Overcrowded Market or a Chance to Be Different? Micro Independent Presses in the UK

This article looks at small independent publishers in the UK and explores whether there is room for them in the overcrowded UK publishing scene. The literature review considers contradictory press reports about the health of the UK publishing industry during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. A questionnaire allowing in-depth responses was sent to six micro-publishers and four independent bookshops. The responses were analyzed and supplemented with publicly available interviews with the publishers and personal conversations with the booksellers. A case study of the recently founded publisher of translated crime fiction Corylus Books confirms many of the issues reported by the surveyed micro-publishers. This research offers an inside look at the UK micro-publishers’ challenges and creative approaches, providing practical and applicable insights not only for the UK market but also for small publishers in other countries, especially agents or publishers looking to sell rights to those markets.