We’re thrilled to launch Haywood Books this August – an exciting new self-publishing project to help launch the careers of writers who don’t fit the traditional mould, or who want to challenge the way things are done…
If that’s you, head to our Publish Your Book page – or read on for a bit more information on how it all started…
A brief introduction
Haywood Books was launched in 2023 as an arm of Hay Press, a radical collaborative publisher run by its authors, founded 1996, now an imprint of the award-winning independent publisher Renard Press.
With a nod to Hay’s roots in the Welsh borders, Haywood Press takes its name from Eliza Haywood (c.1693–1756), the extraordinary English writer, actress and publisher who not only published important early authors like Susannah Centlivre, but was also a pioneering self-publisher, launching her own work.
You can find out more on our About page →
A brief history of Hay Press
From the later years of the twentieth century into this a group of writers that lived along the middle of Wales’ border with England met a couple of times each year, dubbing themselves The Border Scribblers. Lunch and good conversation were more important than literary discussion, and the group ranged widely in interests and styles – from novelists and poets to writers on gardens and cricket.
Two of this band were Peter Burden and Simon Mundy. Peter, a popular novelist and successful ghostwriter of thrillers and autobiographies, started Hay Press (at this time both Simon and Peter lived within a few miles of Hay-on-Wye, the border town famous for its second-hand bookshops and literary festival, with which Simon had been connected since its early years) in the mid-nineties. At around this time Simon, a poet and biographer of musicians, turned to writing fiction, and a decade after its inception Hay published Simon’s first novel. Gradually Peter’s involvement in the press faded, and Simon’s grew.
By 2022 it became clear that Hay Press needed to expand or wither, and so Simon Mundy was delighted when Will Dady at Renard Press proved enthusiastic, acquiring it as an additional and distinctive imprint.
—Simon Mundy
November 2022