Independent book publisher, Beachy Books, based in Kent and run by published author, Philip Bell, has grown up! Director and publisher, Philip Bell, is happy to announce a new significant development for his publishing company with news of their first professional book distribution partnership with Combined Book Services (CBS) of Paddock Wood, in Kent.
Philip says, ‘I am so happy to have secured book distribution for my traditional titles through CBS. It’s such a big deal for a small independent publisher. Previously, through Covid lockdowns, we were self-distributing, which is very hard work, but now I’m confident CBS will be able to supply all retailers and get our lovely books into shops when they are open again!’
CBS will be handling all trade orders for books on the Beachy Books imprint, which has been rebranded to reflect a varied publication schedule by cherry-picking interesting authors and genres across picture books, original contemporary fiction and well-researched non-fiction.
Of course, book distribution is nothing without sales, so it’s another first too for Beachy Books to also have secured professional sales representation from Bang the Drum sales agency, headed by experienced publishing industry sales director, Chris Moody, who will be handling all UK book sales for Beachy Books.
Speaking of the news, Philip says, ‘Chris has been like a mentor to me, helping in so many ways as we grow as a publisher. He’s worked for some of the biggest publishers including HarperCollins and Egmont, so I’m very grateful he also wanted to represent Beachy Books and get our books in front of booksellers.’
Spring titles that Bang the Drum will be selling include a comical picture book called That’s My Cat! by Lynne Hudson, a contemporary novel on retirement and life in present times called Ted’s Cafe by Roger Sanders, and a part-memoir-part-careers guide called The Bounty Writer: How to Earn Six Figures as an Independent Freelance Journalist by Andrew Don.
Beachy Books was founded by published author, Philip Bell, who has previously been published by Walker Children’s books, with his children’s story being selected for publication by the former children’s Laureate, Michael Rosen.
It’s just been an incredible journey so far for Beachy Books, which started ten years ago to self-publish a series of children’s books. Since then, they have helped many authors get into print.
But it wasn’t until 2019 that Philip got serious about publishing, following a life-changing event, ‘I had a marriage breakup, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. It took some time to rebuild my confidence again and I wondered what I was going to do next, but I just kept coming back to my passion — books, writing and publishing! So, I rebranded Beachy Books and rose from the ashes with a new traditional imprint, alongside our other publishing models, to publish all the amazing manuscripts I was being sent. My goal was to create an author-friendly publishing house to publish a wide variety of quality books. And now, with help from CBS and Bang the Drum, and news of the pandemic easing and bookshops opening in April, 2021 is certainly looking beachy!’