In London’s Pimlico, home to Scallywag, a publisher shortlisted for a British Book Award among small presses. Image – Getty: Alla Tsyganova
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Nine Regions’ Shortlistees Vie for Best Small Press
Many book and publishing awards are in their longlist and shortlist stages at this time of year, as the British Book Awards produced by The Bookseller and sometimes referred to as the “Nibbies,” are working their way through their multiple trade categories’ candidacy stages.
For our professional publishing industry readership, these trade accolades can be potentially more enlightening than the 14 or so categories of “book of the year” honors. That’s not to denigrate the book awards’ possible currency with consumers, but to point up the industry insights that some of the trade awards may offer.
We count 18 categories in the trade wing this year, from academic publishers and book retailers to designers, editors, imprints, independent booksellers, libraries, literary agents, marketing strategies, publicity campaigns, rights professionals, export teams, and more.
This year’s awards ceremony will return to London’s Grosvenor House on its traditional Monday night, May 12—annually an event looked forward to by many in the UK publishing community.
And today (February 27), we want to catch up with the recently released Small Press category’s shortlists.
This is a group of 46 finalists, based in nine regions. The breakdown:
- Ten small presses in London are shortlisted
- Eight in North England
- Seven in Wales
- Five in the Midlands
- Five in Scotland
Jones: ‘Every Sale Is Hard-Gained’
These, as the brief on this category says it, are the independent houses that have a turnover of under £5 million per year (US$6.3 million)—and they can often be the ones “reaching beyond the traditional literary landscape.”
Philip Jones
Philip Jones, The Bookseller editor, writes, This cohort of smaller publishers never fails to impress me. In 2024 they ducked, dived, hunkered down, and then double-downed to come out from a tough year in magnificent shape.
“Here, every sale is hard-gained, no author left behind, with many of these presses putting the onus on human creativity as the foundation of their businesses.
“In a mixed environment for small press publishing, these finalists stepped up and made themselves big, getting noticed within and without their niches as they grew sales and pivoted toward the mainstream.”
It’s pointed out to us that last year’s regional and country winners are back this year. They include:
- Scorpius Books (East England)
- Fly On The Wall Press (North England)
- 404 Ink (Scotland)
- Peirene Press (South-West England)
- Firefly Press (Wales)
And those who follow the work and fortunes of these companies will immediately catch Firefly Press, with its offices in both Cardiff and Caerphilly (say “Car-PHIL-ee”). It’s Firefly that’s publishing the work of author Luke Palmer, whose Play has been longlisted by the Carnegie Medals program.
The Carnegie team is highlighting Play as one of its unusually strong cohort of books that touch on youth and masculinity. Palmer is among the most dedicated and gifted of writers in this field, and it’s thanks to Firefly Press that we knew his earlier Grow.
Dead Ink Books (North England) is a Liverpudlian small press that won this year’s Nero Fiction Prize for Lost in the Garden by Adam S Leslie, a book described as “a psychedelic road trip through a strange and unsettling pastoral England.”
Specialties figure into the stories behind many of these small presses.
Charco Press in London is a translation house of contemporary Latin American literature into English. Rymour Books was initially created to publish Scottish folklore.
SRL Publishing in London is called a “climate-positive” house. And Author in Me in Southeast England produces the Southeast Asian Literary Festival.
Again this year, the CPI Group is sponsoring the small press award, with managing director saying that small presses “continue to be an essential and creative part of the publishing world.”
The 2025 Small Press Finalists
St. Matthews’ Church on the River Tay in Scotland’s Perth, home to the shortlisted small press Rymour Books. Image – Getty: Walencienne
On March 10, the eve of London Book Fair (March 11 to 13), the regional and country winners of the Small Press category will be announced. And in May at the main winners’ ceremony, the overall winner among the small presses will be vying for Independent Publisher—an award that also considers the Independent Publisher of the Year category.
East England
- Dedalus Limited | Sawtry, Cambridgeshire
- Verve Books | Harpenden
- Scorpius Books | Essex
Island of Ireland
- Banshee Press | Cork
- Lilliput Press | Dublin
London
- Scallywag Press | Pimlico
- Muswell Press| Mayfair
- Jacaranda Books Art Music | Bloomsbury
- Aurora Metro and Supernova Books |
- Richmond
- Bedford Square Publishers | Bloomsbury
- Out-Spoken Press | Willesden
- Orenda Books | Tulse Hill
- Renard Press | Clapton
- Arachne Press | Camberwell
- SRL Publishing | Fitzrovia
Midlands
- Otter Barry Books | Hereford
- Bad Betty Press| Nottingham
- The Emma Press |
- Birmingham
- Sweet Cherry Publishing | Leicester
- Henson Editorial | Stoke-on-Trent
North England
- Saraband | Manchester
- Peepal Tree Press | Leeds
- Carcanet Press | Manchester
- UCLan Publishing | Preston
- Bluemoose Books | Hebden Bridge
- Dead Ink Books | Liverpool
- Fly On The Wall Press | Manchester
- Comma Press | Manchester
Scotland
- The Wee Book Company | Glasgow
- 404 Ink | Edinburgh
- Rymour Books | Perth
- Scotland Street Press | Edinburgh
- Charco Press | Edinburgh
Southeast England
- Hashtag Press | Kent
- Author In Me | High Wycombe
- Guppy Books | Didcot
Southwest England
- Peirene Press | Bath
From You To Me | Bath
Books on the Hill | Bristol
Wales
- Seren Books | Bridgend
- Parthian | Swansea
- Rily Publications | Caerphilly
- Firefly Press | Cardiff and Caerphilly
- Lucent Dreaming | Cardiff
- Broken Sleep Books | Llandysul
- Graffeg Limited | Llanelli
More on the British Book Awards is here. More from us on publishing and book awards in general is here. And more on the UK book market and industry is here.
Porter Anderson is a former associate editor of The FutureBook at The Bookseller.