What is an independent publisher? 

Many big publishers are owned by large corporations, which often have other divisions besides book publishing. An independent publisher is a publishing company that is independently owned – meaning that we have full creative freedom and are not at the mercy of a board or of shareholders.

What kind of books do you publish?

We started out publishing art and design books for adults and children, but since 2018 we have specialised exclusively in books for children. We love books that surprise us – in any genre – activity, picture books and non-fiction. We aim to publish books that are a little bit anarchic, a little bit out-of-the-ordinary and very, very beautiful. 

Do you accept submissions?

We accept submissions both of books and of creative talent. If you are submitting a book proposal, please send it to us as a low-res PDF with a clear synopsis of the idea followed by a selection of visuals. If you are submitting a story, a word document is fine, or if you would like to work with us as an illustrator, please send us a link to your website or Instagram.

How do you find/work with illustrators?

We are always on the lookout for talented illustrators. Our main tool these days is Instagram and we are always sniffing around for exciting new voices. We also have relationships with some agents, and we are always happy to take a look at submissions. If you are an illustrator, please get in touch and send us a link to your website or Instagram.

Where can I buy your books?

Cicada Books is distributed by Thames and Hudson worldwide, and Consortium in the US and Canada. The sales reps sell our books into most independent bookshops as well as the high street and online. If you can’t find our books in your local shop, they should be able to order them in pretty easily. Or you can always find us online.

Do you publish in any other languages?

We only publish books in English, but many of our books have been sold for translation to foreign language publishers around the world. Our titles have been translated into Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, Swedish and Slovakian – to name a few! If you are interested in buying rights to our books, please get in touch on our contact page.

How often do you release new books?

We are a very small company, so we only release 10-12 books a year. You can see our current and upcoming titles in the catalogue (link above), and you can also sign up to be updated by newsletter.

Are the books available in paperback?

Generally speaking, the picture books are released in paperback a year to 18 months after release in hardcover. We usually don’t publish non-fiction in paperback.

Do you organise author events? 

We are always happy to discuss the possibility of events with our authors and illustrators. If you are interested in a specific author or illustrator, or have an event in mind that you’d like us to contribute to, please don't hesitate to get in touch.