I’m focusing on UK based publishers of adult fiction, short stories and poetry. I’ll update my master list as I go along (or I’ll try too) but this fortnightly list will give a more personalised shout out.

During the current pandemic, we’re all aware that times are tough for indie bookshops and publishers so obviously if you can buy direct from them that benefits them more. During lockdown that isn’t always an option for hard copy books so instead, you might want to consider using Bookshop.org or Hive Books.co.uk – both of which offer a percentage of the sale to a bricks-and-mortar bookshop.

The eagle-eyed among you will notice a slight change in format from previous posts. As you’ll appreciate these posts are time consuming and one of the things that slows me down is sourcing/formatting example book covers into a standard sized image for each publisher. In addition this is eating into my storage limit as WordPress keeps adding these to my image files. So to speed things up (and slow down my need to upgrade) I’ve decided to lose the logo (another thing that needs time to source and format) and will use a sample book cover as the image, this will also be the link through to the publishers website – which also loses the need for a button.

If you know of publishers I’ve missed or want to help update my master list then please add details in the comments. So here we go with C.

Caffeine Nights

Based in Kent, England.
Caffeine Nights Publishing began trading in 2010.
We produce crime and horror fiction in hardback, paperback, audio and eBook.

Caffeine Nights Publishing has one goal, to produce fiction to keep you entertained. Our books will make you laugh, cry, keep you on the edge of your seat. Our books will frighten you and sometimes make you look into the darkest corner of your heart. Our books will challenge your emotions and make you turn the page.

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Calder Valley Poetry

Calder Valley Poetry is a small press which commenced publication in January 2016 with John Foggin’s collection Outlaws and Fallen Angels. It is intended to produce pamphlets by the many fine poets living alongside what was once referred to as Yorkshire’s ‘river of industry’. These are writers who have a casual, even indifferent, attitude to publication. Coaxing, threats, blackmail will be employed, where appropriate, in order to provide them with the wider readership they deserve.

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Calque Press

Calque Press arises from the urge to discover underrepresented authors to a new readership, and to build links across languages and cultures. The project’s remit, Translation, Poetry and Nature, reflects our interests in diversity in small press publishing, and more generally in the political possibilities of literature. They are based in East Anglia.

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Candy Jar Books

Candy Jar Books is an award-winning independent book publisher. We publish a wide variety of quality books, from non-fiction, general fiction and children’s, through to a range of cult TV books. Candy Jar is passionate about discovering and nurturing new authors, and offering a fresh perspective on classic genres. Established in 2010, the company brings together skills in book publishing, audio and video production. Explore our website, watch our videos and read about our great new authors and titles.

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Canelo

Canelo is an ebook and paperback publisher, founded in 2015, and now one of the fastest-growing publishing companies in Europe. 

We are proud to combine fiction works from internationally bestselling authors, out of print works brought to life for contemporary audiences, and new and emerging writers, with particular strengths in escapist and fast-paced reads.

Most recently we were thrilled to launch a new crime fiction imprint, Canelo Crime.

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Canelo Crime

Canelo Crime is an imprint of Canelo, one of the leading independent publishers of commercial fiction in the UK. Crime fiction has always been a huge part of Canelo’s success so in 2020 the time came to launch an imprint to bring the best of the genre to one place.

At Canelo Crime, you will find some of the best contemporary crime fiction of recent years. The characters are diverse, the settings are varied and the plots are always gripping. You will get to see some of your darkest fears brought to life, and learn more about the minds of hardened criminals than you may ever need to know, but one thing is for sure – you will never be anything less than hooked!

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Canongate

Since 1973 we’ve worked to unearth and amplify the most vital, exciting voices we can find, wherever they come from, and we’ve published all kinds of books – thoughtful, upsetting, gripping, beatific, vulgar, chaste, unrepentant, life-changing…

Along the way there have been landmarks of fiction – including Alasdair Gray’s masterpiece Lanark, and Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, the best-ever-selling Booker winner – and non-fiction too – from Barack Obama’s memoir Dreams From My Father to Samin Nosrat’s new cookery classic Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. We’ve campaigned for causes we believe in and fought court cases to get our authors heard. And twice we’ve won Publisher of the Year.

We’re fiercely independent, and we’re as committed to unorthodox and innovative publishing as ever.

Canongate featured as my Indie Publisher of the Month in April 2020

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Carcanet Press

Welcome to Carcanet Press, one of the outstanding independent literary publishers of our time. Now in its fifth decade, Carcanet publishes the most comprehensive and diverse list available of modern and classic poetry in English and in translation, as well as a range of inventive fiction, Lives and Letters and literary criticism.

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Cassava Republic

Cassava Republic Press was founded in Abuja, Nigeria, 2006 with the aim of bringing high quality fiction and non-fiction for adults and children alike to a global audience. We have offices in Abuja and London.

Our mission is to change the way we all think about African writing.  We think that contemporary African prose should be rooted in African experience in all its diversity, whether set in filthy-yet-sexy megacities such as Lagos or Kinshasa, in little-known communities outside of Bahia, in the recent past or indeed the near future.

We also think the time has come to build a new body of African writing that links writers and readers from Benin to Bahia. It’s therefore the right time to ask challenging questions of African writing – where have we come from, where are we now, where are we going?  Our role is to facilitate and participate in addressing these questions, as our list grows.  We are still just beginning.

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Cast Iron Books

Cast Iron Books is a new independent publisher of graphic novels, illustrated books and experimental fiction. The press, which operates on a crowdfunding model, was founded in June 2020 by Lizzie Kaye, formerly commissioning editor at Unbound.

We believe in empowering writers and artists to create stories that stay with a reader long after the last page has been turned.

Most of all we believe that books should be things of beauty, that good storytelling should be an end in itself, and that if you want to make something that lasts, make sure there’s some graphite in it.

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CB Editions

CB editions publishes short fiction, poetry, translations and other work (including a non-fiction trilogy about Finland) which ‘might otherwise fall through the cracks between the big publishers’ (Guardian). The first four books were published in 2007, with no plan to do more. CBe titles have won prizes for fiction, poetry and translation, and have been shortlisted for other awards (the Goldsmiths Prize and Guardian First Book Award among them). The first three first poetry collections published by CBe all won the Aldeburgh first collection prize and were all shortlisted for the Forward Prize.

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Charco Press

Charco Press was born from a desire to do something a little out of the ordinary. To bring you, the reader, books from a different part of the world. Outstanding books. Books you want to read. Maybe even books you need to read.

Charco Press is ambitious. We aim to change the current literary scene and make room for a kind of literature that has been overlooked. We want to be that bridge between a world of talented contemporary writers and yourself.

We select authors whose work feeds the imagination, challenges perspective and sparks debate. Authors that are shining lights in the world of contemporary literature. Authors that have won awards and received critical acclaim. Bestselling authors. Yet authors you perhaps have never heard of. Because none of them have been published in English.

Until now.

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Choc Lit

Established in 2009. Choc Lit is an independent publisher creating a delicious selection of quality women’s fiction specialising in romance and thrillers.

We have won 18 awards in our genre, including Publisher of the Year and the Romantic Novel of the Year. We have had numerous shortlisting for awards (see awards).

Choc Lit and Ruby Fiction novels are distributed world-wide and available in eBook, audio and paperback formats from all good bookshops and online stores.  2017 saw the successful launch of Ruby Fiction an imprint to incorporate thrillers and women’s fiction that does not fit within Choc Lit.

All our novels are selected by genuine readers.  We only publish novels our Tasting Panel want to see in print. Our reviews and awards speak for themselves.

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Chronos Publishing

Chronos Publishing is an independent publisher and part of the FCM Group, which also incorporates independent publisher FCM Publishing & FCM Media, an online marketing agency.

Here at Chronos Publishing we specialise in telling stories. Whether autobiographical, biographical or novel we understand the value in ensuring your book reaches the right audience. We believe that storytelling days are far from over and we champion authors with incredible stories and fantastic imaginations.

If you believe your story should be told, then we are the publishers for you.

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Cillian Press

We are an independent publisher based in Manchester, North West England specialising in a wide range of quality fiction including literary novels, contemporary, young adult and adult literature. Our commitment to help our authors achieve success extends to both new and previously published authors.

In recent years the publishing industry has evolved and has seen a rapid transition from traditional print to digital, media-rich content, resulting in an innovative transformation within the print industry and ‘one click’ access to a global audience. We have embraced these latest print-technology innovations and include provisions for digital publishing to multiple e-Book readers globally.

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Cipher Press

Cipher Press is an independent publisher of queer fiction and non-fiction. Our aim is to amplify queer voices and to champion LGBTQI+ writers in the UK and beyond.

We want to publish authors who are creating a new literary canon by disrupting existing narratives and retelling them in new ways. We want to publish the many different stories that make up our community, and we want to make those stories accessible to everyone.

We’re entirely queer owned and run because we want the publishing industry to be more inclusive at every level. We have over a decade’s worth of bookselling, publishing, and editorial experience under our belts. We still don’t often see the kind of books we want to see on shelves, and we’d like to change that by finding authors who excite us and by publishing books that we love.

We’re especially keen to publish those who are further marginalised within our own community: people of colour, working class, trans and gender non-conforming authors. 

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Clutag Press

Clutag is a small independent press. It publishes poetry and memoir, and the magazine ARCHIPELAGO. It has a marked but not exclusive interest in the margins and the marginal, in nature and place, in the British and Irish Archipelago.

Clutag began in a very small way late in 2000, issuing hand-printed poetry leaflets. Then followed a series of pamphlets, notably by Geoffrey Hill, and by Seamus Heaney, John Fuller, Tom Paulin, Anne Stevenson, Mick Imlah and others. Some of these, along with Tim Dee, Douglas Dunn, James Macdonald Lockhart, Michael Longley, Robert Macfarlane, Les Murray, and the artist Norman Ackroyd have been regular contributors to ARCHIPELAGO.

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Comma Press

Comma Press is a not-for-profit publisher specialising in the short story and fiction in translation. It is committed to a spirit of risk-taking, and aims to put the short story at the heart of contemporary narrative culture.

We publish collections by new and established authors, interdisciplinary collaborations between authors and experts, and translation commissions devised to identify cutting-edge (often marginalised) voices from across the world. Our award-winning publications include The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim, Tea at the Midland by David Constantine, You Should Come With Me Now by M. John Harrison, The Sea Cloak by Nayrouz Qarmout, and the first ever collection of science-fiction from Palestine, Palestine +100.

In 2017 we won Northern Soul’s ‘Northern Publisher of the Year’ award, and in 2019 and 2020 we were shortlisted by The British Book Awards for ‘Small Press of the Year’ (North of England).

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The Common Breath

Welcome to The Common Breath, a publishing imprint based in Glasgow and specialising in prose fiction, both online and in print. This project was started on 3rd October 2019 by Brian Hamill, a writer and editor who lives and works in Partick. The aim was to provide an exciting new stream of fiction for readers to enjoy, publishing both classic and contemporary work, and to build a literary community through artist interviews and reader engagement. In the first year of operation, The Common Breath has released new work by Alan Warner and A.L. Kennedy, undertaken the re-publication of an incredible forgotten novel from the 1930s, Waiting for Nothing by Tom Kromer, and will end 2020 with a major book – ‘The Middle of a Sentence’ – featuring many renowned writers. Full details of these can be found in the site’s publications section.

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Cōnfingō Publishing

Cōnfingō is an independent publishing house based in Manchester, UK. 

​We create beautiful editions of new fiction, poetry and art in all forms.

Twice a year we produce a unique collection of previously unpublished works, available to purchase from our online store or from one of our stockists

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Copy Press

Copy Press is an independent publishing company, dedicated to extending ideas of writing, pictures and readability. It is resolute in not being restricted by genre or category. Copy Press makes propositions for living, thinking and enjoyment.

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Cornovia Press

The Cornovia Press has since 2007 specialised in publishing titles relating to Cornwall, its history and culture, including reprints of rare and obscure works as well as anthologies, reference books and original material. We also publish books by Cornish writers, or those based in Cornwall, both fiction and non-fiction.

Forthcoming titles will include new books by some of Cornwall’s best-known authors, more reprints of obscure works and transcriptions of unpublished historical manuscripts

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Corona Books

Corona Books UK was established in 2015. We aim to publish the brilliant, the innovative and the quirky, regardless of genre. That said, we do have a fondness for horror, sci-fi and humour! Our small but growing catalogue is an eclectic mix of titles that, amongst other things, celebrates non-metropolitan talent and the Great British tradition of eccentricity.  

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Corvus (Atlantic’s home of commercial fiction)

Corvus was born in 2010 as a home for Atlantic Books’ genre fiction and to satisfy the desires of the digital reader. From bestselling series authors such as Phil Rickman, Robert Fabbri and Anne Holt, to emerging talent such as Holly Seddon, Elisabeth Gifford, Sanjida Kay and Lucy Dawson, Corvus is an exciting hub of women’s, historical, romance, crime and thriller writing, bringing popular authors and thrilling stories to voracious readers.

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Corylus Books

Corylus books (2019) has been established specifically to publish fiction translated into
English.

What brings us together is a deep appreciation of fiction – particularly crime fiction, even more particularly crime fiction with a social dimension – and a strong interest in books from countries that have so far been under-represented in English.

In its first year of operation, Corylus has already published three books translated from
Romanian, has two translated from Icelandic due for publication before the end of the year,
and is working on translated works from French and Spanish.

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Crime Scene Books

Broken link to website (http://www.hardingbookpublishingcompany.com) and Twitter not active since Nov 2020.