Project archive: Divi
Our most recent projects are shown first
Louisa Treger
Louisa Treger is the acclaimed author of four novels inspired by the untold stories of women who challenged the expectations of their time—remarkable women, rebels, artists and survivors who dared to live on their own terms.
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.
The Plughole Boy
Microsite for a series of children’s books by Aubrey Waddy, illustrated by Emily Taylor.
“Bookswarm delivered a site that works for ME, not something designed to attract applause from other site developers. I learned all sorts of valuable stuff from Simon Appleby during the development of the site, and his responsiveness was terrific. I’d genuinely recommend Bookswarm, over DIY unless you’re very adept, and over alternatives unless you’re very confident of what they’ll do for you.”
Aubrey Waddy, author of the Plughole Boy books for children
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.
Sarah Langslow Coaching
Website for Sarah Langslow, executive coach, speaker and author of Do Sweat The Small Stuff.
Clare Furniss Mk2
New microsite for bestselling YA author Clare Furniss, replacing her previous Bookswarm-designed website. The new look-and-feel is designed to appeal to both adult and Young Adult readerships.
Emma Yarrow – Therapeutic Stories for Children
Emma Yarrow is the author of two therapeutic stories for young children, and provides school visits and workshops in the North East of England.
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
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.
Daniel Jakacic
Microsite for Australian author of Anja, Against The Odds.
In the tumultuous world of 1950s rural Slovenia, Anja is young, brilliant, talented—and caught in the oppressive grip of a corrupt government. As she navigates a landscape of betrayal and hardship, Anja’s determination to save her family’s farm from ruin propels her into a dangerous game of survival. With her father imprisoned for resistance and the threat of nationalization looming over their heads, her courage and resourcefulness are put to the ultimate test.
“Thanks Simon to you and your team for your excellent service. Every interaction has been a pleasure and the level of skill, judgement and care you and your team brought to designing, establishing and providing after sales support has been excellent. Anyone interested in an author website would do well to consider choosing Bookswarm.”
Daniel Jakacic, Author of Anja, Against The Odds
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
Kris Dyer
Kris is co-founder of Rakkit Productions Ltd and an award-winning voice actor and audiobook narrator, who has worked on over 300 audiobooks, including many bestsellers.
“Simon and the Bookswarm team are the ultimate professionals — I’d been putting off redoing my website for years as it was too much hassle to contemplate. Simon’s friendly and efficient guidance make the whole process pain free and I’m delighted with the end result. What’s more he knows the publishing and media industries better than anyone so was able to design a website that perfectly captures the tone, style and content required. I couldn’t recommend Bookswarm highly enough!”
Kris Dyer, voice actor, producer and writer
Rachel Quin Marketing
Rachel is a creative and award-winning marketer with a wide range of experience and a passion for marketing, particularly digital.
“As a marketer, my website is a critical tool to promote my services, show off my portfolio, and make a strong first impression. I had been making do with a quickly cobbled together WordPress site and frankly, after working with Bookswarm, it’s become clear just how powerful a professionally created website is.
Simon and the team were so easy to work with – adaptable, responsive, and brilliant at communicating what might work best for me – and the finished product is a testament to their hard work. Working with Bookswarm made setting up a website so easy, and I’m thrilled with what they delivered. I would recommend in a heartbeat!”
Rachel Quin, creative and award-winning marketer
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.
Rachel Blum Poetry
Divi-based microsite for American spiritual poet Rachel Blum – including the full text of her new collection, Talisman, available to read on the website.
We also designed the cover for Talisman (created by Bookswarm associate designer Freya Fisher).
Adventures With Words
Adventures With Words is a creative digital marketing agency based in East Sussex, founded by Rob Chilver. With over 25 years combined experience in arts and entertainment marketing, they help clients ensure that their book, event, newsletter or subscription product gets the attention and engagement it deserves from an ideal target audience.
“Simon and the Bookswarm team were fantastic in helping getting my business’s website a brand new look and feel. From the design stage through to going live they were wonderful to work with every step of the way.”
Rob Chilver, founder, Adventures With Words
Raising the Nation
Raising the Nation is a manifesto for a brighter future where all children can thrive. The site includes a number of additional essays not included in the print publication, linked to from the book using a QR code.
Thomasina Unsworth
Thomasina is a personal development coach offering coaching for writers, coaching for presentation skills and coaching for confidence, clarity and change.
“I had an idea of what I wanted when I met with Simon and he understood it immediately. He helped me to articulate my vision and purpose, so that I got exactly the website that I wanted. I am not very technically savvy, to say the least, but Simon was supportive and patient. He explained everything really clearly, was prompt in his responses when I needed help, and I know that he will continue in his support. I always feel that I can go to him with questions. The process was an absolute pleasure, and I am more than happy with the result. Thank you Simon and Bookswarm.”
Thomasina Unsworth, life coach and author
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
The Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour
The award-winning Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour was the first literary tour launched in Edinburgh in 1996! Since then, it has carried in excess of 500,000 satisfied customers on a dramatic literary trail across Edinburgh.
We created a new website for the tour, using WordPress and Divi, and integrating several third party services for reviews and ticketing.
“Bookswarm was professional and efficient at handling our website redevelopment. They understood our needs well and were always eager to offer advice and direction where needed. They also happily answered our questions as we developed the final website without imposing any further time or financial restrictions on us. This allowed us to experiment and get to grips with the technology. We felt safe and supported throughout the whole process. We highly recommend them!”
The Scottish Literary Tour Trust Ltd.
Martin Toseland, Professional Ghostwriter & Editor
Martin is an award-winning, Sunday Times best-selling ghostwriter, author and editor, who’s worked with many well-known faces, including James May, Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode, and Ben Fogle. His new site is designed to showcase his body of work, and how highly his clients regard him.
“Simon understood straightaway what I needed and we worked through the process creatively and efficiently. He understands books, and he understands publishing, so his insights and suggestions were absolutely spot-on. I’m delighted with my new site and would unhesitatingly recommend him to anyone else in the industry.”
Martin Toseland, ghostwriter and editor
Castle Entertainment
A microsite created in collaboration with our friends at Beat Media, showcasing the forthcoming work of independent television production company Castle Entertainment.
Lacrimosa of Dana
Promotional microsite for the official novelization of YsVIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, a video game by Nihon Falcom Co., written by Anna Kashina.
“Simon and Bookswarm did an amazing job on my website and they were friendly, responsive, and highly professional at every step. The website looks beautiful and functions like clockwork. Their customer support is superb. Anyone looking for a perfectly designed website through easy, worry-free experience should definitely use them. Can’t recommend them enough!”
Anna Kashina, Author, Lacrimosa of Dana
Jane Ross Potter
Microsite for author Jane Ross Potter, showcasing her books and short stories and the locations she visits for her research, via an interactive map and photo gallery.
“I contacted Bookswarm to completely rebuild and update my author website. Simon had many creative suggestions that make the website much more than simply an introduction to my novels. With a photo gallery, map, and photos linked to places of interest on the map, it is now an interactive place to visit. Simon very patiently explained in video calls and emails how to update and add content, and he is consistently responsive to follow-up questions. I highly recommend Simon and Bookswarm to any author, wherever based, and whether for one book or many. I look forward to continued work with this team as I add books.”
Jane Ross Potter, author
Laura Wilson
Laura Wilson writes psychological crime novels, sometimes with contemporary settings, and sometimes with settings in the recent past, including the DI Stratton series, which is set in the 1940s and 50s.
“Great ideas, excellent designs, and prompt, efficient service. Simon is great to work with – very patient, good at explaining things, and extremely helpful in dealing with follow-up questions.”
Laura Wilson, crime novelist and YA author
Covid-19 Lawlessness
Microsite for a new independently published book by US-based lawyer Willem Van Aardt.
The Great Exhibition of 1851
Private microsite that acts as a self-contained book proposal, to be shared securely with prospective agents and publishers.
Novel Entertainment
Novel create successful children’s character brands. They then manage those brands across a wide range of media, including TV, radio, licensing and merchandise, publishing, gaming, interactive online content, music, theatre and film. And anything else that looks like fun!
Piers Ford
Piers Ford is a journalist, editor and copywriter – and we built him a new website to showcase the full breadth of his career and make it easy for potential clients to get in touch to commission journalism or training.
“It was a great pleasure to work with Bookswarm on my new website. Simon and his creative team understood exactly what I was looking for, responded quickly to my questions, gave excellent and clear advice, and showed endless patience when my own input was interrupted. The service was friendly, comprehensive and highly professional. I’m delighted with the results and would recommend them to any author or writer who wants the pain of creating a professional website taken away.”
Piers Ford, journalist, copywriter and trainer
Jane Austin
Author microsite for Jane Austin, author of Renegade and News From Nowhere.
“From the outset, Simon was clearly interested in my writing projects and asked questions that hit exactly the right note. He created an author website which reflects my taste and style and he gave very helpful guidance over what to include and the value of a newsletter, which took a little persuasion! I’m now thoroughly delighted with the look and the content of the site, which is easy to manage and has attracted many compliments. I’m now building my network and readership with confidence, proudly presenting my work on a professional platform that I can update at any time.”
Jane Austin, author
Janet Savin
Author website for Janet Savin, whose debut historical novel Music for Three in a Prelude to Revolution is set against the backdrop of revolution in Communist Prague.
“Simon Appleby designed my literary fiction website, and it’s gorgeous. It has the look I wanted, raised to several powers above my expectations. His work combines a high degree of technical expertise and creative intuition. His approach to working is clear and systematic, and he is equally professional in client relations. He patiently explains terminology and processes, and I never felt lost. His training session is brilliant and includes a recording for easy referral later and a built-in support system. I am not much at home in the digital world, have had difficulty with websites in the past and was dreading maintaining this one. But it’s a delight.”
Janet Savin, author
The E.A.R.T.H. Gang
Website for author Ellie Linden promoting her debut, The E.A.R.T.H. Gang, “an out-of-this-world adventure, where four children and a dog must risk everything to help the Earth.”
“I love the website Bookswarm has created. A very professional service with quick responses to any changes needed. I would highly recommend Simon and his team.”
Ellie Linden, author, The Earth Gang
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.
25 Years of The Literary Consultancy
Inspired by the fact that TLC was started at the kitchen table of Rebecca Swift, we created a digital ‘kitchen table’ to celebrate a quarter century of their work supporting writers and the literary community. Well-wishers can upload poems, postcards and messages which are displayed to visitors.
“Simon was absolutely fantastic. His approach was open-hearted, and I felt he really understood what TLC is about, rather than simply rushing in with ‘design solutions’ that had little resonance with our ethos.”
Aki Schilz, Director, The Literary Consultancy
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
Barrington Stoke Young Editors
The Young Editors scheme allows young readers to be involved in the publishing process – teachers, parents and librarations can download manuscripts before they are published, send in feedback, and help shape Barrington Stoke’s books.
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.”
Dominion of Drama
Dominion of Drama is an IP & above-the-line production company founded by award-winning author turned writer-producer Jeff Norton. Dominion develops exceptional scripted stories and partners with top talent and best-in-class producers, platforms, and distributors to tell tall tales to audiences around the world.
Deborah Swift
Rebuild of an existing website, using most of the existing design elements but simplifying how books were managed and recreating the theme using Divi.
“The kind folks at Headline (who publish my Pepys Books) recommended Simon at Bookswarm, and immediately I was having a sensible conversation with someone who was used to making websites for authors. He tidied up the muddle that the other company had left behind, streamlined the design, and made it all functional so that a non-techie person like me could update it with the minimum of fuss. And all for a reasonable cost.”
Deborah Swift, author of historical fiction
Fran Grant
Fran Grant is an author of Children’s, Middle Grade and Young Adult books, as well as a copywriting professional – an all-round word lover. She asked us to create one site which could encompass both of these aspects of her work.
“From the first conversation with Simon I knew I was in safe hands, and working with an industry expert. I had a very specific requirement – to have a website where I could showcase both parts of my business – Author arm and Copywriting arm – rather than host two separate sites. Simon listened to my specific needs and presented a number of choices/solutions. The process was fast, efficient, and stress free, and Simon was a pleasure to work with, providing updates and advice along the way, and support at go-live. I am over the moon with my website and I’ve received a great deal of feedback and compliments on it! Thanks, Simon.”
Fran Grant, author and copywriting professional
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.
The Nature Chronicles Prize
The Nature Chronicles Prize is a new biennial, international, English-language literary award. Its aim is to find engaging, unique, essay-length non-fiction that responds to the time we are in and the world as it is, challenging established notions of nature writing where necessary. The winner will receive £10,000 and five runners up £1,000 each. All six winning entries will be published in an anthology.
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.
Woodville Parish Council
Probably best to let author Mark Stay explain this one! Here goes…
“What the blinking flip is the Woodville Parish Council you might ask (not unreasonably)?
Woodville Village is the setting for my new Witches of Woodville books, and not a completely made up place, no siree. It is here that you will find everything you need to know (or at least everything we’re allowed to tell you) about the strange goings on in the village of Woodville.
On the Notice Board you’ll find all the latest blogs from me. Sign-up and join the Village Library for free eBooks. Pop into the Village Bookshop to buy any of my books. And drop me a line via Writers’ Notes.”
We tried to design what we thought a website might look like if the technology had existed in about 1940 – which was great fun!
Will Harker
Will Harker is the pen name of William Hussey, the award-winning author of several novels for adults and children. As the son of a fairground showman, he has now used his inside knowledge of this still largely hidden community to create a detective unlike any other: the brilliant but troubled Scott Jericho.
“Masters of the digital art, Bookswarm exceeded all my expectations and delivered an author website that everyone from readers and fans to industry insiders has raved about. I can’t recommend them highly enough.”
William Hussey, author of YA novels and dark thrillers
Grey Area Coaching
A website for a new venture from David Roche, providing professional coaching and mentoring services to a range of specialist niches, including several in the publishing sphere.
“Simon is fantastic to work with: he makes the briefing process simple and straightforward, provides ideas and encourages creative thinking. He is a man who does not say ‘no, it can’t be done’ but rather ‘how can we get around this to make it happen’.”
David Roche, Owner, David Roche Enterprises Ltd
William Hussey
This is the second website we’ve created for William – reflecting the changing nature of his writing since we first worked with him. He’s an award-winning author of books for children and Young Adults, enjoying great reviews for gay love story/thriller Hideous Beauty.
Visitors can order signed / dedicated copies directly from William via the website using a simple order form linked to PayPal.
“Masters of the digital art, Bookswarm exceeded all my expectations and delivered an author website that everyone from readers and fans to industry insiders has raved about. I can’t recommend them highly enough.”
William Hussey, author of YA novels and dark thrillers
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.
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?
Janey Burton
A new website for Janey Burton, a publishing consultant specialising in editorial services and contract negotiation.
“Going to Simon to upgrade and redesign my website was a no-brainer. I’d seen the excellent sites he’d produced, and anyway knew him to be a kind, patient and incredibly knowledgeable professional. He just got what I was trying to achieve, so the process was very smooth and painless. I’m so delighted with my smart new site and the compliments I’m getting on it, and would recommend Bookswarm without hesitation.”
Janey Burton, Editor & Contracts Negotiator
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.
Faber Factory
Faber Factory is a eBook conversion and distribution service created by Faber, which represents over 100 of the finest independent publishers in the world, helping them achieve strong sales results and sharing with them our unique digital publishing insights.
We created a new single-page site to summarise their service offering and clients, and reflect the results of a recent re-branding exercise.
Dulwich Books
An award-winning independent and much-loved bookshop, Dulwich Books has been serving its local community for over 30 years. We worked with them to create an attractive new ‘one page’ site which will be flexible enough to change as the business evolves, using WordPress and the Divi Builder.
Mark H. Fitzpatrick
Author microsite for Toronto-based Mark H. Fitzpatrick, author of Made of Stars, an epic poem in prose, a modern ode to the traditions of Homer and Dante, Spenser and Milton.
“Simon exceeded all of my expectations. He quickly grasped the vision I had for my author website and took it to another level, both in terms of aesthetic and feature set. He was responsive from the get-go and added value at every step, from initial consultation to post-publishing technical support. Simon and the Bookswarm team are world class. I am confident that any writer hiring them would be well served.”
Mark H. Fitzpatrick, author of Made of Stars
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
Boldwood Books
Boldwood Books is a new fiction publishing company with its first books published globally in August 2019.
Based on the principles of a true partnership with authors, consumers and team members, Boldwood seek out the best stories from around the world from both new and established writers and bring them to readers everywhere.
Handspring Publishing
Handspring publish professional-level books for bodyworkers, movement teachers and all professionals who use movement or touch to help patients achieve wellness.
We designed and built a new theme for Handspring using Divi, using the underlying structure created by the original developers.
Trauma-Sensitive Early Education
Microsite for a new book by Matthew S. Bennett, written with his wife Sarah Bennett – expanding Matthew’s expertise in trauma-informed care to an education setting.
“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
Kelly Weekes
Kelly is a social media expert and Facebook ads strategist specialising in the book industry.
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
Awesome Reads
Awesome Reads believe reading should be a fun, entertaining, and life-long pursuit. In short, it should be awesome.
We enjoyed making this simple website for Awesome Reads. And it meant we got to say ‘awesome’ a lot. Which was… awesome.
Princess Ponies
The Princess Ponies books are written to give adventure-loving little girls an alternative to Barbie and Disney Princesses. The heroine of the series, Philippa (Pippa) MacDonald, is a head-strong action heroine who makes friends and strives to save the day.
We created a new microsite for Princess Ponies using WordPress and the Divi Builder plugin.
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.
BKMRK
Young Adult portal website for Hachette Children’s. We took over the construction of this project part-way through and brought it to a successful conclusion, using a brand identity and outline designs provided by another agency.
PHOENIX Magazine
We worked with London fashion and lifestyle magazine PHOENIX to upgrade their website, allowing them to publish monthly digital issues in addition to their twice-a-year print editions. This is more than just a news section, as articles are organised in to monthly issues, as well as organised in to categories.
“When it came to redesigning PHOENIX magazine’s digital platform, Simon and the Bookswarm team made the process from initial ideas and wire-framing to functional website as uncomplicated as possible. The overhauled site functions as a monthly digital magazine hybrid, and is easy for our team of journalists to use and update. We’re very happy with the final version and recently received an honourable mention for its design at the 2017 Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards – thank you Simon!”
Hannah Kane, Editor-in-Chief, PHOENIX Magazine
Raymond Khoury
Website and for New York Times #1 Bestselling thriller writer Raymond Khoury. First designed by Bookswarm in 2011, and re-designed in 2013.
“Redesigning my website was a very enjoyable experience right from the minute I sat down with the Bookswarm team. Truthfully, I can’t recommend Simon and the Bookswarm team highly enough.”
Raymond Khoury, New York Times Bestselling Novelist, author of The Last Templar (Orion)
