Salt Publishing Ltd

General information

‘Salt is essential seasoning in the world of British books. A fine, independent list, published with great spirit.’ —Robert McCrum, Associate Editor, Observer

Salt is one of UK’s foremost independent publishers, committed to the discovery and publication of contemporary British literature. We are advocates for writers at all stages of their careers and ensure that diverse voices can be heard in an abundant, global marketplace.

We believe books are key to developing an imaginative life, and that the imagination is key to being fully human. We intend to make a positive difference to readers’ lives.

We also believe books cannot succeed without being discovered and we invest heavily in finding audiences through direct engagement, through the quality of our editing, design and manufacturing, and through creative sales, communication and publicity. Good publishing is participative and inclusive, yet dependent on judgement and, of course, on you the reader.

Salt was founded in Cambridge in 1999. Our first publications were poetry and we rapidly developed an award-winning international list. We went on to win the Nielsen Innovation Award in the IPG’s Independent Publishing Awards in 2008 for our work in taking poetry to new audiences. Salt’s publishing soon expanded to include children’s poetry, Native American poetry, Latin American poetry in translation, poetry criticism, essays, literary companions, biography, theatre studies, writers’ guides and poetry chapbooks as well as a ground-breaking series of eBook novellas. By the end of 2010 we had published over 1,000 products and sold them internationally.

In 2011, we began to focus our efforts on developing our fiction and short story lists, gradually moving away from publishing in other genres. Since that time we have achieved considerable critical success in numerous literary awards, including winning the Polari First Book Prize (three times), the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award (twice) and the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Most notably, we have been nominated twice for the Man Booker Prize.

Today, Salt is considered one of UK’s leading independent publishers – a growing business that has an international impact.