Our Next Chapter
A small publisher with some bigger ideas…
Nick Owen Publishing (NOP) began by making distinctive books. Our ambition now is to build something larger around them.
Over our first ten years, NOP has published work that might otherwise have struggled to find a natural home: humorous writing about ageing and sport; poetry crossing cultural and national boundaries; books about creativity, education and society; unconventional memoir; and intensely personal visual storytelling.
These books have introduced us to readers, writers, artists, musicians, communities and organisations in Britain and overseas. They have also taught us that publishing does not have to end when a book appears for sale.
A book can be the beginning of a relationship, an experience, a journey, a conversation—or another book.
Between 2027 and 2032, NOP intends to grow from a founder-led micro-publisher into a distinctive independent publishing and creative-content company. We will still make remarkable books. But we will also explore the audio, performances, exhibitions, merchandise, travel, partnerships and communities that those books can begin.We will grow carefully. Our aim is not to compete with large publishers by producing hundreds of titles. It is to make a smaller number of highly distinctive projects, give them longer commercial and creative lives, and develop them through several complementary formats and markets.
Publishing remains essential – but publication becomes a starting point rather than a finishing line.
A reader’s first encounter with NOP might be a book, an article, a podcast, a performance, an exhibition, a recommendation or an unexpected Google search. Wherever that encounter begins, we want it to open a door into a richer world of stories, people and ideas.
Our future activity will be organised around four connected strands:
NOP Books
Distinctive literary and general non-fiction; memoir, biography and reinvention; intelligent and humorous writing about growing older; creativity, education, culture and society; and work from writers beyond NOP’s founder.
NOP Audio and Stories
Podcasts, serialised writing, readings, conversations and—where the material is right—audio, film or screen development. These formats allow our stories to travel further and meet audiences in different ways.
NOP Experiences
Performances, conversations, journeys and participatory events that bring books, people and places together. Shepherds of the Nation will become part of this strand, alongside new book-related experiences.
NOP Club
A future community for incurably curious people: readers who want advance material, occasional events, author conversations, audio, limited editions and a closer relationship with the work as it develops.
The future of NOP will be created with readers, writers, artists, bookshops, venues, communities and partners – not announced to them after every decision has been made.
During the months ahead, we will begin connecting our catalogue more deliberately. Stories will lead to books; books to conversations; conversations to events, audio, journeys, collaborations and new commissions. Every strong encounter should offer one clear invitation to continue.
The emerging programme includes possibilities such as Happiness: Songs from My Mother’s Kitchen; the integration of Shepherds of the Nation into NOP Experiences; new audio and live forms for the ageing-and-sport books and Banging On; Stories on Whalls as a book, event and heritage journey; and future publications by writers whose work deserves a distinctive home.
We are looking for people who want to help shape that future:
- readers who would like to join the conversation and discover what comes next;
- writers and artists with remarkable work that does not fit comfortably into conventional categories;
- bookshops, venues and cultural organisations interested in hosting books, stories and experiences;
- partners who can connect NOP’s work with communities, education, heritage, wellbeing, sport or international exchange; and
- supporters who believe a small independent publisher can create a surprisingly large cultural life.
Discover a story. Publish it. Build an audience. Extend it through audio and events. Develop partnerships. Invite people to remain curious about what comes next.
