Boldwood hits five million copies sold in two years since launch

Boldwood Books has surpassed a sales milestone of five million books, and has signed seven new authors, bringing its total number of authors to 67.

The company, which is just over two years old, has contracted all its authors on multi-book deals and will be published in every format simultaneously in all English-language territories. 

The company recently won RNA Publisher of the Year, and is about to launch an audiobook club with Yeo Valley, the UK’s largest organic dairy brand, which will extend the range of audio titles the company currently offers. 

The new authors include women’s fiction writers Helen Rolfe and Samantha Tonge, cosy mystery specialist Catherine Coles and Yorkshire saga writer Chrissie Walsh. Thriller author Debbie Howells is also joining, turning to writing women’s fiction for the first time for Boldwood, alongside Tracey Emerson who will continue to write psychological thrillers. Completing the line-up is historical fiction set in war-torn Europe from debut American author Erin Litteken. 

Speaking to The Bookseller, Amanda Ridout (pictured), publisher and company founder, said: "It's thrilling to have sold five million books in just over two years to readers all over the word in whichever format they choose which has been at the heart of the company's promise since it was founded. Thanks are due to all our brilliant authors, the Boldwood team and to all our retail and industry partners who have helped us reach this milestone. It has been a wonderful collaborative endeavour."

She emphasised the importance of the publisher's international reach in regards to the milestone: "This is brilliant because it's genuinely across all the formats, that's in our DNA, and it's genuinely global. We have readers literally everywhere, and that's very important to us".

Ridout launched the company in July 2019, after resigning from her role as c.e.o. of Head of Zeus (HoZ) in 2017. She teamed up with Nia Beynon, former digital sales director at HoZ, and publisher Caroline Ridding. Tara Loder, who previously managed the US fiction list at Welbeck, was appointed editorial director, as the publisher celebrated its second anniversary last July.

The company's finances have exceeded Ridout's own expectations. The company reported a net profit of more than 20% it its first financial year, with revenues of £1.6m in 2020, as revealed in March. Ridout told The Bookseller at the time she had originally forecast “considerably lower” revenue and expected to only break even in year one.

In June, Ridout was appointed chair of the Independent Publishers Guild, and along with a focus group has headed the organisation's Book Chain Project, in an effort to "green" the supply chain.