Project archive: Non-fiction
Our most recent projects are shown first
Joshua Levine
Joshua Levine is an author, social historian, and journalist with a passion for bringing the past to life. He’s written multiple bestselling books, and was the historical advisor behind major films like Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Steve McQueen’s Blitz. His book Dunkirk: The History Behind the Major Motion Picture hit Number 1 on the Sunday Times Bestseller List. With an unusually varied background, Joshua has also written and presented for radio and TV, earning a glowing reputation as a historical expert and storyteller – and we have created a site which reflects this wide range of experience.
“Simon’s knowledge and creativity are matched by an ability to respond to the client’s needs. He offers a superb service.”
Joshua Levine, storyteller, historian, and bestselling author
Boys Don’t Cry
Microsite for new book by Made In Chelsea star Jamie Laing, an A-Z of male vulnerability that’s the conversation starter the younger generation of today didn’t know it needed.
New River
A top-quality non-fiction publisher, with a focus on mental and physical health, self-development and social science.
The Robbins Office, Inc.
Founded in 1978, the Robbins Office, Inc. is led by Kathy Robbins and is a literary agency representing adult fiction and non-fiction. They work closely with their authors throughout the development and publication processes — from the genesis of an idea to the packaging, marketing, and release of a writer’s work.
Crécy Publishing
Since 1997, Crécy has been a leader of transport and military history publishing across Europe. With a rich back catalogue and a constant list of new and upcoming titles, they offer one of the strongest and most varied selections of aviation, railway and military history titles on the market.
Big Idea Talks
Big Idea Talks is a new event series from Read Maxwell Communications that brings together leading experts to explore, challenge, and discuss the most pressing issues of our time. From science and technology to social change and global affairs, each talk dives deep into ideas that matter—sparking thought, conversation, and action. It’s not just about big names; it’s about big thinking.
Created at pace to promote the first event in the series, but designed to scale as required.
Elizabeth David Matters
Elizabeth David is probably the most influential food writer of the mid-to late twentieth century; her work, it can be argued, has changed the way we cook and, in general, the way we view food and drink today. This website is dedicated to her legacy, offering a platform to explore her work, life and the lives of her long list of friends.
Sarah Langslow Coaching
Website for Sarah Langslow, executive coach, speaker and author of Do Sweat The Small Stuff.
Laurel Alexander
New microsite for Laurel Alexander, a nonfiction author passionate about well-being and resilience and a storyteller who loves exploring fantasy and magical realism.
“Simon at Bookswarm made my transition to a dedicated author site effortless and cost-effective. With his deep expertise in the literary market, he provided practical, insightful guidance that gave me confidence every step of the way. His support was invaluable, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.”
Laurel Alexander, author and resilience coach
Heartwood Publishing
Website for travel specialists Heartwood, founded early in 2020 to publish and distribute a strong portfolio of complementary travel brands in the UK and across markets worldwide, and winners of the Specialist Publisher of the Year award at the 2024 Independent Publishing Awards.
“Heartwood Publishing worked closely with Bookswarm throughout 2024, having appointed them to build a new website that addressed a number of challenges:
- To create a single web presence for our portfolio of brands
- Through the new site’s creation, replace two old and out of date sites
- Support visits from consumers, retail customers and potential B2B business partners
- Provide a platform that would automatically update product content using Onix feeds
- Structure the design around distinct brands serving different purposes, whilst maintaining clear navigation for users
- Future proofing on a number of fronts, including the facility for direct sales, user accounts, adding brands, generating themed content and linking to social media
- Ease of updating and platform management for non-technical team members
Bookswarm delivered all of the above in a timely and cost-effective way, whilst maintaining their patience with us as the brief evolved during the design and build. Their publishing industry expertise was especially helpful, when it came to understanding specific issues we needed to tackle and the practical delivery of live Onix data feeds.
We would definitely recommend using Bookswarm to other publishers seeking to develop their web presence. “
Andy Riddle, Founder – Heartwood Publishing
Explore… Mac Keith Press
A new microsite from Mac Keith Press designed to be a useful and family-friendly resource to help parents and carers find the information they need about cerebral palsy and other childhood-onset disabilities.
The Society Project
This Sociery Project is an open space for all concerned with fairness and economic justice to assert a political will demanding change, for policies and an economy inherently serving society’s best interest, delivering a lower cost of living, generating ethical activity and profits for our collective benefit. It was created by Peter Ellis, author of The Accidental Societist.
Innermost Consulting
Andrew Saffron is one of the world’s leading culture change practitioners, whose high-challenge but engaging style has won him acclaim and awards. We created a new website for his business, Innermost Consultng, to support the publication of his business book, Better Culture, Faster. This included the creation of a new brand identity for Innermost.
“I’ve never seen anyone in this field, or related fields, move so quickly and with such expertise. We discussed ideas and they were executed. We discussed some more ideas, they were executed. We discussed tweaks and they were done.
AND Simon was an absolute pleasure to work with. I think the price was an absolute bargain!”
Andrew Saffron, author of Better Culture, Faster
Bob Gomersall
Dr Bob Gomersall researched in and taught physics, and was the author of one of the world’s first educational multimedia CD-ROMs. He has founded three successful technology businesses, was a long-standing board member of HF Holidays, and invests in start-up businesses. Now he’s written his first book, a handbook for a new kind of entrepreneur: the kind that wants to create not just a profitable business but a worthwhile life.
“A website felt daunting but with guidance and support from Simon it couldn’t have been easier. Clear requests and regular updates broke the process into small achievable steps. Full training was given to make changes independently with the comfort of back-up. Delighted with the outcome at a great fixed price cost.”
Sally Abbatt, author support for Worthwhile Wealth – an entrepreneur’s guide to success that satisfies
James Verini
James Verini is a features writer at The New York Times Magazine, specializing in the coverage of war and conflict, and the author of They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate. His journalism has also appeared in National Geographic Magazine, The New Yorker, Foreign Policy, and elsewhere.
We created a new website to streamline the management of James’ database of articles
“I could not have asked for a finer designer than Simon, and cannot recommend him highly enough. In a short matter of days, he completely revamped my website to my exact specifications, and he did so at far less cost than what other designers would have charged. He is inventive, responsive, and endlessly helpful.”
James Verini, magazine journalist and book author
The History Press
The History Press is an independent non-fiction publisher based in the heart of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire – also home to one of the most prestigious literary festivals in the country.
We created a new website populated using an ONIX feed from their Consonance title management system, with the option to sell selected titles directly (special editions, signed copies, etc.). All ebooks are available to buy via Glassboxx.
“Having worked with Simon in the past, Bookswarm instantly sprang to mind when I needed to deliver a new company website in time for the 2024 London Book Fair. Simon and his team easily outclassed the competition with their thoughtful proposal, which showed the most care and attention to our brief.
With a very tight window for delivery, the Bookswarm team remained responsive throughout while providing excellent customer care. Each of our challenges was met with creative problem-solving and industry-specific advice allowing us play to our strengths. The entire project was also clearly costed and came in well under budget with no nasty surprises. The end result was a beautifully designed, functional website that we are all proud of (live as of March 8, 2024).
It’s worth noting that support since launch has remained exemplary with swift responses as issues arise. On one occasion we had mere days to launch a complex, time-limited offer. Simon was still on hand to help, despite being on holiday and separated by a 12-hour time zone. The successful campaign brought us thousands in revenue.
If you’re dithering over whether to include Bookswarm for tender, I’d urge you stop reading this and get on with contacting them for a chat and a quote!”
Cynthia Hamilton, Head of PR & Marketing at The History Press
Clearly Agile
Created for author Giles Linsday, a new microsite designed as a marketing hub for the book Clearly Agile: A Leadership Guide to Business Agility, a pivotal resource for leaders striving to navigate the complexities of today’s fast-paced business environment. Includes a lead magnet and a feed of Charles’ posts from Medium.com.
Zaid Al-Ali 2024
A new home page for academic and author Zaid Al-Ali, designed to focus on his more recent publishing, and sit alongside an earlier site created in support of his first book.
The Antony Harwood Literary Agency
An Oxford based literary agency with an international reputation. From brilliant first-time writers to those with long-established careers, from bestsellers to prize-winners in all genres, the Antony Harwood Literary Agency are proud to represent a wide range of wonderful authors, managing their business around the world in publishing, film, television and on the stage.
“Getting a website up and running was, frankly, a very daunting prospect but, from the first conversation with Simon, I knew I was in a safe pair of expert hands and the whole experience turned out to be quick, smooth and clear. And I’m absolutely delighted with how the website looks and functions, and how easy it is to keep it up to date.”
Antony Harwood, literary agent
Hugo de Burgh
Hugo de Burgh writes books about survival in chaotic times. After a long career involving many traditionally-published books, Hugo is now independently publishing both a novel and a non-fiction exploring the future of Britain in the Age of Asia; this required a new digital presence to promote the books and act as a digital hub.
“As a novice I was very dependent on Simon Appleby to take me through the creation and operation of a website point by point. He was clear in instruction, efficient in execution and immediately responsive to all my requests for help. I am confident that his support will continue as I gradually acquire the skills needed to improve my use the website. The initial design was his, and I like it very much.”
Hugo de Burgh, professor, novelist
AFE
AFE is Europe’s principle publisher and distributor of pilot supplies and flying training products, and every product they sell is backed by their reputation as Europe’s longest established company in the field. Publications and products that carry the AFE logo are widely acknowledged for their quality and accuracy.
An unusual project for Bookswarm, as AFE sell a wide range of products beyond publications – but the explanation is that AFE is the sister company of transport and military publisher Crecy Publishing, whose new website Bookswarm will launch soon.
Kieron O’Hara
A new website for Kieron O’Hara, a writer and philosopher. For 30 years Kieron has been an academic in the UK, first at the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham, and then in Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, where he is now an emeritus fellow.
“It’s been great working with Simon and Bookswarm to get my personal author’s website up and running. He’s got the technical expertise to get everything working, the administrative knowledge to ensure that the site meets all the important legal criteria, the aesthetic skills to get it looking attractive, and the patience needed to train me how to upload and edit content. He’s also quick to respond to cries for help.”
Kieron O’Hara, author, computer scientist and philosopher
The James Lockhart Literary Agency
A new website for a literary agency with a special interest in non-fiction.
“I’m extremely grateful to Simon and the Bookswarm team for designing and building my website. They have been a pleasure to work with, efficient, creative and attentive. I can’t recommend them enough.”
James Macdonald Lockhart, founder, the James Lockhart Literary Agency
Sharon Wee
Sharon Wee is a food explorer, and author of Growing Up in a Nonya Kitchen, a cookbook based on the food of her Perakan heritage. We created this new website to replace a previous website made with GoDaddy Website Builder.
“I met Simon Appleby from Bookswarm when he spoke at a panel during The London Book Fair. He had such astute and relevant insight of the current status of the publishing industry and this led me to consider his firm to help me improve my communications strategy. The first order was to redesign my personal website. Beyond the choice of fonts, colour palette and motifs, the overarching benefit was getting Simon’s advice on how to work around the various social media channels, obtaining the most suitable website name, building content and managing the various functions on WordPress. He was always courteous, patient and the response turnaround was swift. For a tech dinosaur like me, the guidance was valuable and much appreciated. Thank you!”
Sharon Wee, author and blogger
Bedford Square Publishers
Bedford Square Publishers is an independent publisher of fiction and non-fiction, founded in 2022 in the historic streets of Bedford Square London and the sea mist shrouded green of Bedford Square Brighton.
The site uses an ONIX feed from Consonance to populate its catalogue, and also incorporates a ‘sub site’ for the No Exit Press imprint – No Exit titles and authors have separate branding.
“It was so fantastic to work with the Bookswarm team as they were both collaborative and creative but also transparent about everything they were doing, including the costs. So we got a website that we are really pleased with and it all came in on time and within budget.”
Laura Fletcher, co-founder & Commercial Director at Bedford Square Publishers
Lucienne Boyce
Lucienne Boyce is a historical novelist, biographer, and historian. She was already a WordPress user, and our aim with this project was to keep the best elements of her old site, while creating a better-defined structure, and migrating the separate blog from Blogspot into the site, to increase the amount of search-engine friendly content and allow readers to find all her content in one place.
“I enjoyed working with Simon on the website. I was impressed by his patience answering any questions I had, and also by the way he was able to make suggestions that we could then discuss and tweak so that the website would meet my requirements. I’m really pleased with the end result.”
Lucienne Boyce, author
Brambleby Books
Brambleby Books specialises in natural history, with an emphasis on biodiversity, conservation and the environment.
Chris Smaje
Chris Smaje has coworked a small farm in Somerset, southwest England, for the last twenty years. Previously, he was a university-based social scientist, working in the Department of Sociology at the University of Surrey and the Department of Anthropology at Goldsmiths College. Since switching focus to the practice and politics of agroecology, he’s written for publications such as The Land, Dark Mountain, Permaculture magazine and Statistics Views, as well as academic journals such as Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems and the Journal of Consumer Culture.
Chris is the author of two books with Chelsea Green, and a very popular blog – when designing a new version of his site, we focused on retaining the ‘old school’ blog feel, and showcasing the high level of engagement by readers in the Comments section, alongside all the trappings of a modern author website.
“I’ve been very happy with Bookswarm’s services. Approachable, good listening to get the brief right, technically competent, and promptly responsive to support requests – all first rate. I’d recommend them unreservedly to other writers.”
Chris Smaje, author
Seren
Seren is Wales’ leading independent literary publisher, specialising in English-language writing from Wales for over forty years. With a list spanning poetry, fiction and non-fiction, their aim is to bring Welsh literature, art and politics before a wider audience.
The new Seren site uses WooCommerce to provide a full retail experience, including the ability to purchase book subscriptions for yourself or as a gift.
“Working with Bookswarm made developing our new website an exciting and enjoyable project. We were involved in every step of the process and worked safe in the knowledge that Simon and his team had our vision and interests at heart. The new site feels refreshed whilst keeping everything we loved about the old design. I can highly recommend working with them.”
Sarah Johnson, Deputy Publisher, Seren
DunnFogg
DunnFogg is a high-profile independent literary agency that specialises in quality and commercial non-fiction and fiction. Set up in 2021 by Ben Dunn and Jack Fogg, the agency represents numerous award-winning, bestselling and renowned writers and artists.
“Simon and Bookswarm are a joy to work with, providing a fantastic design, great support and clear communication, making it an extremely enjoyable and easy process, with the end result being a wonderful website.”
Ben Dunn, literary agent, DunnFogg
Museum Bums
Based on the eponymous viral Twitter account, the book Museum Bums takes you on a whirlwind tour of the finest rear ends in museums around the world, divided into six categories of keisters. Heritage scholars and art educators Mark Small and Jack Shoulder pair illuminating social commentary and historical context and lively captions with more than 270 depictions of tasteful—and sometimes cheeky— bums in art. We created a website to support and promote the book, with plenty of bums on show!
“We were recommended Bookswarm for the Museum Bums website, and after looking at a few of his current sites we were confident Simon could provide what we needed. We were looking for a shop window for our products but also a space to expand on our online presence, share further insights into the world of Museum Bums, and advertise upcoming events.
Simon’s preliminary meetings and draft websites proved he knows what he’s talking about and we’re absolutely thrilled with the final product. While we’re not luddites we’re also not the most tech-y people, so another crucial part of Bookswarm’s service is the ongoing support once the website’s online. It’s very reassuring to know that if we break something, Bookswarm are on hand to put it back how it was!”
Mark Small and Jack Shoulder AKA The Museum Bums
Duckworth – 125th Anniversary Edition
A major update to the Duckworth website to celebrate the publisher’s 125th birthday!
“Hugely knowledgeable, practically minded and super-responsive – what more could you want? Simon and all the team at Bookswarm are a genuine pleasure to work with.”
Pete Duncan, MD, Duckworth Books Group
Terri Potts-Chattaway
Terri Potts-Chattaway is a writer and TV producer with a new book project about the life of Star Trek composer, her husband Jay Chattaway.
“Simon has been a complete joy to work with. I am new to anything that has to do with websites, and he has been quite patient and has explained everything to me as we go along. I highly recommend him and his team.”
Terri Potts-Chattaway, author and blogger
Reaktion Books
An independent publisher of adventurous and innovative non-fiction since 1985, Reaktion Books publishes around 90 new titles each year, and has nearly 1,000 titles in print. Their list ranges widely across art and visual culture, biography, food history, general history, music, natural history, philosophy, politics and popular science.
The new Reaktion site offers e-commerce, including an innovative monthly Book Club where members receive a free ebook of their choice each month, as well as a 40% discount on all other purchases.
“It’s been a pleasure working with Simon and Bookswarm on the development of our new website. From initial design meeting, through development and final rollout, Simon and his team have been unfailingly responsive, diligent and professional. We are very pleased with our new site and have noticed an increase in sales and traffic immediately. I have no hesitation in recommending Bookswarm to any potential customer.”
David Hoek, Sales Manager, Reaktion Books
Covid-19 Lawlessness
Microsite for a new independently published book by US-based lawyer Willem Van Aardt.
Nick Black
Author website providing additional material and background for Nick Black’s debut novel, The Honourable Doctor.
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“Starting with no knowledge or experience of creating a website, Simon steadily and methodically guided me through the creation and establishment of my site. His straightforward, jargon-free and practical approach was perfect and I’m delighted with what we jointly created. I even feel confident about developing it further, especially knowing he is available for help and advice at the touch of a button.”
Nick Black, historical fiction author
Scion Publishing
Scion Publishing Ltd was established in 2003 to publish high quality and innovative medical and life science books for students. It is still run day-to-day by its founders. Their new e-commerce website was created alongside that for their sister company, Lantern Publishing.
Lantern Publishing
Lantern was formed in June 2011 with the aim of publishing innovative and readable books for nursing, health and social care. Their new e-commerce website was created alongside that for their sister company, Scion Publishing.
Profile Editions
Profile Editions, the custom publishing business of Profile Books, which focuses on publishing custom arts, heritage and company histories, wanted to transition away from a Magento-based e-commerce store to a WordPress-based site. We recreated the site using WooCommerce, with title data imported from an ONIX feed – and incorporated a raft of subtle design changes during the project as well.
Rob Starr
Rob Starr is an author living in Brighton & Hove. His new author website primarily promotes his debut novel, What The Tide Brings Back, with future books to come in a planned trilogy – but we also showcase his previous writing projects, including a non-fiction book, plays and musicals.
“Dear Simon
I wanted to just drop you a short line to say thank you for delivering my new author website .
As you know I was rather scared of starting this as not only is it a new career choice for me, but also the thought of a website and social media etc is well out of my comfort zone. I was therefore so happy to have been introduced to you as you made the whole process not only easy for me but also allowed me to be part of the entire process without having to be involved in the building of it. It really was a great experience for me and I not only have ended up with a fantastic website, but I feel like I understand how it works and what I need to do to progress in this new adventure. You really were a joy to work with on this.
Thanks so much
Rob Starr”
Rob Starr, author of What The Tide Brings Back
Escaping Maya’s Palace
A website for author Richard Sclove to act as the focal point for marketing and publicity of his new book Escaping Maya’s Palace:
A celebrated saga from ancient India tells of a young king who mysteriously shifts character and gambles away his kingdom. By unraveling this legend’s secret meaning, Escaping Maya’s Palace launches a sleuthing expedition into a distortion in psychological and spiritual growth that lies buried deep at the root of modern civilization. Today this undetected malady contributes to woes ranging from opioid addiction to social alienation, the rise of authoritarian populism, and environmental catastrophe.
Informed by long-lost wisdom from the Mahabharata, one of the great epics of world literature, award-winning author Richard Sclove explains how our civilization descended into this blighted condition. Integrating a missing psychological dimension into social theory and world history, this intellectually daring and engrossing work clears a path for remaking modern politics and economics, social movements, and daily life. This book’s profound insights offer renewed hope to a world in crisis.
“Simon is outstanding. He has excellent technical skills, responds extremely quickly to questions and requests, explains everything clearly, and is a pleasure to work with in every way.”
Richard Sclove, author of Escaping Maya’s Palace
Oneworld
Oneworld was founded in 1986 by husband and wife team Juliet Mabey and Novin Doostdar as an independent publishing house focusing on stimulating non-fiction. Now publishing over 100 books a year, Oneworld has retained its founding commitment to the old-fashioned principles of great writing, editorial excellence, high production values, and marketing flair, to produce books that are read by the intellectually curious all over the world.
We have created a new, modern web presence which is automatically updated via an ONIX feed from Stison.
Geoffrey Roberts
Geoffrey Roberts is an historian, biographer, and political commentator. A renowned specialist in Russian and Soviet foreign and military policy and an expert on Stalin and the Second World War, his books have been translated into Chinese, Czech, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Swedish and Turkish.
Batsford Books
A website for newly-independent Batsford, which has been part of other publishing companies for more than 20 years, derived from the website of Pavilion, from which Batsford is being ‘spun out’.
Michael Cowl Gordon
Michael Cowl Gordon is a specialist in addiction medicine since 1973, and author of forthcoming The Twelve Step Pathway – A Heroic Journey of Recovery.
“Simon is a pleasure to work with, and has a high level of tolerance for my high level of ignorance about IT.”
Michael Cowl Gordon, author of The Twelve Step Pathway – A Heroic Journey of Recovery
Colin Fletcher
Website for Colin Fletcher – author of historical adventures White Clyffe and King’s Mercy, and a forthcoming volume of non-fiction, Southern Waters. The design is inspired by the beautiful countryside of South Western England, where Colin’s books are set.
“The website, an essential tool for any author, will become the focus and anchor of your marketing drive.
I have found that Simon Appleby’s experience of specialist author websites after a background in book publishing, can be relied on to create an efficient website.
A nice man, helpful and accessible.”
Colin Fletcher, author
The Military History Club
Founded in 2021 by historian and broadcaster Saul David – described by Simon Heffer in the Daily Telegraph as ‘peerless now among our military historians’ – the MHC is an exclusive club for lovers of military history with various tiers of membership to suit different levels of involvement.
Quarto
The Quarto Group creates a wide variety of books and intellectual property products, with a mission to inspire life’s experiences. Produced in many formats for adults, children, and the whole family, their products are visually appealing, information rich, and stimulating. The Group encompasses a diverse portfolio of imprints and businesses that are creatively independent and expert in developing long-lasting content across specific niches of interest.
Bookswarm undertook the creation of a new information architecture and design for the Quarto website, before handing our designs over to their in-house development team for implementation. The new structure consolidates two previously separate websites, one of which was more trade-focused and one of which was more consumer-focused, bringing the content together into a new entity that’s much easier to explore and allows users to gain a full understanding of the range of imprints and titles that the Quarto Group has.
Gaelic Books Council
Bi-lingual site in English and Scottish Gaelic for Tha Comhairle nan Leabhraichean / The Gaelic Books Council. Their main missions are:
- To support the development of Gaelic writing.
- To stimulate interest in Gaelic books and other related materials.
- To support Gaelic authors by awarding grants and commissions.
- To support the Gaelic publishing industry.
- To increase the range, quality and impact of Gaelic literature
The new site uses WooCommerce to allow the sale of books and other products, and is integrated with the in-shop POS system Merlio, allowing streamlined inventory and stock management. It’s fully bilingual in English and Scottish Gaelic through the use of the WordPress Multiingual Plugin (WPML).
“We are delighted with our new website made by Bookswarm. From making the site accessible in both English and Gaelic to the integration with our EPOS system, Simon had a solution for all our requirements. The end result is a beautiful site which provides a seamless user experience. Post launch, Bookswarm’s excellent customer service has ensured that any issues are fixed within a few hours. I would highly recommend Bookswarm’s services to any individual or company seeking to improve their online presence.”
Joe Sanders, Comhairle nan Leabhraichean / The Gaelic Books Council
Tomorrow Is Too Late
In Tomorrow Is Too Late, Grace Maddrell collects testimonies of activism and hope from young climate strikers, from Brazil and Burundi to Pakistan and Palestine. These youth activists are experiencing the reality of the climate crisis, including typhoons, drought, flood, fire, crop failure and ecological degradation, and are all engaged in the struggle to bring these issues to the centre of the world stage.
Working with freelance project manager Luthfa Begum, we designed and built a site to help promote Tomorrow Is Too Late, including an interactive map showing all the contributors and a live feed of Twitter and Instagram posts with the #tomorrowistoolate hashtag.
Look for this website soon on Designrush’s selection of best book websites.
Swift Press
Swift Press is an independent publishing company that launched in June 2020. Part of the Independent Alliance, they publish fiction and a wide range of non-fiction.
“We worked with Bookswarm to create the website for our new publishing company Swift Press and were delighted with the results. Simon is great to work with, the communication was always clear, punctual and thorough and we felt very supported throughout the build process and beyond. Highly recommend the Bookswarm team!”
Swift Press
Peter Fisk
A major design overhaul of Peter’s previous Bookswarm-designed website, reflecting a changed content focus, the increasing importance of blogging to Peter and the design language from his latest book, Business Recoded.
Walter Foster
Brimming with tips, techniques, and step-by-step lessons, as well as practical exercises, unique projects, and creative prompts, Walter Foster’s engaging and inspiring books have helped people around the world discover their creative talents, learn new mediums, and achieve their artistic goals. This new website showcases their books as well as providing a wealth of additional inspiration and resources through the Art Studio.
Keith Kahn-Harris
Keith Kahn-Harris is a writer and sociologist. He’s published both academic and non-academic works, and is the author of seven books. His new website is designed to be an archive of his writing going back to the 1990s, so we created a simple-to-use database covering both his articles and papers, and his many talks and lectures.
“I’ve had a complicated career that’s involved multiple projects and many publications on a wide variety of themes. In the past, I’ve commissioned personal websites but never been satisfied with the results. Until now, no one has ever managed to build something that strikes the right balance between breadth and depth. I’m delighted to say that Simon and Bookswarm have managed to build me a website that allows me to publicise my books while also housing my personal archive. I was hugely impressed with the patience with which Simon discussed my needs with me and then developed a website that reflected my idiosyncrasies. He responded quickly to enquiries and was happy to go through several rounds of changes until we got to a result I was happy with. I would recommend him to any author who wants to have a website they can be proud of.”
Keith Kahn-Harris, sociologist and writer
Scientifically Speaking
Jo Browning is the author of Scientifically Speaking – a new book aimed at scientists and medics faces with the challenge of communicating their findings in a post-truth world.
“Now more than ever, the scientific and medical community is under the microscope and in front of the media. Science matters, and in a post-truth world it’s more important than ever for scientists and physicians to be heard.
But there’s a challenge. To get people to listen, you can’t communicate in writing alone anymore. You need to speak up and be seen – on stage, online, and on camera. To do this well you need to master the art of influential speaking, which is something you weren’t taught at university or medical school.
This book teaches you how to become a compelling scientific speaker so that you can put your message across with confidence and clarity, both online and in person. It’s written by a speaking coach with 25 years of experience in science communications.”
Revise SQE
Revise SQE books have one purpose in mind – helping students pass the new SQE1 law exam. They focus only on the topics you’ll be assessed on, making sure that you don’t spend time on unnecessary subject matter, and they will prepare students for the multiple-choice questions they’ll face in SQE1 and show how to answer them successfully.
“Right from the very first phone conversation I felt I had an ally in Simon. He wanted to understand what we were about, how our market worked, what the priorities were, how quickly we wanted to be up and running, and he created a plan to deliver it on time and cost-effectively. Once we were underway progress was good, and the Bookswarm team were helpful and responsive, happy to engage in robust debate about design and functionality. The finished product is excellent and has been extremely well received by authors and prospective customers. Highly recommended!”
Jonathan Harris, Director, Fink Publishing
Lawrence Wishart
Lawrence Wishart have been publishing critical left ideas on politics and culture since 1936. Through books, journals and events, they foster a space where people can think together, challenge political ‘common sense’ and explore new possibilities. Their current work is particularly focused on the areas of race, gender, LGBTQ issues, intersectionality, climate justice, and colonialism.
Chelsea Green UK
Founded in 1984, Chelsea Green Publishing is a 100% employee-owned leading publisher of books on the politics and practice of sustainable living. The UK arm, Chelsea Green Publishing UK Ltd, was created in 2018, with an aim of developing a new publishing programme in the UK, as well as partnering with like-minded, progressive organisations in the area of sustainable living. Chelsea Green now has the ability to sell directly to UK consumers via this WordPress and WooCommerce website, with bibliographic data feeding in from the US website, and orders sent automatically to Grantham Book Services.
“Bookswarm are an excellent agency resource for the book industry. They have a deep knowledge of the trade but crucially they also bring new learnings and tech ideas from other sectors to publisher projects, which allows the scoping to be collaborative and progressive.
They are extremely accurate with their costings and timings and this makes the work easy to budget, and the account management is as good as I’ve experienced at any agency of any size. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Bookswarm to anyone.”
Matt Haslum, Managing Director, Chelsea Green Publishing UK
Academie du Vin Library
The Académie du Vin Library was founded by Steven Spurrier and friends, dedicated to publishing the finest wine writing of the past, the present and the future. We have created a new e-commerce site with a streamlined stucture that puts the beautiful books at the heart of the user experience.
“Bookswarm, and particularly Simon, have been a brilliant partner for our website rebuild. He completely understood what we needed to do to improve the site, and built us a new version with a far better user experience as well as a much better backend that we can manage most of ourselves and which can be easily updated (unlike our last version). He is super responsive and has been great through the launch and snagging process. I feel very confident about the health and safety of the site from a maintenance perspective too.”
Hermione Ireland, MD, Académie du Vin Library
The Life of Music
Microsite for The Life of Music, by Nicholas Kenyon, published by Yale University Press.
“From pianist Myra Hess’s performances in Blitz-ravaged London to John Adams’s composition for mourners of New York’s 9/11 attacks to Italian opera stars singing from their balconies amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Kenyon argues that, no matter how great the crisis, music has the power to bring us together.”
Séverine Autesserre
Bi-lingual website for New-York based academic Séverine Autesserre, who is an award-winning author, peacebuilder, and researcher.
The site is fully available in both English and French, with multiple languages handled by the WPML family of plugins. English > French translation was undertaken by Nathalie Reis Translations and project managed by Bookswarm.
“I am thrilled with the results of my collaboration with Bookswarm!
My redesigned website is much more appealing and user-friendly than it used to be, and I now have a French translation of this site.
The redesign process was a lot of work, but it was certainly worth it.”
Séverine Autesserre, award-winning author, peacebuilder, and researcher
Lion Hudson
Lion Hudson publish books and other media for children and adults to help them grow in their Christian faith. We created a new e-commerce website for Lion Husdson to replace the previous incarnation, focusing on ease of use and integration with multiple distributors and internal systems.
Henley Hall Press
Brand creation, website design and build for publishing startup Henley Hall Press, an independent publisher of thought-provoking non-fiction books, including current affairs, gardening and ecology.
Profile Books
Twenty-five years sinces its founding and the mission of Profile Books is unchanged: to be a fearless publisher of a diverse range of distinctive books, of the highest quality, written by the best authors in their field, and to remain a beacon of independent publishing. We created a new website for Profile Books, powered by a feed from Biblio, to mark this milestone and to provide a solid foundation for all their future digital marketing.
A new website for imprint Serpent’s Tail was created as part of the same project.
“We had a great experience working with Bookswarm. Simon knows how publishing works and his vast experience meant that most challenges with our build had been encountered before and he was able to present flexible solutions. Responsive and agile as a team, we were pleasantly surprised by how stress free the builds were (we’ve built two sites with Bookswarm in the past year) and very pleased at how they’ve turned out.”
Niamh Murray, Campaigns Director, Profile Books
David Pattison
Website for David Pattison – wingman, chairman, mentor, investor and author of business book The Money Train, a guide explaining to young businesses the key things they need to know about investors.
Your Planet Needs You
Your Planet Needs You! is “an Everyday Guide to Saving the Earth”, written by three eco-activists that have put forward positive and meaningful ideas on how you can contribute to saving the earth. Users can order hardback signed copies directly from the website and receive an exclusive free gift.
Nathan Rose
Nathan Rose is a bestselling author of books about technology, creativity, and strategy. He also helps non-fiction authors navigate the self-publishing process – helping them create timeless, influential books which reach their readers.
“What a great experience working with Simon. The entire process – from brief, to wireframes, to design images, to implementation – was beyond expectation. Best of all was he would work to what I asked for, but would also gently push back whenever he had a better idea.
I am delighted with the design and functionality of my new website, and I would definitely recommend his services. He is a consumate professional.”
Nathan Rose, business author
Flint
Flint is a new imprint from The History Press dedicated to publishing non-fiction books that spark. We have created a simple Divi-based site to showcase the books and provide a blogging platform and data capture mechanism independent of the main publisher website.
Barbican Press
The Barbican Press list holds poetry, drama, writing for children, and compelling nonfiction too, including vivid tales of maritime communities.
The publisher is the writer Martin Goodman. He knew what sort of publisher he would like to find for his own work, and so created it for others. The Press was born in Plymouth – hence the name ‘Barbican Press’ for the Barbican in that city, and a sense that a Barbican is a strong and protective space in which writers with a fighting spirit can take shelter.
Barbican Press were already using WordPress, but we worked with them to create a completely new look-and-feel and content structure, including the ‘Where in the world?’ map, which plots the key settings of all of their books.
“A sweet aspect of Bookswarm is their focus on books. They bring wide and relevant experience to the table. That gave us clear direction in creating Barbican Press’s new website. In our meetings there was real focus on understanding how we want to communicate with our readers and the book industry. Our site feels distinctly ours, meets our needs, looks good, works cleanly, and the support in finessing it once it went live has been prompt and effective. We’ve been really happy to recommend them to others.”
Martin Goodman, Publisher, Barbican Press
Ben Wales
Website for Ben Wales, Masters level coach, facilitator and author specialising in leadership and high performance of growth companies between £5m and £100m turnover. Ben is the author of the forthcoming book Is This A Question?
The University Press Group (UPG)
The University Press Group (UPG) is jointly owned by the University Presses of California, Columbia and Princeton and is responsible for the sales of their print books in the UK and Ireland, Europe, The Middle East and Africa.
We created a simple website to showcase recent titles published by UPG presses, and highlight positive review coverage, as well as making it easy for anyone to download catalogues.
Saraband 2020
Saraband is an award-winning independent publisher of outstanding fiction, absorbing nature writing, pressing environmental issues and compelling memoir. Over the last quarter century, they have provided a platform for underrepresented and marginalised voices that are often overlooked, championing diversity and inclusion as part of our commitment to excellence – and to their readers of all ages, backgrounds and personal identities, wherever they may live.
This is the second version of the Saraband website we have created.
Daisy Christodoulou
Author website for Daisy Christodoulou, the Director of Education at No More Marking, a provider of online Comparative Judgement software for schools, and the author of three books about education: Teachers vs Tech, Making Good Progress, and Seven Myths about Education.
“Simon and his team designed a website that did everything I wanted it to, plus some more things I hadn’t thought of! They got back very quickly to all my queries and the whole process was very smooth and speedy.”
Daisy Christodoulou, author and educationalist
Kay Hutchison
Self-Care is now a vast and growing industry so it has become quite difficult to navigate. Kay Hutchison wrote the book My Life in 37 Therapies after a significant period of change in her circumstances, and helps her readers to navigate this complex world.
We created a website for Kay to promote the book, which includes a tour of all 37 featred therapies, using WordPress and the Divi theme framework.
“A huge thank you to Simon and the team at Bookswarm for the new website – not only was there always a fast response on queries but they also created something attractive and easy to use – I could never have brought the idea to life without your professionalism. Thank you.”
Kay Hutchison, author of My Life in 37 Therapies
The Monday Revolution
The Monday Revolution is about changing your personal approach to work and life. It’s about taking control of time and spending it on the things that matter. There is great satisfaction in getting things done. Who wants to spend long days in pointless meetings or writing reports that never serve any real purpose?
It’s also the debut business book by David Mansfield – and every chapter contains stories, anecdotes and uncomplicated real-world advice on how you can Revolutionise your working life. From Monday.
“Searching for a web building company fills most of us with dread. It’s a minefield. I was fortunate enough to have Simon and his team recommended to me and the whole process was painless, delivered on time and on budget.
Since the launch Simon has been on hand to deal with any improvements and issues without hesitation. There’s really no need to look elsewhere.”
David Mansfield, author of The Monday Revolution
One Two Another
Design of a Shopify site through which Little, Brown will sell individually numbered and signed copies of One Two Another by Tim Burgess, a chronicle of Tim’s creativity and a veritable treasure trove of music wisdom.
Tim Burgess is lead singer of one of the defining bands of the ’90s, The Charlatans. In One Two Another, the singer presents and annotates his lyrics – from The Charlatans to The Chemical Brothers – allowing an insight into a very idiosyncratic and creative song-writing process.
Owen Bennett-Jones
Owen Bennett-Jones reported for the BBC for 30 years. He has been a resident foreign correspondent in Bucharest, Geneva, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beirut and presented Newshour on the BBC World Service. In 2008 he was Sony news journalist of the year and in 2009 the Commonwealth journalist of the year. In 2012 Owen was Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. His podcast on the murder of Benazir Bhutto, The Assassination, won gold at the British Podcast Awards in 2018.
We created a new website for Owen to bring together his journalism, non-fiction and fiction all ine one place for the first time. The site includes the ability to upload source materials associated with books – so readers and listeners can access key documents that are part of Owen’s investigations.
Quiller Publishing
Quiller Publishing Ltd is an independent publisher which was founded in 2001 by Andrew Johnston. Quiller Publishing has two imprints: Quiller is their general list and Kenilworth Press for equestrian titles. Over the years, Quiller Publishing has been built into an extremely well-respected publishing company, focusing originally on country sporting subjects and in recent years, diversifying into lifestyle titles along with a number of noted and highly regarded biographies and autobiographies.
This new website for Quiller features ‘live’ updates from their title management system, BooksoniX.
“It has been a great pleasure to work with Simon to develop the new Quiller Publishing website. He has been highly knowledgeable and supportive throughout the process. No question was too daft and no request was ever too hard, complex or unachievable. Simon works through problems methodically, providing easy and effective solutions. We are delighted with our finished product and think it’s fair to say Simon and his team absolutely nailed it!”
Becky Bowyer, Production Manager, Quiller Publishing
Practical Inspiration Publishing
Practical Inspiration Publishing is the home of books that mean business. From management to marketing, parenting to leadership, HR to health, internationally recognized authorities share their expertise in brilliantly readable books with accompanying online resources.
We created a new WooCommerce-based site so PIP could easily sell their titles online – with title and author data automatically imported from an ONIX feed.
“Working with Bookswarm has been a great experience. They totally get what authors and publishers need, for example they work intelligently with bibliographic data imports and warehouse orders. They’re proactive, responsive and incredibly fast – I can’t recommend them highly enough!”
Alison Jones, Director, Practical Inspiration Publishing
Scarfe – Sixty Years of Being Rude
Design of a Shopify site through which Little, Brown will sell beautifully-presented special editions of Scarfe: Sixty Years of Being Rude. These fully illustrated volumes reveal the truth of sixty years of politics and culture and are packed with pictures that have not only defined one artist’s career, but also twentieth and twenty-first century British life.
The Hamilton Agency
The Hamilton Agency Ltd is a literary agency based in Michelin House in South Kensington. It was founded March 2019 by Matthew Hamilton, who was an agent with Aitken Alexander Associates for over 12 years. Previously he was editorial Director at 4th Estate, and Publishing Director and a member of the Board at Bloomsbury. He has a particular interest in politics, music, entertainment, narrative non-fiction and literary fiction.
“When I set up my literary agency Simon was so supportive and inspiring – and he played a key part in the branding of the company. He created a stylish and extremely effective website, which is simple for me to update. Simon’s technical support is excellent too and whenever I’ve had a question he’s responded immediately. Bookswarm offer incredibly good value and they really are the best in the business.”
Matthew Hamilton, founder, The Hamilton Agency
Neem Tree Press
New website for Neem Tree Press, a vibrant, young publishing house producing books that change and broaden perspectives. Neem Tree Press are global in scope with books under contract from Germany, the Middle East, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom to date. The common theme for their books is to provoke both thoughtful discussion on sensitive issues and a thirst in the reader to explore further the ideas or cultures they encounter.
Bonnier Rights
Bonnier Rights sells foreign rights to fiction, illustrated and narrative non-fiction, and children’s books from the Swedish Bonnier Publishing Group, Sweden’s largest publisher.
We designed and built their new website using WordPress, and set it up so that books and authors are automatically added and updated, using a feed from Bonnier’s Opus rights management system.
Dan Conway
Dan Conway is a former high school elected official. He held a variety of non-prestigious jobs over his twenty-year career in corporate America. Today, he writes about work, tech, family, and culture. His essays have appeared in Business Insider, Fatherly.com and Cuepoint. He lives in Northern California with his wife and three children.
We created this website to help promote his first book, Confessions of a Crypto Millionaire: My Unlikely Escape from Corporate America.
Duckworth
Duckworth nurtures a rounded world view through accessible and stimulating works of popular science, psychology, memoir and history. Founded by the family of Virginia Woolf in 1898, Duckworth have published incredible authors including D.H. Lawrence, Oliver Sacks, Evelyn Waugh and Beryl Bainbridge.
We really enjoyed creating this site for Duckworth after they joined the Prelude Books family – and reading about their interesting and at times hair-raising history!
“Hugely knowledgeable, practically minded and super-responsive – what more could you want? Simon and all the team at Bookswarm are a genuine pleasure to work with.”
Pete Duncan, MD, Duckworth Books Group
Yale Representation
Yale Representation provides a managed sales representation service in the UK for a number of prestigious publishers. We created a new website for them, to replace their old Drupal-based site. It includes a bookshops section with dynamic map, and different ways to explore Yale Representation’s clients and their wonderful books.
“I’d wholeheartedly recommend Bookswarm. Simon is efficient, patient and communicative. He did everything he said he would and more and I’ve got nothing but good things to say about him and his colleagues. Perhaps most importantly, I didn’t get any sense that he was bored with the project and wanting to move on once the site was delivered but there was lots of tweaking to do. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that sort of start to finish service with an IT-type project before – or any other sort of project, for that matter.”
Lisa Kemmer, Sales and Operations Manager, Yale Representation
Lap of Honour
Microsite for Lap of Honour by Tim Hain.
A 60s schoolboy photographer returns to The Golden Age Of Motor Racing and takes a picture of Stirling Moss at the first Goodwood Revival. This opens the door to a meeting with the “Maestro” and Lap Of Honour begins, with Stirling as the central figure. The book opens with Moss’s lively foreword, revisits and celebrates old haunts and heroes, and concludes with an intimate portrait of “Mister Motor Racing” in 33 different cars with his input on each, and tributes from the likes of Mark Knopfler, David Coulthard, and Murray Walker. Moss describes the book as “absolutely enchanting.”
“I find Simon and Bookswarm to be responsive, creative, easy to work with, eager to interpret my vision in an appropriate way, and above all prompt. I am in safe hands. Bottom line – the page they created helped secure the signing of Lap Of Honour.”
Tim Hain, author, Lap of Honour
Marina Warner
Marina Warner is a writer of fiction, criticism and history; her works include novels and short stories as well as studies of art, myths, symbols and fairytales. We created a new site to act as a definitive bibliography and news source.
Susanna Lea Associates
Created in 2000, Susanna Lea Associates has offices in Paris, London and New York. Their aim is to work in close collaboration with authors and publishers in order to maximize the potential of each project both domestically and in translation – in print, audio and electronic media – and, when applicable, for film.
We designed and built the new website for Susanna Lea, allowing each office to show market-specific covers for key titles and showcase its own team and social media presence.
Felicity Bryan Associates
Felicity Bryan Associates is an independent literary agency based in Oxford, with a client list includes prize-winning and bestselling authors in adult and children’s fiction, and non-fiction. We designed and built a new website for them designed to showcase their clients in an easy-to-maintain site, while also attracting plenty of submissions through an easy-to-use online process.
“We opted to completely overhaul our previous website and Bookswarm made the process very straightforward – particularly impressive considering we transferred a lot of content from the old site. They were happy to invest lots of time working with us on the design until we had things exactly right. We’re delighted with our new website and have had glowing feedback from our authors. The ongoing support has been great, too.”
Megan Palmer, Digital Manager and Administrator, Felicity Bryan Associates
Hayes Press
Hayes Press is as a non-profit publishing house known for its faithful, biblical publishing. Some of the topics includes bible characters, general themes, general surveys of Bible, Canon, guides to various translations, and inclusive language debates.
We implemented the website using the WooCommerce shop plugin for WordPress.
Michael Symmons Roberts
Michael Symmons Roberts has won the Forward Prize, the Costa Poetry Prize and the Whitbread Poetry Award, and been shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize. He has received major awards from the Arts Council and the Society of Authors. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and of the English Association.
“It was a pleasure to work with Simon and the team at Bookswarm. They were professional, creative and efficient, always happy – and swift – to answer my stupid questions. The fact that they specialise in writers and publishers made the whole process so much easier.”
Michael Symmons Roberts, British poet, writer and broadcaster
Introducing
Migration of the site for Icon Books’ well known series of graphic guides to a WordPress back-end, while retaining the existing look and feel.
Updated in 2017 to celebrate Icon’s 25th birthday and tie-in with the look and feel of their main website.
Michael O’Mara Books
Creation of a new website for specialists in creative and inspired adult non-fiction, Michael O’Mara Books, encompassing their LOM ART and Buster Books imprints too. The website take a feed from the client’s Biblio system to keep the catalogue up to date.
Just Sit
Website for Just Sit – A Meditation Guidebook for People Who Know They Should but Don’t.
“Simon is wonderful to work with. We enjoyed every bit of the process and are more than elated with the final result. We love our website! Thank you, Simon.”
Elizabeth and Sukey Novogratz, authors of Just Sit
MBA Literary and Script Agents
Based in London’s Fitzrovia for over 45 years, MBA is a leading literary agency representing writers in all media – books, and scripts for film, television, radio and theatre.
Helen Pearson
Ultra-clean website for science journalist, author and communicator Helen Pearson.
“It was a pleasure working with Bookswarm to build my website. The team were courteous, efficient and excellent at understanding the needs of authors. We were able to work closely together to design a site that was elegant in design and easy to update, all delivered to a tight deadline.”
Helen Pearson, science journalist, author and communicator
Alex Seymour
Author website for ex-Royal Marine Alex Seymour, whose book Psychedelic Marine recounts his experiences of conflict and his quest for the hallucinogenic brew known as ayahuasca to help him recover from the horrors of war.
“The folks at Bookswarm understood exactly what I needed and worked to build a great website. I am very satisfied with the results. The team is friendly, experienced and I highly recommend them.”
Alex Seymour, author of Pyschedelic Marine
The Happysmarts Project
We migrated the Happysmarts Project to being WordPress-based, allowing the client to more easily manage the content, and translating the exercises and scales that are the heart of the project in to GravityForms so that they can be tweaked and the results can be exported at any time. We also took the opportunity to modernise aspects of the design and make the site mobile-friendly.
Trad’s Diary
Trad’s Diary has been a regular fixture for many gardeners since June 1975, forty two years ago, when the first issue of The Garden appeared. It was, and is, written by Hugh Johnson, who as Editorial Director had created the new magazine out of the old Journal of the Horticultural Society.
Bookswarm created the latest version of Trad’s Diary to be mobile-friendly and easy on the eye – and it’s home to over 500 entries written by Hugh since the diary went digital back in 2008.
Connecting Paradigms
Website for speaker, trainer, and author of Connecting Paradigms
“Simon and his group have a great system for authors to express their creativity and passion through their website. If you are an author in need of a site to highlight your writing and other work, Simon is the right guy for you!”
Matthew S. Bennett, speaker, trainer, author
Pavilion Books Group
Pavilion Books is a thriving independent London-based publisher specialising in illustrated books for the UK and all international markets. Their new website is populated with bibliographic data feeds from their Stison title management system, and also features a blog, news & events section and many different ways of exploring their books – by category, by imprint and by author.
Dr Genevieve Von Lob
New website for clinical psychologist Dr Genevieve von Lob. While she already had a website, Genevieve felt an update was needed to support the publication of her debut non-fiction book, Five Deep Breaths: The Power of Mindful Parenting. The site also has the ability to showcase events and private practice information.
“Bookswarm really are the people to go if you an author looking for your ideal website. They have made my vision into a reality, and I couldn’t be more delighted with the final result. Simon is highly professional, genuine, so supportive, a great communicator and always easily contactable. Highly recommend!”
Dr Genevieve Von Lob, author of parenting books Five Deep Breaths and Happy Parent, Happy Child
Faber Social
A new iteration of Faber Social – books and music at the heart of independent publishing.
Icon Books
ONIX-feed powered website for Icon Books, an independent UK publisher which produces popular, engaging and sometimes provocative non-fiction for adults.
In 2017, we launched a new version of the site to celebrate Icon’s 25th birthday!
Dr Barbara Oakley
Dr Barbara Oakley is an educator, writer and engineer who asked us to revitalise her web presence after many years of running it herself. We enjoyed the process of devising an information structure which accommodated her roles as speaker, teacher, book author and journalist.
“I’m an electrical engineer and also a popular author with a good eye for design, so I’ve maintained my own website for many years. I finally took the plunge and had Bookswarm remake my site. What an incredible difference! The site is SO beautifully designed and easy-to-use! Bookswarm took my ideas and shape shifted them to bring out exactly what I wanted, but in ways far better than I’d originally envisioned. Really, website design and implementation doesn’t get any better or easier than with Bookswarm – I cannot recommend them more highly!”
Dr Barbara Oakley, author
Folio Society Blogs
We created a new WordPress-based news and blogging site for The Folio Society, which integrates with their main e-commerce site. We replaced two separate WordPress sites which were not mobile-friendly.
Alma Books
Established in 2002, Alma Books now has five imprints, and we have created a single new e-commerce website which encompasses all of the imprints.
“We’re a small independent publishing company which prides itself on being able to do everything in house, so we were initially reluctant to get any old company in to rebrand our online presence. However, Bookswarm aren’t any old company, and they’ve made the whole process unbelievably easy – we were looked after by two people who seem to answer questions immediately (however tedious or obvious), and we’re thrilled with the finished website. They’re also the only tech company I’ve come across which just “gets” books – they took this knowledge and tailored everything to our needs perfectly. On top of the sleek design, transparent way of working and hands-on help, the team have also proved to have an astonishing level of after-care, and are happy to help you acquire the skills to maintain and enrich the site for yourself. Would – and have – whole-heartedly recommend.”
William Dady, Editorial and Marketing Executive, Alma Books
Atlantic Books
Atlantic Books is an independent British publishing house founded in 2000. Based in the heart of Bloomsbury, they publish quality literary fiction and non fiction. Atlantic are also the home of commercial imprint Corvus, and proud publishers of a selection of books from Grove Atlantic in the US as well as a home to a growing list of fine fiction and non-fiction from Allen & Unwin.
We designed and built Atlantic’s new site to be updated with a feed from their Biblio system, and put their four imprints at the heart of the structure – so each imprint has its own ‘home page’ within the site.
Chambers
We updated the design of the existing Chambers website and migrated the underlying technology to WordPress for ease of management, whilst retaining the key features of the existing site: the dictionary search and Word Wizard.
A Good Disruption
Campaign microsite for a book about redefining growth in the twenty-first century.
“Disruptive technology is one of the defining economic trends of our age with companies such as Airbnb, Uber and Apple dramatically transforming their industries. But what is the true impact of such disruption on the world’s economies, and does it have the potential to solve global problems such as low growth, inequality and environmental degradation? Why not seize this opportunity and make it a good disruption?”
Summersdale
Founded in 1990, Summersdale is a vibrant publisher that puts its heart and soul into creating exceptional books. They swiftly respond to emerging technology and trends, provide entertaining, informative and innovative content in the genres of travel writing, general non-fiction, health and well-being, and gift and humour. Summersdale produce a diverse range of over 150 titles per year, with a backlist of over 600 titles.
“I’m so proud and delighted with the new Summersdale website. It’s been a long time coming, but has been well worth the wait. I genuinely believe that we have one of the best websites out there. It looks stylish and modern, but it is also very functional. One of the site’s primary functions is to showcase our beautiful books, and they sure look good. Choosing Bookswarm to create our new site was the right choice, they have been magnificent.”
Alastair Williams, Managing Director, Summersdale
Lloyd Clark
Professor Lloyd Clark is currently a senior member of the Department of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham’s Humanities Research Institute where he run the post-graduate programme in modern war studies and contemporary military history. Lloyd has lectured around the world to various universities, military institutions and think tanks and his publications include books on the First and Second World Wars as well as more recent conflicts including the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan.
We created Lloyd’s website to support his range of activities, including his media work and his latest book, Blitzkrieg.
Belgravia Books Collective
A new web presences for two linked brands, under the banner of the Belgravia Books Collective:
- Gallic Books (publisher)
- Belgravia Books (bookshop)
This e-commerce website replaces two older websites, and allows the the client’s team to manage everything within one WordPress website.
H for History
H for History is the historical fiction and non-fiction community from Hodder & Stoughton, Headline and Quercus. Bookswarm designed and built this responsive website to allow both books and blog posts to be explored using a range of classifications, including Period and Genre.
“When a project comes along I can work with Bookswarm on I immediately feel more relaxed. Communication on projects from start to finish is outstanding (and so important) which helps to move things along at a good pace and get the results we all want. Simon is always on hand for questions and advice throughout the project, and is incredibly tolerant of the unrelenting change requests and tweaks from our many stakeholders.”
Amy Dolman, Digital Marketing Manager, Hodder & Stoughton
Academy of New Zealand Literature
The Academy of New Zealand Literature / Te Whare Mātātuhi o Aotearoa is a writer-led initiative developed to help New Zealand’s active practitioners sustain themselves – creatively, intellectually, psychically, practically – through a writer’s life.
Bookswarm developed the brand identity for the Academy and applied it to new website that was designed to present a contemporary picture of the New Zealand literary scene.
Live Fast, Lose Weight
Microsite for Instagram-based competition in support of the launch of Charlotte Crosby’s cookbook Live Fast, Lose Weight.
Nicos Hadjicostis
Website for world traveller and writer Nicos Hadjicostis, designed to support and promote his book Destination Earth.
Saraband
New website for independent publishers Saraband, winners of the inaugural Saltire Scottish Publisher of the Year.
“When we decided to give our website a makeover, we were very keen to work with someone who truly understood the needs of a publisher, and Bookswarm have been second-to-none in that regard. From the off they ‘got it’ – both in terms of how our new website needed to be intuitive to use for us as publishers, and in terms of how it performed for readers and the wider books industry.
Simon and his team have been superb to work with and we’re delighted with the final website – it really does look better than we could have hoped for.”
Sara Hunt, Publisher, Saraband
InterVarsity Press
E-commerce website for imprint of SPCK.
The Solidarity Project
Author website for academic, political campaigner and green activist Jonathan Boswell, who is currently working on a new book about solidarity.
“I wanted a website to promote a set of fairly radical social ideas (which will feature some way ahead in a book I’m still writing). I thought this might be outside Bookswarm’s brief, but they’ve been very responsive and creative. Some basic ideas I had on shape and colour were worked up nicely. I’ve greatly appreciated their patience with a non-techy like me, their efficiency and general aplomb. The result, I and others think, is fitting and attractive. I have no hesitation in recommending Bookswarm with enthusiasm.”
Jonathan Boswell, Author and Academic
Modern Books
Modern Books is a new imprint which publishes beautiful and original non-fiction for mindful and creative living.
SPCK Publishing
SPCK is the mission agency which works through publishing. Their mission is to promote Christian ideas and values; we do this by publishing, and supporting the publishing of, books and resources for people for people of all denominational and faith backgrounds.
We created a new e-commerce website with WordPress and WooCommerce, encompassing both SPCK’s charitable and publishing activites. Orders are submitted to Macmillan Distribution (MDL) for fulfillment.
Peter Fisk / Gamechangers
Peter Fisk is a global thought leader on growth, innovation and leadership. Peter is a keynote speaker, bestselling author and expert consultant. He is founder of the specialist consulting firm GeniusWorks, and Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Marketing at IE Business School.
We created two websites in one for Peter – a general site representing Peter as author, speaker and consultant, and a site for his latest book project, Gamechangers, published with Wiley.
We also created a number of videos in support of the new book.
Octopus Bespoke
Octopus Bespoke offers custom content solutions, with an exceptional archive of premium recipes and photography, and can hand pick collections and formats to exactly fit clients’ needs. We created a microsite to summarise the offer and tantalise the tastebuds with a selection of their mouthwatering photography.
Books from Scotland
BooksfromScotland showcases the best books of Scottish interest around, including the latest children’s, fiction and selected non-fiction titles, as well as titles from publishers based in Scotland.
Bookswarm developed a new Books from Scotland brand identity and a new website to showcase the Scottish titles, as well as developing a technical strategy to help easily identify which titles should include, based on processing of bibliographic data from Nielsen.
Grub Street
Grub Street is an award-winning small, niche independent publisher, publishing only books on cookery and military aviation history. We created a responsive e-commerce site using for Grub Street using WordPress and WooCommerce.
Robert Hale
Responsive site for Robert Hale, independent publishers since 1936. The site has four themed sections for Robert Hale’s four imprints – Robert Hale, J.A. Allen, NAG Press and Buried River Press.
Robert Hale is now part of The Crowood Press.
Marcus Chown
Website for scientist, communicator, author, journalist and broadcaster Marcus Chown.
“Bookswarm are extremely patient and do an extremely good job”
Marcus Chown, author of Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You and We Need to Talk About Kelvin (Faber)
Penguin blog on WordPress.com
Creation of a customised theme for the Penguin Blog in its new home on the WordPress.com platform.
Ed Sheeran: A Visual Journey
Responsive campaign website for Octopus Publishing Group in support of Ed Sheeran: A Visual Journey.
With words by Ed Sheeran and illustrations by his childhood friend, artist Phillip Butah (who produces artwork for Sheeran’s albums and singles), and accompanying photos, Ed Sheeran: A Visual Journey is an exclusive, fully authorised, first-person account by Ed of how he became an internationally renowned singer-songwriter.
In the book, Ed explores his early musical experiences and influences as well as his time recording and touring, right up to the release of his second album, ‘x‘. The book reveals what drives and inspires Ed as he continues to evolve as an artist, while coping with stratospheric success, and is an honest account of what it takes to make it in the music business.
The Curious Files
The Curious Files was a rummage through the most interesting articles written and produced by Faber and Faber‘s non-fiction authors.
Harry’s Last Stand
‘As one of the last remaining survivors of the Great Depression and the Second World War, I will not go gently into that good night. I want to tell you what the world looks like through my eyes, so that you can help change it…’
We built this site for Icon Books so users could be inspired by Harry Leslie Smith’s example and show the world what THEY stand up for. It allows users to generate book covers to they can join Harry in taking a stand, which they can share on social media. It includes Facebook OpenGraph and Twitter Card integration.
Zaid Al-Ali
Author website for writer and academic Zaid Al-Ali. Zaid is quoted regularly in the international press on Iraqi developments and on constitutional reform issues in the Arab region, including in the New York Times, the Financial Times, the BBC, National Public Radio, the Guardian, and the Daily Telegraph, amongst many others.
“Bookswarm’s experience in creating author-related websites is really invaluable. Not only did they design the website for me, they actually helped me understand what it was that I wanted for my own website, which was not an easy thing to do considering that I had not thought this through myself. Bookswarm made the entire process intelligent, swift, and professional and it was a pleasure to have worked with them.”
Zaid Al-Ali, author, The Struggle for Iraq’s Future (Yale University Press)
Spying on Democracy
Website to promote Heidi Boghosian’s Spying on Democracy and provide interested readers with additional content and resources.
Überpreneurs.com
Website for authors Peter Andrews and Fiona Wood and their book Überpreneurs, about the challenges facing mankind in the 21st century and 36 extraordinary individuals who are addressing and resolving all of these issues.
“Such good grace! Even though we Aussies were slaughtering the Poms on the cricket pitch, Simon responded to our queries at all hours of the day and night, building an absolutely brilliant website and delivering it ahead of our very tight deadline.”
Peter Andrews, author, Überpreneurs (Palgrave Macmillan), with Fiona Wood
1001 Series Facebook Quizzes
A set of four Facebook applications for Octopus Publishing Group’s 1001 Series. The apps are all powered by a WordPress CMS, allowing the client to quickly and easily refresh the range of possible answers and providing a solid foundation for the rapid roll-out of more quizzes in future.
Rory Muir’s Wellington
Afterliff.com
WordPress-based site to celebrate all things Liff, to co-incide with the release of Afterliff, the brilliant successor to Douglas Adams’ and John Lloyd’s 1983 classic The Meaning of Liff, which features over 900 essential new definitions.
Peter Watson
Design and build of a WordPress-based website for award-winning author and journalist Peter Watson.
“My collaboration with Simon Appleby was so friction-free and productive that, had he been a woman, I would have asked him to marry me.”
Peter Watson, award-winning author and journalist
Little Histories
WordPress-based site for Yale University Press that includes integration with both the Little Histories Twitter feed and with relevant articles from the YUP blog, as well as a database of some of the remarkable people featured in this expanding series of books.
Patrician Press
Branding and website design for startup independent publisher
Faber Finds Blog
Blog design for Faber’s print-on-demand imprint Faber Finds
Saltyard Books
Two generations of this website for Hodder & Stoughton non-fiction imprint Saltyard Books
Saul David
Website for historian, novelist, lecturer and broadcaster Saul David.
“Bookswarm’s classy design has transformed my website. It looks great, is simple to navigate, and – vital for a non-techno like me – even easier to update.”
Saul David, Historian, Novelist and Broadcaster (Penguin / Hodder & Stoughton)
