Mission Statement
We are the Small Press Alliance, a collection of independent publishers that specialise in high-quality trade fiction and non-fiction. Our mission is to amplify the voices of independent publishers within the alliance by fostering collaboration, sharing resources, and supporting each other's growth. As a collective, we believe in the power of diverse perspectives and strive to create a space where writers and readers can discover new stories and ideas. We are committed to promoting quality literature and advocating for the values of inclusivity, equity, and social responsibility in the publishing industry. Our goal is to build a vibrant community that celebrates books and empowers independent publishers to thrive.
Members
Canbury Press specialises in modern non-fiction books with a strong narrative pull. An award-winning journalist and Sunday Times-bestselling author, Martin Hickman, founded the company in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, in 2013. Canbury's titles range widely over contemporary topics, from politics to biography, nature to technology, and citizenship to health. We have published Ian Dunt, Gavin Esler, Lily Bailey, Jon Alexander, and Gulbahar Haitiwaji, with forewords by Brian Eno, Bonnie Greer, Chris Packham and Tony Blair. Our books have received major media and retailer focus and have been translated into multiple foreign languages. Canbury has been shortlisted twice for UK Small Publisher of the Year.
Wild Things Publishing: Our mission is to create inspiring books and apps that get people outside, experiencing and enjoying nature, and our wonderful, often local, world.… back to where the Wild Things are. For us its all about a work-lifestyle balance without all the unnecessary fatty trimmings. Either we, or our authors write, publicise and photograph their subject work. We pay excellent royalties in return for passionate productive and perfect work. We live by a river in Somerset and don’t have fancy offices. We rely on a global wifi’d network of designers, editors, writers, photographers & techs who believe in our work as much as we do. Ultimately we want to live our dream and spend summers out in the field exploring & taking photographs, and then wet winters, in our office, dog in our laps, writing-up and producing beautiful books. We would love to hear from you if you have publishing skills or a strong idea for a beautiful new book.
Legend Times is a group of publishing companies offering new platforms for quality writing. The group includes the following brands, encompassing fiction, non-fiction, academic publishing and self-publishing. Each offers a platform for the best writers and products for all types of readers. Legend Times began with the founding of independent fiction publisher Legend Press by Tom Chalmers in 2005. This was followed by the launch of New Generation Publishing, a self-publishing company, in 2009. In 2019, Legend Times then acquired the majority shareholding in the University of Buckingham Press, an academic press working closely with the University of Buckingham. In 2020, Legend Times launched Hero, its first non-fiction focused publishing brand.
Jacaranda Books is an award-winning, Black-owned independent publisher and bookseller. We are dedicated to promoting and celebrating brilliant diverse literature. Since launching our first title in 2014, we have published 70+ titles by a raft of talented authors, including multiple award-winners Irenosen Okojie, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Bernice L. McFadden, and Shola von Reinhold. In 2020, Jacaranda were named Small Press of the Year at the British Book Awards. In that landmark year, we launched #TwentyIn2020: an unprecedented initiative to publish 20 titles by 20 Black British writers in a single year. That same year, we also co-launched the #InclusiveIndies campaign as a response to the impact of Covid-19 on publishers like ourselves — raising over £100,000 that we were able to share with 12 other independent small presses. In 2021, Jacaranda formed a partnership with Hachette UK, expanding our sales and distribution to support the flourishing global market for readers of books by diverse voices. Our ethos is simple — we are committed to publishing ground-breaking writing with a dedication to creating space on the bookshelf for diverse ideas and writers.
Fairlight Books was founded to publish and promote writers of highly original literary and quality fiction. Since its inception, its authors have been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction and the Republic of Consciousness Prize, and shortlisted for the Diverse Book Awards, the Paul Torday Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award. It is also home to the Fairlight Moderns, a series of pocket-sized books of brilliantly innovative contemporary fiction, set around the world, and Bookshop Tours of Britain by CEO Louise Boland.
Kate and Sarah Beal acquired Muswell Press in 2017 and published their first list in 2018. With over 50 years’ experience between them, at board level, in some of the UK’s largest publishing companies, including Bloomsbury, Faber, Harpercollins and Oneworld, they combine big company perspective, and knowledge with small company versatility and focus. Muswell publishes 18 titles per year, an eclectic mix of excellent writing with the emphasis on contemporary fiction, crime/thrillers, lgbtqi, biography and travel. Muswell titles have been shortlisted for the Polari Prize, the Fortnum and Mason food and drink awards, and the company has been a Regional Finalist at the British Book Awards, 2020, 2021, 2022.
Orenda Books is a small independent publisher based in South London, specialising in international literary fiction, with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and roughly half the list in translation. Founded by publisher Karen Sullivan in 2014, and with our first books published in 2015, Orenda Books was shortlisted for the IPG Nick Robinson Newcomer Award and Small Press of the Year in the British Book Awards (both twice), winning the CWA Crime & Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger in 2020. Our authors have been shortlisted for and/or won the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, Saltire Prize for Best Scottish Fiction Book of the Year, CWA Crime in Translation Dagger, CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and CWA Steel Dagger, Paul Torday Prize, Polari Prize and the Dublin Literary Award, amongst many more, and their books have been featured on BBC Book at Bedtime and Between the Covers.
Notes From Our Members
‘Although small presses are a vital constituent of the industry, proving innovation and courageous publishing, it’s a tough space to occupy. So, collaborative initiatives, such as the Small Press Alliance, are so helpful, providing them with an additional forum for peer-to-peer support as well as enhanced marketing reach.’
LOUISE BOLAND,
CEO, Fairlight Books