Several years back when I started working as a bookseller I had no real idea about how the book world worked, all I knew is that I exchanged money for this wonderful gift of relaxation, distraction, and knowledge.

It wasn’t long before I was delving into the world of small presses and what they had to offer outside the world of the Big 5. I’m pretty sure the first indie press book I actively realised was from a small, independent press was The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers, originally published by Bluemoose Books.

I then dove down a rabbit hole of fascinating independent presses, zine makers, poetry chapbooks, artists books, and a cornucopia of delights that you would not normally see the Big 5 take a chance on.

There are presses specialising in translating literary works from South America, revitalising old and forgotten works, producing beautiful handmade objects, and much much more.

I’m currently concentrating on publishers that are based in the UK and Ireland as that’s where I’ve put the work in but the idea is to grow beyond this.

This website is going to work both as a directory and a way of singing the praises of all those working in independent publishing big and small. This is a side project so will be worked on as and when I have time and energy but it will grow steadily.

Each publisher will have its own page with a brief description of the press, contact details, and some information about some of their work. There is also scope for the publisher to answer some questions to join in with the #PublisherProfile feature and this information would be added to the description page to flesh it out even more.