About us

Who we are

Sparkling Books are publishers of non-fiction and fiction. Our series are:

Sparkling Perspectives - non-fiction

Sparkling Imaginations - fiction

We do not publish short stories or poetry, neither are we taking on any more children's books. All new titles are published in both print and e-book formats.

Our aim is to give a voice to quality writing by new authors ignored by larger publishers and to established authors who do not wish to deal with literary agents.

We welcome authors who have something worth saying and can say it well. Authors nearly always want to play a big part in the decisions leading to the production of the book. We are in constant contact with them and they know and, indeed, help out, as it’s all happening. Never do they feel as if their book has become 'stuck'. Submissions are dealt with as quickly as possible. We answer quickly and will not keep authors hanging about for months.

Authors' comments

Alan Hamilton, author of Two Unknown on his website: http://www.alanhamilton.info/publisher.html

The business plan is simple and effective.

One: Attract submissions from authors who, in the present economic conditions, would tend to be disregarded by the majority of literary agents because they have no previous form, although it's clear they have a voice, a style and a grasp of storytelling that means they deserve to be read.

Two: From those whose writing commends them, select the ones who understand that in these times an author must be proactive in self-promotion and who are prepared to help the publisher achieve a significant degree of awareness among the reviewing, bookselling and reading publics.

Three: Present the published book to the trade in a quality format. Sparkling Books gives me the feeling I'm part of a team. Advice, help, information and encouragement come without having to ask for them and there's a sense of being in on the start of something exciting and likely to last.

Amanda Sington-Williams, author of The Eloquence of Desire on

http://toastingnapoleon.blogspot.com/2010/03/future-perfect.html

I am increasingly aware of authors being taken on by agencies who then find the biggies won't touch them. As for advances, as far as I can tell, they are only for established authors. I too have a book being published by Sparkling Books and am very happy with promoting my work. It is great being part of a small publishing company, especially one that is as encouraging and professional as Sparkling Books...

Nikki Dudley, author of Ellipsis on Essential Writers: http://essentialwriters.com/how-to/prepare-your-debut-novel-for-the-world

Wait with bated breath. Happily, after the full read, Sparkling Books wanted to take me on. At last - someone loved my novel and wanted to publish it! I liked the ethos of Sparkling Books - they aimed to publish quality fiction in hardback, often novels which were being ignored by big publishers.

It was going to require a lot more input from me obviously but this also had its benefits at times. After meeting the editor to discuss the ins and outs, contracts were signed, and my dream to be published was suddenly in full flow.

Work with your publisher to make your book perfect. A lot of the processes after this were done in partnership with the publishers. Once we had settled on the cover, with added approval from those who had read the novel, editing followed.

Alongside the publishers, I worked hard to weed out any typos, awkward sentences, repetition etc. I didn’t realise I still had so many errors in there! But that’s what editors are for…

I also proofread myself, re-reading Ellipsis until I felt my eyes might fall out. All I could think about though was readers being let down by any little mistake, so I kept going.

Promote your novel. The next step was the most essential: promotion. I started a blog so I could post up info about Ellipsis, articles, events, reviews and so on.

I also started up a Facebook fan page and starting with friends, have slowly built up a fan base. Although it’s slow work, now even people I don’t know are becoming fans - an encouraging sign!

With twitter, I have added lots of other writers, publishers and people who love books, and some of these have added me back. Additionally, I run an online magazine (streetcake) and have published an extract of my novel in there, and took part in events such as WordPLAY, a night of readings at a pub in Kilburn.

Securing events is key so if you know anyone who runs something literary, or someone who knows someone who does - now is the time to cash in on those contacts!

* * * 

The market for well-written books by unknown authors is small

The larger publishers simply do not want the hassle of authors who will not sell much. Many retailers are reluctant to buy unknown authors. Nonetheless, some retailers are welcoming to new authors: for example, Waterstones allow new authors to do Saturday signings, a chance to float around a store for a day speaking to the public and selling their books. The Book Depository will promote new authors to their worldwide customer base. Good bookshops will support their local authors.

Authors help out

All publishers expect authors to help out in promoting their own book. Authors can contact their local media, create websites, blogs, promote their book through Facebook and/or Twitter. They should also be prepared to attend signings, give talks, and join groups. Our authors have been great in promoting themselves so far. If authors are not prepared to promote themselves, then why should a publisher invest good money into publishing their book?

Determination and hope

After having said all this, there is always a ray of hope in the distance. If a book hits the public nerve it can take off. And, if the first one doesn't, a successive one could. J.K. Rowling took off after her third book. As in all walks of life it is a combination of factors which determine whether your book will be a success or not. But, authors need to be realistic.

Our infrastructure

Our trade sales representation can be found here. Our books are distributed from the UK by BookSource and in the USA/Canada by Silvermine International. We supply bookshops and also sell directly to readers all over the world through our website and other webshops.  Our e-books are available for Amazon Kindle and also in epub format at many online stores, including Barnes and Noble (Nook Reader) and Waterstone's.