HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK
We want to see your work
As a UK-based book publisher with extensive experience across a wide range of genres, including novels, children’s books, biographies, non-fiction, true stories, and even bold, controversial topics. We are proud to support every author’s unique work.
Is This Your First Time Publishing?
If you would like to learn more about the book publishing process and how it can help bring your work to life, we recommend taking the tour. However, if you prefer to…
Already a Published Author?
If you have published a book with us before, or are a previously published author, feel free to click here to go directly to our submission form.
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Available at 30%off RRP
Shieldcrest Book Publishers UK
Take a look at some of our recent independently published titles. To see a more extensive list, visit our bookshop.
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Original price was: £9.99.£6.99Current price is: £6.99.
We want to hear from you!
As a recognised and reputable book publisher, we do our utmost to tailor our services to meet your needs. We work across a diverse range of topics and welcome a wide array of submissions.
For advice or to learn more about how we publish your book and bring it to the attention of the public, please contact us today. If your manuscript is ready, you can submit it below.
Choosing The Right Book Publisher
People choose to write for many different reasons.
Some are driven by a deep personal passion which they want others to know, while others may have created something new and innovative which they want to share with a wider audience. The UK publishes more books per capita than any other country, with nearly 200,000 books released each year and over 500,000 books published annually in English worldwide. With such a competitive landscape, getting your work into print takes dedication, persistence, and the right support. That is where ShieldCrest comes in, helping you turn your dream into reality. But a word of caution: many companies claim to be publishers or offer book publishing services, yet outsource most of the work. In reality, you are often only dealing with a front man, not the team who will bring your book to life.
New Book Publishing Authors
If you are new to publishing, you may be unsure of what you need and require step-by-step assistance throughout the process. As you will see from our author testimonials
, ShieldCrest specialise in supporting new authors through every stage of their publishing journey.
We handle both large and small print runs while keeping costs low. In addition, we offer a special price if you are publishing a book for a local club, church, or business, where global distribution is not required.
The reality is, getting published as a new author can be extremely challenging, which is why most traditional publishers focus their attentions on established authors or celebrity memoirs who have a large following with guaranteed high-volume sales, making the investment low-risk.
Book Publishing Options
When considering publishing a book, it is important to think about the practical aspects early on. For instance, the size, format and general layout of a book might vary dependinbg on the subject matter and purpose for which the book is going to be used. style.
Whether or not the book should be printed as a paperback or hardback is also something that should be considered. It is recognised that hardbacks are treated more respectfully than paperbacks. Sometimes referred to as coffee table versions.
What About Marketing?
Once your book is published, the next challenge is getting it into the hands of readers. To assist with this, ShieldCrest offer a wide range of marketing and promotional services to help reach your audience all of which are detailed on our website.
Our most successful authors have all played an important part in helping to market their book(s) and, to assist with this, we provide a bespoke author webpage. This enables authors to feature news updates on what they are doing, such as book signings, local press, radio and TV interviews. It also enables substantial discounts to be offered on their books to encourage sales.
Additional Services
We also ensure that our authors’ work is professionally presented and free from criticism related to avoidable errors.
Typos, grammatical mistakes, and misquotes can undermine even the best-written book, which is why we offer a comprehensive proofreading and editing service. Where needed, we strongly recommend taking advantage of this service to maintain the highest publishing standards.
After all, there is nothing worse than having a brilliant novel receive poor reviews simply due to spelling errors or weak grammar.
Children’s Book Publishers
For many people, their love of books and reading can be traced back to the stories they read as a child. Whether it was the adventures of ‘Just William’, the mysteries of the ‘Famous Five’ or recent additions such as the work of David Walliams, there is something special in the relationship between children and stories they feel have been crafted for them.
What to think about
Another factor is younger readers often favour complete stories as opposed to cliff hangers or ambiguous endings. Even with a series, children tend to want each part to feel complete.
Illustrations
Crafting
At the heart of it, crafting a children’s story is the same process as crafting a story for adults. You still need characters that they can engage with, a plot that entertains and for them to be left satisfied by the end.
How To Publish a Book
Throughout history, something that has always been part of any community has been the need to tell stories. From the first cave paintings to the latest movie being streamed, we have still enjoyed sharing stories and experiences in book form.
Books are still one of the most powerful forms of storytelling as it enables readers to use their imagination of the setting, people and events they are engaging with. It also gives the author immense pleasure, to transport people to a distant fantasy land or to learn about people through their real life stories. There is something particularly engaging when it comes to reading something on the page and forming images in your mind.
For many, there is also the desire to be one of those people writing the story. It may be that they want to share a family history, thereby giving something that can be retold for generations to come. It might also provide a reference point for people who want to continue their family story in the future.
At ShieldCrest Book Publishing, we know that the story you have to tell is important. However, there are challenges when it comes to getting your work out there. This is why we have created this guide on how to publish a book to give you the best possible chance of success.
The first draft
Often the biggest challenge when writing a story is the moment when you face a blank canvas, be it a notepad or computer screen. How do I get started? Undoubtedly it will require research for background details and authors all develop their own methods to create an overall structure that will make the writing process easier.
In some respects it’s like studying. Different people have different work processes and some will work better than others. Whatever methods you adopt to get started, at some point you have to begin writing.
The most important part for the first draft is to get your ideas down. Don’t get too worried at this point about editing or proof reading as this will come much later. Most authors will have the end in sight even before they start but others will not be sure how it’s going to finish until they are well through the plot. Whichever it is, once you begin the ideas will begin to flow. Each story has a beginning, middle and end although you may rearrange the order as the book takes shape.
Feedback and editing
Once you have your first draft, now is the time to take a step back and give it a couple of days before coming back to it. This gives you the best chance of looking at it with fresh eyes so you can then get to work on a second draft.
At this point or any time in the future, you may need some feedback on the work. Ideally, you need someone who is objective enough to look at what you are trying to say and able to make constructive suggestions. It is important that you don’t just ask a friend who will be more inclined to be excessively positive. What you need are constructive comments even if they are sometimes critical as it all forms part of the learning curve.
Formatting
Once you have completed your draft and are satisfied with it, you should then think about how it is formatted. There are various book sizes and Shieldcrest can publish in any size. As examples, we offer UK and USA novel sizes, A4 and even the USA Pocket Book size and everything in between to suit. Most authors will ask us to recommend the best size as it not only affects the appearance but also the print cost which we endeavour to keep to a minimum as it ultimately affects the sale price. This obviously becomes an important criterion as you need to weigh up the sale price and its effect on the number of book copies you are likely to sell.
Unlike some publishers who only provide a digitised proof copy (if one at all), an important part of ShieldCrest’s strategy is to provide our authors with a physical proof copy so they can see the actual look and feel of the finished book before it goes into volume print. It also provides the author with the opportunity to make any last minute amendments.
The cover
The term “You can’t judge a book by its cover” is often trotted out. While it works as a metaphor for not judging people, it is not always the case in promoting a book.
Your options
There are hundreds of thousands of books published each year. While it is an achievement to have something published and made available for purchase, it is important to think about who you approach and what they have to offer.
ShieldCrest offers a number of publishing options which you can choose from depending on what is appropriate for your work.
Local print run
We are able to provide solutions from small print runs for local groups and communities to very large global distribution projects. All are available at a modest cost.
Print without distribution
Full distribution means your book gets its own allocated ISBN number, incorporated copyright protection as well as being available in leading bookstores and online retailers worldwide.
Don’t forget, we also make an investment with all our authors which gives them the comfort of knowing we believe in the quality of their work and prepared to share part of the risk. Ours is also a long term investment as ShieldCrest will give your work ongoing support for at least ten years.
Getting it out there
People can make the mistake of thinking that the main goal is getting their book published. While it is something to be proud of and an achievement, the fact still remains that you want people to read it.
Talk to us
ShieldCrest want to receive your work. We like to see interesting and engaging stories on a wide variety of topics. We are open-minded, always looking for titles that we feel would be engaging and where there is an audience and appetite for the subject.
The fact is; markets shift and tastes change. Often, something out of the ordinary may end up becoming a bestseller and in turn help to change the market. We believe it is important to gauge each title on its own merits as opposed to current prevailing trends. Whether it is fiction or non-fiction, it is where the end product fits and can satisfy the potential reader. We also never shy away from controversial subjects.