It is not often that mere mortals get to witness the birth of a publishing company. However, Suite101 readers now have the opportunity to watch a new independent publishing company as it grows. Suite101 will be following the successes of Rebel Books LLP over the next year from its creation in early 2009 to its first, second and third publications due out in 2010.
The Founders of Rebel Books LLP
Rebel Books LLP was first founded in April 2009 by authors, and forces to be reckoned with, Stephanie Williams and Samantha Williams.
Stephanie told Suite101 about the inspiration to set up the company.
“A lot of the large publishing houses are loathe to take on new work at the present time and even in the best financial situation they are cautious.
I previously worked with a different publishers but my vision was slightly different and this time around I wanted to make sure that the people I worked with were on exactly the same page. I also wanted to be part of a company that was friendly, professional, successful and approachable.
If Rebel Books LLP achieves nothing else I will be happy if it creates some truly beautiful publications that people don’t want to put down.”
Stephanie Williams is well known to the British Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators as she is their North West Regional Co-Ordinator. She is also the Assistant Editor of the official SCBWI magazine in the UK. Stephanie is a Young Adult author and has previously spoken to Suite101 about her work under her pen name Boo Irwin. She is currently working on her second novel Being Lucky. Stephanie's role within the company is as Co-Editor and Marketing Manager.
Samantha Williams is the Co-Editor and Business Administrator of Rebel Books LLP. One of her other roles is to oversee the artistic design of the publications. Previously a practising solicitor, Samantha felt that the time had come to do something she was passionate about. Her love of photography, creative arts and writing all came together in helping to develop Rebel Books LLP out of an idea and into a reality. Samantha still manages to find time to write and is currently working on her first Young Adult novel Bound.
The Vision of Rebel Books LLP
As businesswomen, both Stephanie and Samantha aim to bring only the very best quality literature onto the market. What makes their company one to watch, however, is that they are both authors themselves and so also aim to nurture new talent in a professional yet friendly publishing company. To this end they aim to give some personal feedback on all submissions from writers whether their work is accepted for publication or not.
They also offer this friendly advice to writers wanting to submit their novels for consideration;
"We do wish to welcome unsolicited manuscripts, however due to the size of our business we would have to feel it was something we would be crazy to miss before we could publish it.
A lot more work has to go into editing, publishing and marketing a novel and therefore if you are rejected this does not mean that your manuscript is not special, so please continue to submit as there are places out there with enormous budgets who may be looking for someone just like you."
When talking about the books they aim to publish Samantha says, “The main aim is to produce high quality books for children and young adults that they would want to read over and over again. We also want to be friendly and approachable so that we can work closely with our authors and illustrators to achieve a final product that we can all be proud of.”
What is to Come in 2010
The first book to be published by Rebel Books LLP will be Miserable Middles by Stephanie Williams (under her pseudonym of Boo Irwin) and Pheobe Penhalligan. This magical Grimm's fairy tale style book is a collection of stories inspired by the recent debates over unhappy endings in children’s literature.
There will then be several anthologies published for which Rebel Books LLP are now accepting submissions. These include an anthology of supernatural tales for Young Adults, a collection of Faerie Stories for Young Adults and a collection of magical stories for children.
To submit a story or read more about Rebel Books LLP you can visit their website. Check back later this year or subscribe to our Suite 101 RSS Feeds for updates on life at Rebel Books and details on the release of Miserable Middles
To submit a short story for one of the Rebel Books anthologies or to submit your full manuscript for consideration visit the Rebel Books LLP website
Dulcinea Norton-Smith - Dulcinea is a writer, an avid reader, a loving wife, a terrible housewife, a mother of two, a Civil Servant and of course a freelance ...
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