://firstygroup.com

Twitter @firstygroup

Provides web development and e-commerce solutions for the publishing industry, from bespoke projects to bolt-on software as a service. Enables publishers to sell print, ebooks and audiobooks (with or without DRM) directly to customers through open-source content management systems, API links to distribution partners and a thorough understanding of metadata. Also provides direct-to-customer publisher support and assistance within customer service, financial accounting and marketing.

Grammar Factory

c/o Morgan James Publishing, Level 32, 367 Collins St, Melbourne 3000, Australia

tel +61 423 441 701

email info@grammarfactory.com

website https://grammarfactory.com

Founder Jacqui Pretty

Self-publishing company offering ghostwriting, editing and publishing services for speakers, business leaders and entrepreneurs. Over the past four years the team has worked with over 150 authors across the fields of leadership and motivation, business, finance, personal development and health and wellness.

Grosvenor House Publishing

Link House, 140 The Broadway, Tolworth, Surrey KT6 7HT

tel 020-8339 6060

website www.grosvenorhousepublishing.co.uk

Co-founders Kim Cross, Jason Kosbab

Publishes across a range of genres including children’s and non-fiction in colour, b&w, print-on-demand, paperback, hardback and ebook formats. Offers a £795 publishing package which includes typesetting and five free print copies as well as an ISBN, and print and ebook distribution via online retailers. Authors can design covers online. Marketing services include producing posters and postcards, and website set-up from template with two years’ hosting. Ebook publishing costs £195 if the print edition of the book has been produced by the company and £495 otherwise. Print costs and royalties depend on book specification. A proofreading service is offered at a rate of £5 per 1,000 words. See website for full list of costs.

I AM Self-Publishing

82 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 0AS

tel 020-3488 0565

email hello@iamselfpublishing.com

website www.iamselfpublishing.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/iamselfpub

Twitter @iamselfpub

Professional publishing services include: design; typesetting; editing; proofreading; print-on-demand and short-run printing; ebook conversion; author branding, marketing; and backlist republication. Assistance available for authors at all stages of the process. No royalty taken: authors retain 100% of earnings. Packages start from £450.

iBooks Author

website www.apple.com/uk/ibooks-author

App that allows authors to create interactive e-textbooks and other types of ebooks, such as photo books, travel, or craft/cookery books for iPad. Features include video and audio, interactive diagrams, photos and 3D images. They can then be sold through the iBooks Store. Authors may choose fonts and template page layouts or design their own. Charts, tables, text, images and interactive features can also be added.

Jelly Bean Self-Publishing

Candy Jar Ltd, Mackintosh House, 136 Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 1DJ

tel 029-211 57202

email submissions@jellybeanselfpublishing.co.uk

website www.jellybeanselfpublishing.com

Twitter @Jelly_BeanUK Director Shaun Russell

Self-publishing imprint of Candy Jar Books. Offers a bespoke service for new and experienced authors at all stages of the process, including but not limited to editing and typesetting, illustration, cover design, website design and other marketing services. Submissions are welcomed, and face-to-face meetings are available on request. Founded 2012.

Kindle Direct Publishing

website https://kdp.amazon.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/KindleDirectPublishing

Twitter @AmazonKDP

Ebook self-publishing and distribution platform for Kindle and Kindle Apps. Its business model offers up to a 70% royalty (on certain retail prices between $2.99–$9.99) in many countries and availability in Amazon stores worldwide. Print-on-demand options are also available. Note that KDP Select makes books exclusive to Amazon (which means they cannot be sold through an author’s personal website, for example), but authors can share in the Global Fund amount every time the book is borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

Kobo Writing Life

website www.kobo.com/writinglife

Facebook www.facebook.com/KoboWritingLife

Twitter @KoboWritingLife

Ebook self-publishing platform where authors can upload manuscripts and cover images. These files are then converted into ebooks before being distributed through the Kobo ebookstore. Authors are able to set pricing and DRM territories, as well as track sales. Royalty rates vary depending on price or territory; enquire directly. Free to join.

Lavender and White Publishing

Snipe Lodge, Moycullen, County Galway, Republic of Ireland

email info@lavenderandwhite.co.uk

website www.lavenderandwhite.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/Lavender-and-White-Publishing-201996279902790/

Twitter @LavenderandW

Editorial Director Jacqueline Broderick, Editor Sarah Lewis

Offers a range of services for self-publishing authors, including: editing; proofreading; cover design; typesetting; ebook conversion; print-on-demand; marketing and sell-through services; mentoring; and ghostwriting. Costs vary depending on services required; email for a quote. Easy payment options available.

Lulu

website www.lulu.com/gb

Facebook www.facebook.com/Luludotcom

Twitter @Luludotcom

Self-publishing platform and distributor for ebooks and print-on-demand books through online retailers including Amazon and iBooks. Authors can upload a file and design their own cover for free. Optional paid-for services include cover design, editorial, publicity services and associated materials. See website for full breakdown of costs and royalty information.

Manuscripts & Mentoring

25 Corinne Road, London N19 5EZ

tel 020-7700 4472

email manuscriptmentoring@gmail.com

website www.genevievefox.com

Twitter @genevievefox21

Contact Genevieve Fox

Helps both fledgling and experienced writers of fiction, non-fiction and YA fiction get from first draft to finished manuscript. Primary services: editing; manuscript overviews; advice on structure, plot, themes and characterisation; and submission to agents. Also available: mentoring; writing plans; and coaching for interviews and promotional talks. Published author, journalist and creative writing tutor.

Margie’s Mark

email margie@margiesmark.com

website http://margiesmark.com

Twitter @MargieMark

Contact Margie Markevicius

Supplies graphic design services, including logo design, and can apply designs to social media accounts. Also offers: book cover design and formatting for print and print-on-demand; design of ebook ePub files; website design and maintenance; content updates. US-based.

Matador

Troubador Publishing Ltd, 9 Priory Business Park, Wistow Road, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicester LE8 0RX

tel 0116 279 2299

email matador@troubador.co.uk

website www.troubador.co.uk/matador

Facebook www.facebook.com/matadorbooks

Twitter @matadorbooks

Managing Director Jeremy Thompson, Operations Director Jane Rowland

The self-publishing imprint of Troubador Publishing. Offers print-on-demand, short-run digital- and lithoprinted books and ebook production, with distribution through high-street bookshops and online retailers, plus worldwide ebook distribution. Author services include all book and ebook production, trade and retail marketing, plus bookshop distribution via Orca Book Services and Sales Representation by Star Book Sales. Founded 1999.

Mereo Books

1A The Wool Market, Dyer Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 2PR

tel (01285) 640485

email info@mereobooks.co.uk

website www.mereobooks.com

Twitter @MereoBooks

Director Toni Tingle, Editor-in-Chief Chris Newton

Specialises in editing, typesetting, and cover design of both fiction and non-fiction books. Publishes in hardback, paperback and ebook formats. Also offers ghostwriting services. Allocates ISBNs and distributes to online retailers including Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as ebooks or print-on-demand and from stock through Orca Book Services trade distribution. Books sold through the Mereo website as well as via trade sales representation with Harbour Publishing Services and trade distribution by Orca Book Services, and listed with wholesalers. Costs dependent on specification. Mereo is actively looking for authors for its new romantic fiction imprint, Romaunce (www.romaunce.com). Part of Memoirs Publishing.

MJV Literary Author Services

71–75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ

email authors@mjvliterary.com

website www.mjvliterary.com

Contact Matt McAvoy

Offers copy-editing and promotion services for book authors of all genres, including fiction, non-fiction and children’s books. Services include translation into English, proofreading, complete copy-editing, formatting for e-book creation and print-ready typesetting for paperback. Senior Editor Matt McAvoy also carries out book review and beta-reading services, and is a member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. Editing services start from £3.50 per 1,000 words; promotion services include Twitter campaigns, reviewer submissions and interview requests. Clients include self-published and traditionally published authors, as well as publishers.

Molten Publishing Ltd

14 Clachar Close, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 6RX

tel 07861 211740

email molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

website www.moltenpublishing.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/moltenpublishing

Twitter @MoltenPublish

Directors Molly Terry, Nick Looby

Hybrid publisher of young adult fiction and non-fiction business books by new or established authors. Editing services also available. Founded 2015.

M-Y Books Ltd

187 Ware Road Hertford Herts. SG13 7EQ

tel (01992) 586279

email jonathan@m-ybooks.co.uk

website www.m-ybooks.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/MYBookspublishingandmarketing

Twitter @jonathanbooks

Editorial Director Jonathan Miller

Self-publishing service provider for authors at all stages of their careers. Offers a concierge-style service aimed at authors who are either new to self-publishing or who require a bespoke package. Author visits welcome. Online marketing also available. Audio book production specialists. Clients include international bestselling authors. Founded 2002.

New Generation Publishing

107–111 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2AB

tel 020-7936 9941 (production queries)

tel (01234) 711956 (publishing enquiries)

email info@newgeneration-publishing.com

website www.newgeneration-publishing.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/NewGenerationPublishing

Twitter @NGPublishing

Provides publication in paperback, hardback and ebook with global distribution. Publishing packages range from Standard Paperback to the Bestseller options; bespoke packages are also available. Services include layout, cover design, ISBN allocation, editing, proofreading, bookselling, bookstore placement, website design and manuscript critique. Distribution provided via online retailers, high-street shops, libraries and wholesalers. Promotional materials available including distributed press releases and social media. Free marketing and promotional support service also offered. Offices in London and Buckinghamshire; author visits welcome. Free guide to publishing available on request.

Noveleditingservices

PO Box 95, Liverpool L17 8WY

tel 07801 055556

email susan@storieswanted.com

website www.storieswanted.com

Contact Susan Wallace

High-level, thorough edits from experienced journalist for emerging and established authors. Prices: £25 per 4–5, double-spaced pages; fixed fee/deadline to be agreed for full manuscript following a test read. Confidentiality assured.

Oodlebooks Ltd

Shortwall Court, Pontefract WF8 4SZ

email info@oodlebooks.com

website www.oodlebooks.com

Managing Director Gail Powell

Online book marketing platform for self-published authors. Aims to help authors to connect with their readers and grow their fan-base. Offers advice and support to authors on the best marketing techniques specific to their needs, including the use of social media. If an author’s book is accepted, a one-off joining fee as well as a small monthly subscription fee are payable. See website for details.

Paragon Publishing

4 North Street, Rothersthorpe, Northants NN7 3JB

tel (01604) 832149

email intoprint@live.com

website www.intoprint.net

Proprietor Mark Webb

Packagers of non-fiction and fiction books for independent authors and small publishers, working regularly with schools, colleges, associations and writers’ groups. Provides a range of editorial, design and typesetting services to create PDFs in black and white or colour, as well as print-on-demand options. Also publishes Kindle and ePub editions, as are multilingual editions. Experienced at working with new writers to help them to publish, providing ISBN, marketing consultancy and distribution to booksellers worldwide. Ghostwriting and illustration services also available. Founded 1992.

Pomegranate PA

Clavering House, Clavering Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3NG

tel 07443 490752

email karen@pomegranatepa.co.uk

website www.pomegranatepa.co.uk

Twitter @pomegranatepa

Freelance Proofreader Karen Stubbs

Proofreading and editorial service. All subjects considered. Founded 2013.

Prepare to Publish Ltd

Blackbirds Studio, Bayliss Yard, Charlbury OX7 3RS (01865) 922923

email mail@preparetopublish.com

website www.preparetopublish.com

Editor Andrew Chapman

Editorial and typesetting agency for book and magazine production. A team of more than a dozen experienced freelancers provides development-editing, copy-editing and proofreading services (fiction and non-fiction, but not poetry or children’s books), plus typesetting. Clients typically include: publishers looking to outsource the editorial process; businesses planning publications; and authors who have completed a first draft.

Publishing Services

9 Curwen Road, London W12 9AF

tel 07984 585861

email susanne@susannelumsden.co.uk

website www.susannelumsden.co.uk

Twitter @SusanneLumsden

Contact Susanne Lumsden

Former non-fiction director of Faber & Faber offers mentoring and full book publishing services for quality non-fiction titles, including trade sales and distribution (via Central Books). Suited to those who wish to publish traditional printed books (with POD/ebooks as add-ons) that meet mainstream publishing standards.

Offers initial publishing appraisal covering goals, resources and publishing requirements: format/s, pricing, level of editorial work, production spec, sales & marketing, and timing.

Rigorous editing is a speciality. The first stages (structural and line editing) are conducted personally, before experienced freelancers are commissioned for copy-editing, proofreading and proof-correction collation. Also provides access to a curated network of tested external service providers in design, typesetting, printing, ebook conversion and publicity.

PublishNation

Suite 544, Kemp House, 152 City Road, London EC1V 2NX

email david@publishnation.co.uk

website www.publishnation.co.uk

Publisher David Morrison

Offers print-on-demand paperback and Kindle format ebooks, available through Amazon. Publication in both print and digital formats costs £250 or £150 for Kindle format. Images may be included from £2.95 each. A range of book sizes is available, as are free template book covers. Enhanced cover design costs £40. Marketing services include creation of a press release, social media accounts and author website. Standard proofreading is £7 per 1,000 words, while an ‘express’ option from £125 focuses on the beginning of the manuscript. Editorial critique reports range in price from £99 for manuscripts of up to 15,000 words to £219 for manuscripts of up to 120,000 words.

Reedsy

email service@reedsy.com

website https://reedsy.com

Twitter @ReedsyHQ

Founders Emmanuel Nataf, Matt Cobb, Ricardo Fayet, Vincent Durand

Online marketplace that helps authors and publishers connect with editors, designers and marketers. Reedsy also offers free publishing courses via its Learning platform, available from: https://reedsy.com/learning. Founded 2014.

The Right Book Company

c/o SRA Books, Unit 53, Spike Island, 133 Cumberland Road, Bristol BS8 4TY

tel 01789 761345

email waayb@therightbookcompany.com

website http://therightbookcompany.com

Twitter @therightbookco

Managing Director Sue Richardson

Publishing and book marketing consultancy and services for businesses, small publishers and nonfiction authors. Also offers book trade distribution services to qualifying self-published authors and other small independent imprints.

Rowanvale Books Ltd

The Gate, Keppoch Street, Roath, Cardiff CF24 3JW

email info@rowanvalebooks.com

website www.rowanvalebooks.com

Twitter @RowanvaleBooks

Managing Director Cat Charlton

Provider of publishing services such as proofreading and copy-editing, cover design and illustration, ebook conversion, paperback printing and marketing. Distribution to over 40,000 online and print retailers and libraries worldwide. Founded 2012.

Scotforth Books

Carnegie House, Chatsworth Road, Lancaster LA1 4SL

tel (01524) 840111

email info@scotforthbooks.com

website www.scotforthbooks.com

Twitter @ScotforthBooks

Specialises in the complete design and production of books of all kinds, from manuscript to finished printed copies. This can include, as required, editing/proofreading, processing and placement of pictures, page layout, covers and jacket design, printing and binding of any number of copies, sales and marketing advice and leaflet/poster design etc. Estimates are free of charge and author visits and phone calls to discuss requirements are welcomed. Founded 1984.

Selfpublishbooks.ie

Springhill House, Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork T45 NX81, Republic of Ireland

tel + 353 (0)2 14883370

email info@selfpublishbooks.ie

website www.selfpublishbooks.ie

Facebook www.facebook.com/selfpublishbooks

Twitter @printbooks

Services include digital printing and binding options, including perfect binding and saddle stitching. Offers custom cover design or can include author-supplied images and artwork. Also offers editing, proofreading and formatting services. Can design promotional materials including posters and bookmarks and allocate ISBNs. Printing prices start from 100 copies but fewer can be printed on request.

The Self-Publishing Partnership

7 Green Park Station, Green Park Road, Bath BA1 1JB

tel (01225) 478444

email enquiries@selfpublishingpartnership.co.uk

website www.selfpublishingpartnership.co.uk

Twitter @SelfPublishBath

Contacts Douglas Walker, Garry Manning

Providers of full self-publishing services with personal guidance and support. Services include: proofreading/copy-editing; page design and typesetting; cover design (bespoke or standard): ebooks; ISBNs, trade & legal cataloguing; and trade-order fulfilment (invoicing & distribution).

SilverWood Books

14 Small Street, Bristol BS1 1DE

tel 0117 910 5829

email info@silverwoodbooks.co.uk

website www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk

Twitter @SilverWoodBooks

Publishing Director Helen Hart

Offers bespoke author services tailored to individual projects, as well as three comprehensive publishing packages, with prices dependent on specification. Services include professional cover and page design, typesetting, ebook hand-formatting and conversion, b&w and colour print-on-demand, short-run and lithographic printing, one-to-one support and coaching. Distributes to bookshops via wholesalers and to online retailers including Amazon. Also provides the Amazon Look Inside feature, and lists books in its own SilverWood online bookstore. UK wholesale distribution via Central Books. Nielsen Enhanced Data Listing. Marketing services include author websites, social media set-up, online book trailer campaign and blog tours. Editorial services include an initial assessment and manuscript appraisal. VAT at the standard rate added to services but not print. See www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk/ packages for guidance on prices and packages.

Smart Quill Editorial

email info@smartquilleditorial.co.uk

website http://smartquilleditorial.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Smart-Quill-Editorial/185221901518383

Twitter @SmartQuill

Literary Consultant and Book-to-Film Scout Philippa Donovan

Offers structural edits and line edits, with prices from £600. An agent submission report, priced at £600, analyses covering letter, synopsis and first three chapters. Agent-recommendation service, film/tv producer introduction and book-to-film adaptation expertise. Fiction (all genres), narrative non-fiction, YA, middle grade and picture books. Named as a Publishing Rising Star 2014 by The Bookseller magazine and Unsung Publishing Hero 2016.

Spiderwize

Remus House, Coltsfoot Drive, Woodston, Peterborough, PE2 9BF

tel (01733) 898103

email info@spiderwize.com

website www.spiderwize.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Spiderwize-Publishing/124594357569927

Twitter @S_piderwize

Offers print-on-demand self-publishing packages for several genres including fiction, autobiography and poetry. See website for full information.

Stairwell Books

161 Lowther Street, York YO31 7LZ

tel 01904 733767

email rose@stairwellbooks.com

website www.stairwellbooks.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Stairwell-Books/108430809178357

Owner and Operations Alan Gillott, Owner, Editor and Marketing Rose Drew

Publisher of novels, memoirs, anthologies and collections focussed mainly, but not exclusively, on York and Yorkshire writers. Publishers of Dream Catcher international literary journal. Services include preparation and design of books, managing new book launches, event management, proofreading, content advice, fact-checking with particular reference to physical anthropology, archaeology and history, as well as a range of author services and writing projects. Founded 2002.

Tantamount

Coventry University Technology Park, Puma Way, Coventry CV1 2TT

tel 024 7722 0299

email hello@tantamount.com

website www.tantamount.com, www.authorbranding.co.uk

Twitter @TantamountBooks

Specialists in enhanced digital publications and author branding. Offer a wide range of editorial, design and publishing services to individual authors and publishing houses. Integrated online presence and self-publishing service allows writers to deal with a single supplier for all digital, design and publishing requirements, and to achieve a unified and coherent personal brand image for their work. Founded 2002.

Michael Terence Publishing

Two Brewers House, 2A Wellington Street, Thame OX9 3BN

tel (0203) 582 2002

email admin@mtp.agency

website www.mtp.agency

Founders Karolina Robinson, Keith Abbott

Publishes across a range of genres – fiction (including biography, true stories, crime, science fiction, historical) and non-fiction. Special consideration given to new and little-published authors. Open for submissions from authors worldwide at www.mtp.agency/submissions. See website for full details. Founded 2016.

JM Thurley Management

Archery House, 33 Archery Square, Walmer, Deal, Kent CT14 7JA

tel (01304) 371721

email thurleyjon@gmail.com

website www.thecuttingedge.biz

Contact Jon Thurley

Provides rewriting and advice services to writers of full-length adult fiction and non-fiction; see website for full details and pricing. Also continues to act as a literary agent dealing with fiction, non-fiction, film, television, theatre. Founded 1976.

TJ INK

Trecerus Industrial Estate, Padstow, Cornwall PL28 8RW

tel (01841) 534 264

email hello@tjink.co.uk

website www.tjink.co.uk

Twitter @TJINKtweets

Independent publishing services company that works with writers and industry professionals to create quality publishing projects. Offers services for each stage of the publishing process including editorial, design and production, and marketing and distribution. Part of TJ International Ltd, book manufacturers for the publishing industry for over 40 years. Founded 2014.

2QT Ltd (Publishing)

Unit 5, Commercial Courtyard, Duke Street, Settle, North Yorkshire BD24 9RH

tel (01729) 268010

website www.2qt.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/2QTPublishing

Director Catherine Cousins

Offering flexible, tailored packages. Services include editing and proofreading, manuscript critique, cover design and typesetting. Also offers ebook conversion and distribution, print-on-demand and other printing options. Allocates ISBNs and barcodes.

whitefox

2nd Floor, Stapleton House, 110 Clifton Street, London EC2A 4HT

tel 020-8638 0536

email info@wearewhitefox.com

website http://wearewhitefox.com/

Facebook www.facebook.com/wearewhitefox

Twitter @wearewhitefox

Partners Annabel Wright, John Bond

Aims to provide the largest curated network of professional services available to publishers, agents, writers and brands. Specialises in a range of books, from fiction to non-fiction, including genre fiction, illustrated and business guides, and is able to handle all aspects of the publishing process. Offers support and solutions for independent writers and publishers including: editorial reports; structural editing; copy-editing; proofreading; design; typesetting; copywriting; marketing and publicity; interior layout; print and ebook production; and distribution. Founded 2012.

Wise Words Editorial

email info@wisewordseditorial.com

website www.wisewordseditorial.com

Twitter @WiseWordsEd

Provides proofreading services for fiction and non-fiction manuscripts and ebooks. Rate is £5/$7 per 1,000 words for proofreading documents over 50,000 words. Authors are sent a file showing edits as well as the final proofread file.

Wrate’s Editing Services

14C Woodland Road, London SE19 1NT

tel 020-8670 0660

email danielle@wrateseditingservices.co.uk

website http://wrateseditingservices.co.uk

Twitter @WratesEditing

Contact Danielle Wrate

Helps authors with all aspects of the self-publishing process, from draft manuscript to publication. Primary services include proofreading, copy-editing, structural editing, cover design, internal layout, ebook conversion, printing, ISBN registration and marketing. Works with both novelists and nonfiction authors; free, no-obligation sample edit and publishing guide available. Founded 2013.

WRITERSWORLD

2 Bear Close Flats, Bear Close, Woodstock, Oxon OX20 1JX

tel (01993) 812500

email enquiries@writersworld.co.uk

website www.writersworld.co.uk

Founder & Owner Graham Cook

Specialises in self-publishing, print-on-demand books and book reprints. Also issues ISBNs on behalf of authors, pays them 100% of the royalties and supplies them with copies of their books at print cost. Established 2000.

The Writing Hall

33 Mount Pleasant, Ackworth, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF7 7HU

tel (01977) 614799

email info@thewritinghall.co.uk

website www.thewritinghall.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/thewritinghall

Twitter @thewritinghall

Contact Diane Hall

Services include: developmental and copy-editing; proofreading; typesetting; cover design; small run printing; ebook formatting; author landing page and/or website creation; writing workshops, book launches and literary events; marketing and social media coaching. Additional services include: writing coaching/mentoring; manuscript critique; developmental editing; ghostwriting; and literary consultancy and advice.

Submissions for TWH’s traditional royalty-based publishing, under the HallGoodBooks imprint are welcome, in the following genres: contemporary fiction (all sub-genres); business titles; romance; comedy. Founded 2007.

Xlibris

Victory Way, Admirals Park, Crossways, Dartford, Kent DA2 6QD

tel 0800 056 3182

email info@xlibrispublishing.co.uk

website www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk

Twitter @XlibrisUK

Established print-on-demand publisher, offering b&w, colour and speciality publishing packages (such as poetry and children’s). Services range from design and editorial to ebook creation and distribution with online booksellers, website creation and marketing materials including a press release and book video. Royalties: 10% to author if sold via retail partner, and 25% if sold via Xlibris directly; 50% for ebook net sales. A subsidiary of Author Solutions LLC.

York Publishing Services

64 Hallfield Road, Layerthorpe, York YO1 7ZQ

tel (01904) 431213

email enqs@yps-publishing.co.uk

website www.yps-publishing.co.uk

Twitter @ypspublishing

Offers print and ebook publishing options, as well as distribution to bookshops and online retailers including Amazon. Services include copy-editing, proofreading, page and cover design, and printing. Provides page proofs and sample bound copy before main print run. Marketing services include compiling a press pack with press release sent to media; social media set-up (£250 plus VAT); posters; and direct mail campaigns. Book is also listed on the YPS online bookstore. Printing and editing price dependent on specification.