• shieldcrestbanner02

    Welcome to Shieldcrest Book Publishers

    Time to start your book publishing journey!

    The first and last site an author will ever need!

    Explore Now

PUBLISHING A BOOK

Start your Publishing a book journey here! Using our many year’s experience we will guide you step by step through the process from your precious manuscript to the finished book.
pic1

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.

Learn More
pic2

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…

What You Should Know
pic3

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.

Submit Your Manuscript

Our Services

Elsewhere on this site, we have shared the facts about the publishing world, including the high expectations some authors have and, in too many cases, the unrealistically high expectations some publishers give.  Read More…
img1

Publishing Services

  • Featured Author Page
  • e-Books
  • Proof Reading & Editing
  • RRP & Royalties
  • Book Illustrations
  • Book video Trailer
More Info
img2

Marketing Services

  • International Distribution
  • Social Media
  • Press Release
  • Book Reviews
  • Tailored Marketing Campaigns
  • Film & TV
  • Book video Trailer
Explore Now

Many Book Titles Now
Available at 30%off RRP

More Info

Shieldcrest Book Publishers UK

Take a look at some of our recent independently published titles. To see a more extensive list, visit our bookshop.

View More

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.

General Enquiry
Submit Your work
img6

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.

Read More
img5

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.

Read More
img4

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.

Read More
pic4

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.

Read More
pic5

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.

Learn More

Children’s Book Publishers

Childrens Book Publisher
Childrens Book Publisher
Childrens Book Publisher
Childrens Book Publisher
Childrens Book Publisher
Childrens Book Publisher
Childrens Book Publishers
The Grand Race at Cherry Tree Farm by Steven Kent
Childrens Book Publishers
Childrens Book Publishers
The Freeze Theory by Lisa Okello
Online Book Publishers
Book Publishing
Max and George Make New Friends
The Adventures of Big Alex and His Friends by C.A. Graham
Childrens 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

There are a few factors to consider when writing a children’s book. The first is to consider what ages you are writing for, as this will affect the kind of language you use and the style of narrative. If it’s for toddlers just learning to read then it needs to be very simple, whereas for older readers the plot can be more complex.
This also affects the kind of characters you choose – do some of research on the kind of things kids of that age are interested in as that will make it easier to determine what you can work with. Ideally, you also want something that can tie in with personal experiences as children also tend to know if a story feels like it’s been too obviously crafted with them in mind (as personified in the “How do you do, fellow kids?” meme).
It is also important to remember that children’s books are not “easier” than any other form of narrative. For example for smaller children crafting rhymes with a rhythm that fits and makes sense can often be more challenging than you think.

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

At ShieldCrest we offer an illustration service, using our own team of experienced illustrators. For younger children, it is recommended that the story stick to around 50 to 1000 words, with the illustrations highlighting the main point of the story.
If you are writing a young adult novel then this is different as they are more likely to engage with reading providing the concept is strong enough and sufficient interest created by the writing. For example, you may only want an illustration such as a map to indicate the key locations in a fantasy novel or possibly pictures at the start of each chapter to highlight key events.

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.

ShieldCrest can not only publish your work but we also offer proofreading, editing and other services to help get your children’s book out there. We want to see you succeed and we have the tools to help you do it. For more information please contact us today and we will be happy to discuss our publishing packages in more detail.

Book Cover gallery

What to be aware of when publishing a book

The act of writing can be a great pleasure. It is a moment when you take all your experiences, all the stories you have ever read and fuse them into a new form that becomes your own narrative.
Equally, the process can be difficult and frustrating as it can involve a lot of writing and rewriting, agonising over whether or not the plot works or the characters are interesting and even right down to the right sentence structure.
Once the process is done and your work is complete you can then think about approaching a publisher. Here are a few things that you should think about when publishing a book.

Is the book ready?

Before you submit something, this is a question that you need to consider and answer honestly. A big thing before sending anything out is to get proper feedback and constructive criticism.
Someone saying something is “great” or “rubbish” is not constructive. What you want is someone who can break down what you are trying to achieve and is able to offer advice based on the end goal you have in mind. This can be difficult as some people may see your work as a comedic pastiche genre, while you see it as deep and dramatic. Nevertheless, the process of someone giving feedback can be useful as you can gauge for yourself whether or not the message you are trying to send is getting through.
Professional publishing is vital and is what the industry should be about, at ShieldCrest we offer advice to our authors together with an editing and proof reading service. The latter of these is useful at the final stage of a book after you have laid the groundwork of the storyline and at the point where it can be finally moulded into shape.
Good editors are more likely to be objective as they will have seen many similar manuscripts and will have an idea of what a reader expects from the genre. With any story, the balance is always between giving people what they want to read and finding ways of expressing it in the best way possible.

A proof reading service is also useful because it can be easy for writers to focus so hard on what they are writing that they miss grammatical errors.  Clumsy grammar or repeated phrases can detract from the reader’s enjoyment of the story. We learned to our cost in our early days when a review was put on-line which said; “A great story but it is a shame the publisher didn’t iron out the many grammatical errors in the text before publishing it”.  Ouch!  Never again we said.

The cover will be judged

By now, most people are aware of the old saying about books not being judged by covers. While this is well repeated proverb, the reality is that people make snap judgements all the time.
For example, the next time you are in a supermarket look at products filling the shelves and you will find your eyes being drawn to certain ones and the chances are that these will be brightly coloured and ornate. While many people know what they want to purchase, they will often find that while searching for it they are attracted to something that’s saying “I’m here, this is what you want, get me now.” I know people reading this will attest to having left a shop with much more than they went for.
Covers can often be shorthand for people who want to choose a particular genre. The text or colours that you see for a conspiracy thriller will be different from a volume of Shakespeare. Going back to the supermarket analogy, people might have a certain product brand in mind but then notice another brand which they end up purchasing. They will not know how it was they spotted it but you can be sure the store managers knew when arranging the shelves as there is a science behind supermarket product layout that the shopper is simply not aware of.
This is why Shieldcrest has a team of illustrators who provide illustrations for book covers and internal pictures for children’s books, etc. It allows us to create a look that will give your target audience a better chance of choosing your book.

Size matters

The size of your book can also be a consideration when people are thinking about what they are buying. Certain books lend themselves to being larger and hard-backed, giving it an epic quality, whereas a guidebook is handier if it’s pocket size.
ShieldCrest can produce books of any size but we recommend looking at our website for more information on the size specifications for different types of book. 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.

Choosing a publisher

Once you are confident that your book is finished you are then ready to approach the publisher. This is where it can get difficult as there are advantages and disadvantages with the various options available to you.
The problem with the larger mainstream publishers is that they will usually work through agents and refuse unsolicited submissions while others may focus on a particular genre so it is therefore important to do your research before submitting to them. Agency representation suggests wrongly that it is someone whose work has been approved by the industry but then raises the next question; “How do you get an agent?” You quickly realise that this becomes difficult because they only earn if the book is accepted by the publisher- the merry-go-round!
Not all publishers are the same and smaller mainstream publishers such as our parent company, Pressman House Publishing, may be more open when it comes to submissions. This at least allows you to have someone look at your work. The process will vary as some may want an initial synopsis before deciding whether or not they want to look at the whole manuscript.
The downside of this is that they are all looking to ensure that the first print run must be 10,000 or more as this is the only way they will get their investment back. Inevitably a more open submission process means more competition. The process can change over time too as publishers may be too busy during certain times in the year to look at new submissions. Their focus may also be more niche market so will decide if your work is suitable for the particular demographic they are targeting.
Self-publishing is another route. However, it is important to be very careful if you want to choose this particular option. There are some companies which charge disproportionate amounts and provide a poor service or indeed no service at all in return.

Offering a balance

At ShieldCrest Publishing we looked at other options available to writers and decided to offer something different. We wanted to be sure that writers got value for money and that they would receive a tangible benefit for choosing ShieldCrest over other publishers. This is why we decided to be selective and bridge the gap between mainstream publishers and self-publishers and make an investment in the publishing cost for all our authors. This gives them the comfort of knowing that we believe in their work and willing to share part of the risk.
We are also open to a wide range of genres. While it is important to target and market demographics in the right way, it is not the same as chasing trends or focusing on one particular niche.
The fact is that writers want different things from their books too. Some may need wider distribution for a novel while others have written a guide book about picturesque walks in their area. In each case they require different emphasis when it comes to marketing.
This is why we offer different types of publishing packages to suit the needs of our authors. If you are a business, club or community group and only require a small quantity to distribute around members, then this is something that we can accommodate at a very low cost. We will format the book to our usual high standard, provide you with a proof copy and once you are happy with it, provide the quantity required within 14 working days.
Alternatively, if you want to publish your book to a global audience we have a service for that too. Our wider distribution package is ideal for authors who want to see their book put in front of the widest possible readership. This includes a unique ISBN number which identifies the book title, author and the publisher worldwide. High street bookshops also use this to order books direct or through wholesalers.
You can read more about these alternatives here.

Promotion

Having published the book, if you think that is the end of the process, in fact it is just the beginning because you are likely to be unknown and now you want people to read it. Add to this the competition for entertainment from streaming, movies, video games and online videos, marketing now becomes a very important element.
ShieldCrest provides a full range of marketing services and one of these uses the power of social media. Social media is an example of how an item or event can spread rapidly and reach more people in a way that would not have been thought possible only a few years ago. A prime example of this can be found in the amazing fundraising event by 100 year old Capt. Tom Moore who set out to raise £1,000 for the NHS and it hit social media resulting in almost £40 million.

Equally, social media is something that requires careful management and ShieldCrest has developed a social media marketing package. Where authors decide to use this as part of their marketing strategy, we have social media experts who can engage with them and explain the benefits of the various packages available.

Equally, you should not dismiss other forms of media when it comes to promotion and they all play a part in getting the book known. This is why we also offer a complete range of promotional services including press releases and a featured author section on our website allows for more exposure and the facility to sell your book at a special promotional price while also increasing the royalty from each sale.
Shopping Basket
Contact Us
Contact Us

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.  Learn more