Ex-Igloo Styring launches new list

Igloo Books founder John Styring has launched a new children’s publishing company called Bookoli, with the first titles due for release in the autumn.

Styring sold Igloo to Bonnier Publishing in 2014 and stepped down as its c.e.o. two years later. “I was under non-compete clauses for a certain period of time, so I did other projects outside publishing. But my wife Briony and I realised we just really loved children’s books and the book business,” he told The Bookseller Daily.

The new company, based in Bath, will publish books for children aged five and under. Styring wants to publish books that “work in all markets—the mass-market, trade—and we want to sell worldwide”. Some titles will be created in-house but the company will also look at acquiring books from talented authors and illustrators, Styring said, with the titles to be “a bit different from what we did at Igloo”. Innovative formats will also be a focus of the new list, he added.

Styring, who established and built Igloo into a business with an annual turnover of £30m, said he was excited to start again. Bookoli’s employees are currently in single digits, but the company is recruiting six to eight new members of staff. “I’ve got my sleeves rolled up and talking to authors is really refreshing. This is a smaller organisation with people who have come from a range of publishers, who all have a passion for creating and selling great books,” Styring said. “The company is a team effort.”

Bookoli is exhibiting at the London Book Fair at stand 1G30.