The student-run operation that is changing the face of publishing

When the naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham announced he wanted to write a series of children’s books, his agent began to line up editors at the big London publishing houses. But Packham had other ideas. He wanted to strike a deal for a minuscule advance with a non-profit publishing operation based in Preston, Lancashire, and run completely by students. And that’s what Packham got, signing a five-book deal for worldwide rights with UCLan Publishing, which is based at the University of Central Lancashire and might just shake up the whole world of books, given half a chance.

In May, UCLan Publishing won the Nick Robinson Newcomer Award at the Independent Publishing Awards, with judges saying: “There’s a distinct difference to UCLan’s approach – a disruptive spirit and an infectious enthusiasm.” And much of the driving force for that comes from the publisher’s director, Debbie Williams, who oversees the 50-odd students on the university’s MA publishing course and prepares them for the world of work in the industry – the course has a whopping employability rate of 96 per cent.

The students on the course basically run UCLan Publishing as their day-to-day studies. They decide what books they will publish from the “tons of submissions” they receive, they work with authors on editing, they do the typesetting, cover design, marketing and get the books into the hands of readers. They are, for all intents and purposes, a real publisher, and claim to be the only one in the entire world run by students.

“I get told about other universities that publish, but when you look into it they’re doing purely academic books, or they’re partnering with someone else,” says Williams. “We’re the only commercial, student-run publishing company in the world.” Williams is paid as a course leader by the university, but the entire operation is run as a not-for-profit.

“But we’re also a not-for-loss,” says Williams. “The students are very careful about what books they take on. They have to produce books that are going to sell.”

The details of Packham’s books are being kept under wraps for now, save for the fact they will be humorous and illustrated – and feature his own dogs. The first is scheduled for publication in 2021. When the deal was announced, he said: “I am very excited about working with UCLan Publishing. Their innovative approach along with the fact that they are a not-for-profit independent publisher, working with students, is something I really believe in. I am so glad that the books I originally wrote for my family have found a good home with people who are as passionate about the project as I am.”

Packham isn’t the only big name in the UCLan catalogue. Also on their books is the New York Times bestselling author AJ Hartley, who was born and raised in Preston but now lives in North Carolina, where he is a university lecturer in Shakespeare Studies. Hartley was already an established brand when he decided to go with UCLan for his 2018 novel Cold Bath Street, a spooky thriller set in his hometown in the 1970s. It was the publication of Cold Bath Street that propelled UCLan to become a major player in publishing. A former student at UCLan himself, Hartley had heard of the publishing venture and asked if they wanted to publish his Preston-set book

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Williams recalls: “He’s a massive bestseller and he came to us and said he wanted us to publish his book. I had to say to him, ‘look, we’ve got no money, I could maybe give you an advance of 50p.’ But he just said to us, ‘look, I just believe in what you’re doing.’ I think his agent wasn’t impressed at first…”

Hartley’s established brand helped send Cold Bath Street straight to the top of the Waterstones’ charts, and 18 months later it’s still hanging around in the top 10 in its categories. They’re now preparing to publish another Hartley book in October, Written Stone Lane, based on another Preston legend about an old marker stone that must not be moved from its spot on pain of terrible things occurring.

In UCLan Publishing’s early days, eight years ago, the students had started off publishing anything and everything, but decided to narrow their focus on children’s books, mainly due to Williams’ background. One of their early novels was from another established writer, Jane Johnson, who as well as being an author of historical novels is also a publishing director at Harper Collins, so knows a thing or two about the book trade herself.

“I’d had three historical epics published worldwide – The Tenth Gift, The Salt Road and The Sultan’s Wife – which had all done well. Pillars of Light was a bit different, though, being a novel about the Third Crusade, telling in close focus the story of the Siege of Acre largely from within the walls, from the point of view of the besieged Muslims, and in particular the Muslim women.

“It’s a grim piece of history which ended badly: Richard of England (the so-called Lionheart) having come to terms for the surrender of the city massacred the population of nearly 3,000 men, women and children. It was not an episode that teachers of British history or writers had ever given much attention and I wanted to bring it back out into the light, especially given the terrible parallels with the ongoing war in Syria. It is, I suppose, a political novel: but I hadn’t considered it particularly controversial. However, when my agent submitted it, rejections came back with a common tenor that it was ‘too difficult’ in its subject matter, from which we took it to be ‘too Muslim’ in its sensibilities. I guess we treasure our national myths, one of which is that Richard the Lionheart was a good guy...”

The international market wasn’t so twitchy, though, and Pillars of Light sold in several countries. Johnson was already deep into writing her next novel Court of Lions, so put thoughts of a UK publication for Pillars on the back burner. Then she heard about what her old friend Williams was doing in Preston.

“I’ve known Debbie Williams ever since she was the children’s buyer for Waterstones,” Johnson says. “I was writing a series of children’s books for Simon & Schuster. She told me what they were doing, and I was fascinated. There weren’t many publishing courses around, and certainly none that actually published books so that students could get hands-on experience. I think Pillars was the first trade novel they published, so they really cut their teeth on it and it’s wonderful to see just how well they’ve done since.

“It was a real a pleasure to work with the MA publishing students to get Pillars of Light out into the UK market. The response to the book itself, and the level of care and attention to every aspect of the publishing, warmed my heart and restored something of my faith in the power of the written word. I trained as a teacher and lecturer, so it was enjoyable and fulfilling to feel involved in education again, especially in a subject in which I have 30 years of expertise I could draw on for their benefit. I was so proud of what they achieved, and the beautiful production job they did.”

Pillars of Light’s success prompted Johnson’s current publisher, Head of Zeus, to take it on for the paperback edition, especially as UCLan are now focusing almost exclusively on children’s books. UCLan publishing has put out 16 books so far, but is ramping things up massively. Over the next 12 months it will publish another dozen books, including one about how well the science of superheroes from the comics and movies stacks up in the real world, written by academics from the university. It’s a far cry from when Debbie Williams secured £1,000 from the university for the publication of its first book, and had no idea whether her idea to have a publishing company run entirely by students was ever going to work.

Williams started out as a journalist on the Lancashire Evening Post in Preston, leaving there in the 1990s and “doing things that interested me… I was a veterinary nurse for a bit.” Eventually she applied for a job at the local Waterstones, and within three months was made manager. From there she was asked to revamp the fortunes of the book chain’s Manchester Deansgate branch, and then was moved to head office in London, where she eventually became the head of children’s books.

One notable success was buying in a then-unknown author’s novel to be stocked at the chain, after which Williams says things in children’s books “exploded… and my job went crazy”. That book was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling. “It wasn’t an instant success, though,” she notes. “It took about 18 months to really take off. I did some events with Jo Rowling in the very early days where practically nobody turned up.”

Working with people at all levels of the publishing industry for her Waterstones job gave Williams a bit of a thirst for the industry and she was keen to move back to her native north after some years in London, so got in touch with the University of Central Lancashire to suggest they start some kind of publishing course.

They promptly gave her the job, and Williams had one proviso: that the meat of the course would be run as an actual publishing house, rather than just endless lectures and lessons about the industry. The university bosses said fine, but there was no money to actually publish books. Williams got them to give her £1,000 to put together a book called Letters from Africa, filled with writings and photography from a student visit to Kenya to spend time with the Masai. To everyone’s surprise, the book was a moderate success.

Money raised from the books goes back into the publishing operation, the successes such as Hartly and Johnson helping them to build up their catalogue. In June it was announced that UCLan Publishing is re-issuing the Vampirates series of books by British author Justin Somper. They don’t do boilerplate publishing deals, but rather arrange bespoke contracts with each author. Advances are modest, if there at all; there are more likely to be profit-sharing arrangements or higher than industry average royalty payments. What UCLan Publishing definitely isn’t trying to do is ape the traditional publishing industry, especially when it comes to marketing and selling books.

“It’s all about encouraging the students to think outside the box,” says Williams. “Traditional publishing is largely about ticking boxes but at UCLan the students are thinking of new ways of approaching things all the time.” For example, for one book launch they persuaded the York Dungeon and a local riverboat company, City Cruises, to host the event, while for the forthcoming AJ Hartley novel one student suggested they link up with a group that does scary Halloween events.

Being a not-for-profit means the business has to cut its cloth accordingly. “A poster campaign on the London Underground can cost £150,000,” says Williams. “We obviously don’t have that sort of marketing budget. So for the Hartley book Cold Bath Street, which features the ghost of a dead boy, the students got someone’s nephew and made him up like a zombie and paraded him around London. It went viral on social media, and cost practically nothing.”

The hands-on approach to publishing is paying dividends in terms of the educational results. The students are regularly visited by publishing people from across the spectrum of traditional publishing and indie houses, and forge strong contacts. The employability rate within three months of finishing the course is 96 per cent, and they’ve just had news of their first former student to make director at a publishing house.

Williams says: “When I first set this up, publishing courses in British education had a really bad reputation, and I was determined to change that. Over the past eight years I think there has been a massive shift in perception. And what’s hugely important to all of us is that we’re running this in Preston, in the north, and showing that not all publishing has to be based in London. Regional diversity is so important in the industry.”

UCLan Publishing’s reputation is spreading. Williams has been asked to give a keynote speech at a Bookseller conference. They are inundated with submissions. But Williams warns that the students are no push-overs. “They have the final say,” she remarks. “No matter who the writer is, they have to be convinced the book is going to be a commercial success. Chris Packham heard about us when he came to the university to talk about his Asperger’s, and even when he came to us and said he’d like us to be his publishers, I had to explain that the final decision was in the hands of the students. Fortunately for everyone, they said yes.”

For Jane Johnson, UCLan might very well be the future of publishing. She says: “I feel that there’s a new generation of young publishers coming into the system from UCLan with a greater understanding of how things really work, and what actually matters to make a difference to what might otherwise be seen as an industry that’s becoming increasingly bland and risk-averse.”