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.
Each entry features a sample book cover which clicks through to the website. The accompanying ‘about’ information is taken from each publishers website at the time I put this post together.
If you know of publishers I’ve missed or want to help update my master list then please add details in the comments.
Due to the pandemic, we’re all aware that times have been tough for indie bookshops and publishers, so obviously, if you can buy direct from them that benefits them more. Not all publishers offer online ordering so 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.
So here we go with W – Z
Ward Wood Publishing
Ward Wood Publishing was set up in 2010 run in partnership by Adele Ward and Mike Wood. We have an exciting list of poetry and fiction which are not only good reads, but they also represent fine additions to the literary scene from both previously published authors and also others new to the UK and international readership.
Our aim is to provide innovative good reads of a high literary standard in a variety of forms while also encouraging aspiring authors to work towards publication.
Watermark Press
Watermark Press is the new home of original, innovative, and proudly individual prose, seeking out unique voices, distinctive visions, and dazzlingly imaginative worlds. It specialises in the publication of literary fiction, unconstrained by genre, convention, or cliché. We believe that books should be beautiful objects in their own right, and Watermark Press is committed to eye-catching design, singular conception, and the highest of production values.
The Waywiser Press
The Waywiser Press is a small independent company, with its main office in the UK, and a subsidiary in the USA. It was founded in late 2001, and started publishing in 2002.
Waywiser is a literary press, first and foremost, with a special interest in modern poetry and fiction. From time to time, however, we also issue books belonging to other literary genres – e.g. memoir, criticism, history.
We are keen to promote the work of new as well as established authors, and would like to rescue still others from undeserved neglect.
Weatherglass Books
Publishing literary fiction and non-fiction of the highest merit.
Each year a Weatherglass subscription gets you 3 novels at least a month before publication date. In addition, your name will be in the back of the book, you’ll receive previews of upcoming publications, new writing, invitations to all our events, both live and virtual, our ever-evolving newsletter, and you will have opportunities to interact with our authors and the wider team.
Wild Pressed Books
Lit. Fic. and Poetry that scrapes your emotions raw. Small-but-perfectly-formed indie press producing books and pamphlets for deep reading.
Wild Seed Magazine
wild seed magazine – a new illustrated magazine of speculative fiction – launches in Spring 2021.
we’ll publish work that reimagines and redefines what womxn’s speculative writing can be; and we’re particularly excited to read submissions from writers currently, woefully underrepresented in literary publications.
Witcherley Books
The Witcherley Book Company was started to publish Wilkie Martin’s books and now has over 100 titles, including Wilkie’s books as Wilkie Martin, Wilkie J. Martin and A.C. Caplet. We also have a range of puzzle books under the pseudonym Rex Witcherley. All our titles have been produced by the partners. We have no plans to take on titles from anyone else.
Wizard’s Tower Press
A small press publisher specializing in science fiction and fantasy. Wizard’s Tower Press was founded by Cheryl Morgan in July 2010 for reasons far too complex to go into here.
World Editions
World Editions promotes voices from around the globe by publishing books from many different countries and languages into English translation. Through our work, we aim to enhance dialogue between cultures, foster new connections, and open doors which may otherwise have remained closed.
World Editions was founded in 2013 by Eric Visser, publisher of Dutch literary house De Geus―home to many Nobel Prize-winning authors. Since 2016, World Editions has been part of the independent Libella Group, a European publisher with bases in Switzerland, France, and Poland, led by the renowned Vera Michalski. Judith Uyterlinde, Publishing Director of World Editions since 2017, is passionate about literature and languages, and dedicated to bringing attention to outstanding writers from around the world. Today World Editions has offices in New York, London, and Amsterdam, after successfully launching in the US in March 2018.
World Editions publishes long-established authors, such as recent winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize, Maryse Condé, and the internationally acclaimed Paolo Maurensig, alongside promising debut novelists, such as rising stars Adeline Dieudonné and Pierre Jarawan.
Wrecking Ball Press
Since 1997 Wrecking Ball Press has published high quality, cutting edge literature, building a national reputation that far exceeds its size. This is based on a commitment to connecting the most innovative and accessible novels and poetry with a readership not traditionally associated with literature. Wrecking Ball Press has a strong record of discovering exciting first time writers, many of whom have gone on to have further commercial and critical success with larger publishers.
write side left
A new small 21st Century press to champion new writing, voice, design, art and music talent in print, ebook & audiobooks. We publish worldwide for all our digital generations.
Y Lolfa
Y Lolfa was established in the mid-sixties, a period of fun and protest when a new generation of Welsh youth were demanding both official and unofficial status for their language. Welsh books, at the time, were pretty dull and it was Y Lolfa’s vision to create a new kind of publishing that would be lively, colourful and provocative, while taking advantage of the artistic freedom provided by the new, small offset litho printing process.
The company’s name, Y Lolfa (‘The Lounge’ or ‘fun-place’), derives from Lol (meaning ‘fun’ or ‘nonsense’, the satirical magazine it published) but the company gradually expanded from funny cards and political posters into more popular publishing, including light Welsh-language tutors (Welsh is Fun has sold over 250,000 copies!). It then ventured into contemporary novels, sports and factual books, and children’s books by original Welsh artists and authors.
Yaffle Press
Yaffle is a brand new independent publisher of poetry. We aim to produce pamphlets and poetry collections of a high standard, introduce new voices and release work by established poets. We will also consider publishing second editions of previously published pamphlets and poetry collections, providing the poet owns the copyright to their work.
We aim to support our poets by hosting and compering book launches and arranging other events/readings when possible. We aim to engender an informal and friendly relationship with our poets by being approachable, supportive and going that extra mile for our family of Yaffles.
Our managing editors, Mark Connors and Mike Farren, have previous experience working for independent publishers and running and organising poetry nights and literature festival events. Both our managing editors are award-winning poets and have been widely published in magazines, anthologies and single author pamphlets and collections.
Our creative manager, Lorna Faye Dunsire, has designed and compiled anthologies. Lorna is also a poet and runs regular spoken word nights and literature festival events.
Zeno Press
ZenoPress is a London based, brand new independent press founded by Christian Patracchini. The catalogue consists of poetry, experimental writing, art, sound, performance art and essays and is dedicated to work of interdisciplinary reach, inquiring critically but especially creatively into ideas. Our topics and themes range from the everyday to the virtual, to the philosophical and the political. Possible paradigms are many: déjà vu’, memory of the present; time and history, gesture, taking form, incipiency; reality of the virtual and spacing. This list will inevitably grow, expand and change, yet there will be a common aim: to embrace new thought and experience at a creative intersection.
We publish the annual Anthology where artists, writers, performers and various professionals from different walks of life are to contribute to each volume, providing routes to a multiplicity of voices and perspectives, defining a significant theme or tendency, addressing it not only to a professional audience but to all interested readers.
Jill's Book Cafe 