INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY: FIRSTY GROUP THE SHORTLIST


BRADT TRAVEL GUIDES A standout performer in the challenging travel sector, filling gaps in the market with guides to destinations off the beaten track.


FABER & FABER Emerged from a tough restructuring with record results, a stack of prize-winners and a new US venture.


KOGAN PAGE Celebrates its 50th birthday in 2017, on the back of a year that saw it add more digital elements to its traditional publishing.


NOSY CROW This year’s Children’s Publisher of the Year enjoyed another 12 months of stellar print and digital growth.


ONEWORLD Scooped a remarkable Man Booker Prize double (2015 and 2016) and launched a crime list too.


WINNER: HEAD OF ZEUS


From start-up to multimillion-pound business and Independent Publisher of the Year in just four years, Head of Zeus is one of the brightest stars of trade publishing—and a textbook example of using e-books to get traction.


But one of the most impressive things about the company has been the way it has pivoted from a digital- focused list to a true hybrid. E-books still outnumber print on its list by three to one, but it enjoyed steep print growth through the TCM in 2016 and is growing paperback author brands such as Nadine Dorries and Diney Costeloe. Rights income is rising fast too, and a pair of new imprints—mass-market digital-first fiction list Aria, and Apollo for neglected classics and new literary


KEY STRENGTHS


◆ ANOTHER SHARP RISE IN PRINT, E-BOOK AND RIGHTS SALES LAST YEAR ◆ AMBITIOUS BROADENING OF ITS LIST WITH TWO NEW IMPRINTS IN 2016 AND TWO MORE CUED UP ◆ SUPERB LEADERSHIP UNDER CHIEF EXEC AMANDA RIDOUT AND DIGITAL PUBLISHER NIC CHEETHAM ◆ IMPRESSIVE COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY ACROSS BOTH ITS LIST AND STAFF


33. BRITISH BOOK AWARDS - WINNERS 2017


authors—launched their first titles in 2016. It has all built Head of Zeus into a fully rounded business, and established it as part of the publishing firmament. “The way Head of Zeus has sustained such a pace


of growth is hugely impressive, and it feels like the business has been around for much longer than it actually has,” said the judges. “It’s a perfect example of long tail publishing—spotting the value in seemingly unpromising authors and forgotten backlist.” Judges also admired the leadership of Amanda Ridout, who took the helm at Head of Zeus three years ago. “She has made a very successful switch from the corporate world to start-up indie—a force of nature doing a fantastic job.”


SUMMERSDALE Had a best-ever year in 2016, with an innovative and flexible approach to its non-fiction and gift publishing.


UNBOUND The use of crowdfunding has made it a true game-changer in publishing, and its value of pledges doubled in 2016.


Firsty Group was established in 2010, but it began life back in 2003 as a dedicated web development agency creating websites for a broad mix of consumer-facing businesses. In 2010 it chose to focus almost exclusively on delivering digital services to publishers and so Firsty Group was born.


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