Publishing support for authors in Manchester

Manchester has an active literary culture with a lot of new and first-time writers. We are often most useful at the point where a draft exists and you need to know what should happen next, in what order, and what it will cost.

Support can cover early book development, manuscript guidance, editing, cover design, illustration, formatting, Amazon KDP and IngramSpark set-up, author websites, launch support and growth after publication. You choose what you need; nothing is bundled in by default.

Manchester was designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2017, a recognition of the city’s writing, libraries, publishing and reading culture. Its City of Literature organisation runs projects that support writers and readers across the city.

The city has two university creative writing centres, the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester and the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University, and the annual Manchester Literature Festival brings writers and readers together each autumn. The John Rylands Research Institute and Library holds significant special collections that can be valuable for historical and research-led writing.

Chetham’s Library, founded in 1653, is often described as the oldest public library in the English-speaking world. Libraries like this are a reminder that much of a book’s research can be done locally and free of charge.

Use local reading culture honestly

Festivals, library events and readers’ groups are good places to meet readers and learn how books are talked about. They are not guaranteed routes to sales. Go as a reader first; opportunities to take part tend to follow.

A local story can travel

Books rooted in a place, including crime, memoir and social history, often find a first audience close to home. That makes a clear author website and a mailing list more valuable, because local interest is easy to lose after launch week.

Know what comes after the course

Many writers here have done workshops or courses and have a strong draft. The next step is usually not another course but a decision about editing, the right publishing route and the real cost.

Yes. Quill & Reed also works with authors whose books are already live but need more visibility, stronger positioning, an author website, email-list infrastructure, marketing content, relaunch support or ongoing growth. You do not need to republish with us.