Editorial Policy & FAQs
The Black Spring Press Group is a privately-funded company. Its chief aim is literary – to discover, nurture and publish significant and interesting new and established writers and poets, across all languages and all genres. We stand by our 40-year-record of publishing beautiful, important books by wonderful writers. Our books and commitment to publishing fearlessly speaks loud and clear.
We do so by holding our editorial team to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity; and by ensuring our printing is environmentally sustainable. We actively seek diversity of representation and opinion, in our editorial choices and align ourselves with no one political party or movement.
We are on record as welcoming refugees to the UK. Our publications try to build bridges between cultures and continents and to support authors young and old. Despite, or because of, our views, we want our company to be a pluralistic platform, to paraphrase The Kenya Free Press.
We will neither court offence for its own sake nor avoid controversial ideas or statements, if and when they serve a reasonably thought-through aesthetic purpose. As wide-ranging readers, we understand that the shock of the new, such as with Dadaism, can challenge societal values while contributing to greater cultural purposes. We will be fearless, tolerant, non-judgemental editors and publishers.
We believe in outspoken, fair, kind and conscientious behaviour in a world too often driven by greed and cruelty. Ultimately, publishing is about bringing something into the world that has not existed before – a book. We must side with those who would prefer to keep all books in a library rather than ever stoop to burn even the most inflammatory. In the end, judge us by ALL the books we managed to help create in a difficult financial and political era, at much cost and challenge to ourselves.
The 'Small Press' Ecosystem
We have been at the forefront of generating awareness of 'the small press ecosystem.' We call it this because this network of inter-relations is fragile, incredibly valuable and can only be sustained in the future if a point is made to nurture it in challenging conditions. In our view, the small press ecosystem is endangered as never before in the digital age for a number of reasons.
When a small press does not have sufficient funding support and struggles for sales, it eventually closes. When many small presses close, options for authors to find good homes for their books dry up. We must work much more closely together, in a far less competitive way, to locate our shared interests: the common good that would have small publishers succeed; writers to be published; books to be sold in local, characterful shops. Unless we each actively budget to spend in indie bookshops every month, we cannot blame others when the local small press or shop closes: it is all our responsibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a book take to be delivered once ordered?
The usual delivery time from order to your door takes between 5–7 working days. All our books are also sold in bookshops, please get in touch with us if you would like help locating a title in your nearest store.
Where is my tracking number?
We do not use tracking for books and normally post first class via Royal Mail (UK).
Why do some books say 'out of print'?
Many of our collections are still in print. If a book sells out and there is limited demand, then publishers often put the title out of print. In some instances we have reprinted, as paperbacks, a few popular out-of-print hardcover editions.
How do I submit my work to BSPG?
Read about our two methods of publishing here, keep your eyes on our competitions pages because we regularly hold prizes and writing competitions. If you have a manuscript to submit please email us at: contact@blackspringpressgroup.uk