About Arkbound Publishing
About Us
Arkbound was founded in Bristol as a social enterprise in early 2015.
We are one of the very few publishers to actively support people from disadvantaged backgrounds into the world of publishing and writing. We work on behalf of the Arkbound Foundation to achieve this, and in early 2018 formally became it’s charitable trading company, with 100% of profits going back into the charity.
From socially excluded origins, Arkbound has gone on to win national and international awards.
Our published books are diverse and feature authors from across the UK. We are particularly interested in publishing work that has a social or environmental message of some kind, by people who would otherwise face difficulties getting published simply by virtue of their background. We work alongside creative writing mentors, literary agents, other publishers and editors to develop key skills, as well as providing a platform for the launch of work.
Divisions
Arkbound Foundation
Our main charity website
Academic
For educational and academic work
Bridging Literary Divides
Our dedicated mentoring project in Scotland
Palavro
Book publishing imprint for Europe and UK
Crowdbound
Dedicated crowdfunding platform for books and projects
Our Publishing Team
Jamie Nixon - Editor
Jamie currently overlooks the publishing arm of the organisation. He is a PhD graduate from the University of Glasgow who looked at the relation between American politics and broad cultural responses in the Obama era. Jamie is particularly interested in contributing to managing and publishing texts from a diverse variety of disadvantaged authors, and helping give voice to a range of overlooked, pertinent societal issues.
Tasmin Briers - Lead Designer
Tasmin is a Belfast-born, Glasgow-based Graphic Designer. Having studied Communication Design at the Glasgow School of Art, she has focused her practice on book design since graduating her MSc in Publishing at Edinburgh Napier. Tasmin has experience with designing the covers and interiors of multiple book titles, with a keen eye for detail and love of experimentation with new creative concepts.
Riyan Mohamed - Editor
Riyan works in the Bristol branch, and is completing her degree in English and American Literature and French. Riyan is particularly interested in literature that explores societal issues, as well as books written by underrepresented voices.
Our commitment to the environment
Environmental sustainability is the foundation of long-term development. Without a firm sustainability strategy, an organisation is complicit in causing social and environmental harm. Arkbound places the principles of environmental sustainability and development at the core of its operations and values. We are fully committed to carbon reduction, utilisation of green energy sources, and recycling. We aim to promote and encourage sustainable lifestyles and greater environmental awareness. All our books have been recycled or fully accredited as derived from sustainable sources. We are a member of Go Green, Earth Journalism Network and COP26 Coalition, Culture Declares (Climate) Emergency and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals , also acting as an accredited Civil Society organisation for the United Nations Environmental Programme in the UK. Since the day of our foundation, we have recognised the climate emergency for its existential threats to humanity, other species and the global ecosystem.
In 2016 we won an award from the Bristol Go Green initiative (sustainable travel and transport category), in recognition of making all Bristol deliveries of ‘Boundless’ magazine (2015-17) by foot and bike only, as well as having each member of staff commute by foot, bike or the occasional bus journey.
In 2020 we organised the planting of 1000 oak saplings in the Bristol area, with plans for more tree planting projects and use of derelict land for urban food growing among disadvantaged communities, with a further 1000 planted in 2022. Arkbound is proud to be a member of Business Declares and the fast-growing network who acknowledge the Climate and Ecological Emergency. As noted above we have always placed sustainability at the forefront of our work. We look forward to adding our voice to this collective and resounding call for change and an urgent acceleration of climate action.
Our commitment to people
We are an equalities led and lived experience organisation – overseen by the Arkbound Foundation charity, whose trustees and management board comprise people from a range of different ethnicity, ages, gender, orientation and other characteristics. Similarly, our staff have lived experience of issues ranging from homelessness, disability and imprisonment. We believe that everyone deserves a fair chance to be heard and to contribute to society, holding social inclusion to be a foundation of democratic society. It is not a principle we pay lip service to, but rather something we base our work on every day.
All staff are paid above the National Living Wage, with a circular rather than top-down hierarchical organisational structure that allows for fair and equal input into all decisions, based on each person’s experience and abilities. Arkbound also opens itself up to young people looking to gain insight into the publishing world, from voluntary placements to paid internships. It goes without saying that our core work is with those who would otherwise face social exclusion.
We proactively work with and are members of a range of organisations (Clinks, VOSCUR, Bristol Disability Equality Forum, SEUK, GSEN, World Youth Alliance, Corbett Network, Global Justice Now, among others) – believing that a collaborative and creative approach is the best way to efficiently come up with solutions and help a wider number of people.