For Authors

Hobart Books publishes adult fiction that is accessible, fast-paced and topical, with a focus on crime, espionage and military thrillers. We have an open submissions policy and will gladly receive your manuscript for consideration. That's the pitch, but you probably have a few questions of your own. We've done our best to answer those below:

1. What about publishing fees? There are none. We won't ask you for any money to publish your book, we'll just publish

2. And advances? None of those either. We don't have any money; all we can offer you is time and expertise. We will get you published in print and on sale via our distributor, and onward to the major wholesalers, chains and indie bookstores

3. But royalties...? Thankfully there are some of those. We will make our royalty payments fair and transparent, and will ensure you know exactly how they have been calculated

4. What services do I get? We will put your manuscript through development and copy editing, proofreading, design, typesetting, printing and sales/marketing/distribution. We will assign an ISBN, create a barcode, and maintain a metadata record at Nielsen. We will print and have the books delivered to the warehouse of BookSource, our distributor. From there the major customers and booksellers can order directly. BookSource take care of pick-pack-dispatch and payments

5. And marketing? We can't match the financial clout of the commercial publishers so we have to be canny with our marketing. We will use social media very heavily to promote your book, for example by using paid posts on Facebook and Instagram to reach a broad but engaged audience. But marketing is about more than Facebook and adverts in The Bookseller. We will ensure that information about your book reaches every bookshop in the land by maintaining an accurate metadata record on the Nielsen database. Each book will have its own page on our website, and each book will also have a new book information ('NBI') sheet for distribution to the trade. We will speak to the buyers at the major accounts to ensure they don't just list your book, they buy it too. And most importantly, we will work with you, the author, to tap into your knowledge and networks to best market your book

6. What about Rights? We're new and the world is in chaos, but when the normal rhythm resumes we will attend international book fairs, primarily the London Book Fair, to sell the rights to your book for different markets and platforms. This is optional of course, but it opens up a whole new world of possibilities for your work

Go to submissions guidelines