Ligature for published writers

We know as well as anyone that these can be difficult times for “mid-list” authors. You write a book that everyone agrees is good enough to publish; and then you write a better book that nobody will publish because the last one didn’t sell quite enough, or whatever. But without the overheads of traditional publishing, we can focus on quality rather than past sales.

We’ll work with you to bring out the best in your book, finalise a cover in the Ligature style and make it available in print and electronic formats worldwide. We don’t pay advances but will pay you 50% of our receipts from the sale of your book. We do ask for an exclusive licence of the copyright in your book—so that if we can sell the film rights we’ll take a share of the proceeds—but you can revert that licence at any time after five years. This gives us a chance to recover our investment in your work without tying it up for any longer than we need to.

We also feel that it’s a tragedy whenever a book goes out of print—but e-books never have to. If you have previously-published work whose rights have reverted to you, or whose electronic or print-on-demand rights you never sold, please submit it to us. We can quickly scan and proof paper copies, and convert electronic documents made with word processors however ancient. Since these books have already been edited, you’ll get 65% of our receipts from the sale of your backlist titles and ensure that your entire body of work is available to your readers worldwide. We only need to license the electronic and print-on-demand rights from you, and you can revert them after three years (though we hope you’ll stay with us).

Please us if you have any old or new works you’d like us to consider. We publish a wide range of literary and general fiction and non-fiction including young adult fiction, short stories, poetry and plays. We’d love to hear from you.