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Ridout's Boldwood reveals 20-strong all-female launch list
Amanda Ridout has announced a “thrilling" 20-strong, all-female launch list for her new commercial fiction press Boldwood with plans to publish in e-book, audio and print-on-demand simultaneously on a global scale.
The authors, all on multi-book global deals, include a host of established e-book writers like saga stars Rosie Clarke and Lindsey Hutchinson, romance writer Lucy Coleman, Shari Low and romantic comedy specialist Maxine Morrey, plus bestselling print writers including Amanda Brookfield, Louise Douglas and Sheila Riley.
Boldwood has also signed up debuts from Frankie Collins – a pseudonym for Portia MacIntosh, tech c.f.o. turned writer Simone Goodman, thriller authors Gemma Rogers and Caro Savage plus Nina Manning, whose psychological thriller The Daughter in Law will be the publisher’s first title on 1st August.
Two more books, romantic comedy writer Collins’ Honeymoon For One and Jennifer Bohnet’s Villa of Sun and Secrets, will be published in August with the rest of the titles staggered into January 2020.
Other names on the list include US-based historical romance author Jina Bacarr, Della Galton with a new series set around The Bluebell Cliff Hotel, Fay Keenan, Beth Moran, Jessica Redland and psychological crime writer Diane Saxon. The list includes six authors who have previously published with Head of Zeus, where Ridout used to be c.e.o.
She told The Bookseller she was very proud of the mix of authors finalised since Boldwood was announced in January. She also stressed the all-female roster was just “how the cookie crumbled” and the press was open to male writers. Boldwood has not offered advances but, instead, writers will be given a "fair share" across all formats.
She said: “We’ve all worked very hard and it’s thrilling to have these authors who are happy to be on the Boldwood list.
“We’ve attracted some debuts, some established writers, some people who want to try something new in new genres. Hopefully we have a bit of a reputation because we’ve got a great team and there’s certainly an appetite for story-telling.”
Next year, Ridout’s team will grow the Boldwood list to 50 titles with some selective traditional print editions.
Boldwood is unusual in publishing in every format – e-book, audio and print-on-demand – simultaneously in all English language territories. Ridout explained: “What we want to do is capitalise on when the noise as the greatest around the launch. Certainly, readers don’t understand why they can’t get all the formats on the same day.”
The publisher has now announced a partnership with Ulverscroft which will manufacture its audiobooks, both for download and in CD. Ulverscroft will also be exclusive supplier of Boldwood audio content to the global library sector whilst the Boldwood team will handle the global retail audio market.
Ridout said: “With our exciting audio partnership we are doing something genuinely new - recognising that the audio format is a natural part of the publishing offering - available in both physical and digital - across our entire list simultaneously with other formats and not as an afterthought.”
As the list grows, Ridout said she may also add an extra editorial colleague to her current team of five, which includes ex-Head of Zeus Aria publisher Caroline Ridding and her editorial director Sarah Ritherdon.
She said: “I am thrilled to be able to make good on my promise when we launched the company that we would publish the very best in commercial fiction and reach readers all over the world in the format of their choosing."
