Beachy Books is an “author-friendly” publisher with big plans for the future
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Normally even stopping for a breath is challenging at book fairs, but when it happens the consequences can be pleasantly surprising. Last April at the London Book fair, the owner of Beachy Books, Philip Bell, came by to introduce himself while he was walking by the Rights Center.
We loved his entrepreneurship and energetic enthusiasm for the book business. We agreed to work with him almost immediately and we are now extremely proud to represent Beachy Books internationally. We met him for a virtual chat and had a lovely conversation about our common passions: authors, books, creativity and much more!
Recently you have defined Beachy Books as “a small, author-friendly, trade publisher that focuses on publishing a select range of children’s books, adult fiction and non-fiction”. What does it mean for you to be “author-friendly”?
Ah ok. Yes, what do I mean? To me,”'author-friendly” means that we make decisions from an author’s perspective as well as looking at the wider decisions as a publisher and then offering them advice and solutions catered to them. I am an author myself and first came to learn about publishing from the author-side, so I run the company with that in mind.
I am very aware of the issues that authors think about, and I understand their concerns and creative desires as I have all those feelings myself. Being an “author-friendly” publisher means we communicate with the authors to respond to their individual needs and work in close collaboration with them when we publish their books.
No publisher wants an author who is upset or unhappy with how they are publishing their book so we try to really find out what an author’s wishes are before offering them publishing contracts, so we ensure that we are best placed to handle their writing career. We also pay royalties quarterly and offer good rates, which our authors love.
“We are also around to talk when they want and they get quick replies back from us so we have been told they feel that communication is good. Authors have told us that being part of Beachy Books is more like being in an extended “family” than being with a publisher, which is a nice way of describing it, so we must be doing something right.”
What would you say is the best part of your job at the helm of Beachy Books?
My favourite part of the job is working with our authors, helping them with any writing issues, collaborating on press and marketing, and in helping them in editing their writing to be the best it can be, ready for publication. And a bonus is I have learned so much about my own writing.
“I am always very realistic and honest when I give advice to authors wanting to self publish.”
You have extensive experience in self-publishing, do you have any advice for authors who would like to achieve international recognition?
Well, that’s the trick, isn’t it! I am always very realistic and honest when I give advice to authors wanting to self publish and we actually reject quite a lot of work that people want to pay to self publish because we do not think it is good enough yet.
I think if your work is well-written, you have done your research into the market you are writing for, and if it is a market that has a good popular following then you have a better chance of recognition.
You need a story or idea that will travel well if you want it to work outside of your country. It still comes down to good old fashioned ‘word of mouth’ and if you can build a following, a fan base, get good reviews, you will stand a chance of getting wider recognition, but it is tough so don’t give up!
Featured titles
Can you tell us a little bit more about your commitment as a publisher in offering exciting opportunities to your authors to better represent their work around the world?
Beachy Books represents our authors work around the world by attending book fairs which help with spreading the word and in meeting new contacts. Our new partnership with DropCap who represent our international foreign rights sales is a very exciting new development and we hope this will result in new opportunities that will benefit our authors.
On your webpage we can see that there are some interesting titles in the making… Can you tell us more about them?
This September 2022, we have a non-fiction gift/history/reference title called Sabre Prattling - The Language of the Battlefield by former Royal Marine, Andrew Rigsby. It’s got short entries of fascinating facts and history about the origination of many words, terms and phrases that are used in everyday conversation, but often people might not realise these terms have a historical connection with conflict and weapons. Terms such as “Lock ’n’ load” and “Going postal” and “Open season” for example. Some of the terms might be specific to a country, but most should be well known to English speakers.
Next year, in April 2023, we have a travel non-fiction title out called Travel Takeaways - Around the World in Forty Tales by veteran traveller and English teacher, Julie Watson. This is going to be a lovely book of true travel stories but written in a very poetic, enjoyable prose. They are like little exotic vignettes that will transport a reader to different places and times through description and voice. Perfect travel “takeaways” for the armchair traveller or for those wanting inspiration for new places to go on vacation.
Later in June 2023, we have a children’s chapter book aimed at young children around 7-9 years, called INK by writer and journalist K M S Latham. The story is about a boy called Finlay who sees a mysterious shape under the surface of the sea and is convinced it is a local legend come to life, an enormous sea monster that haunts the shores. When a migrant boat goes missing, Finlay and his best friend Phillip promise to help a survivor, a young girl who speaks no English, to find her family – and to prove the existence of the monster in doing so. The three young friends risk their lives out on the ink black sea, in the hunt for the Devil of the Deep. The story touches on themes of migration, the environment and friendship. The story will also be enhanced with atmospheric black and white illustrations and I think it will be popular with struggling readers and children who want an exciting mystery.
And finally, a fun one: If you could have any view from your work desk what would it be?
Well, I’m lucky because the view from my desk is a beautiful field with barley blowing in the breeze, and trees in the distance. I can see and hear buzzards circling in the blue sky high above.
We want to thank Philip Bell for sitting down with us and answering our questions. You can learn more about Beachy Books and the different books and authors that they represent here.
