Do you have a book to publish?

You've worked hard to write your book - so what next? We offer a simple, great value and personal service that will enable you to get your book into the hands of eager readers/

Many authors are now going down the self-publishing route with print-on-demand platforms such as Amazon KDP or Lulu, however these options are not without pitfalls, and can be tricky to get to grips with. Our service is probably best described as "assisted publishing" - in other words, we will do the work for you, but you remain the publisher. It's ideal for anyone who wants to self-publish but doesn't know how, is wary of the steps involved, or wants help ensuring the finished product is as good as it can be.

In a nutshell..

Your book published in paperback, hardback and Kindle
ISBN number making your book available to thousands of bookshops worldwide
Your book listed on Amazon and Waterstones website
Keyword optimisation and a high quality listing on Amazon
Book design and layout
Cover design
Limitless amendments and ongoing support
Marketing material and comprehensive sales and marketing tips included
Buy copies at print cost direct from Amazon, from your own account
You retain all rights and 100% of the royalties from sales
Amazon will be the main marketplace so your book is easily available to millions of readers worldwide
We can create your Amazon author page
We will list your book on this website (coming soon)
Ruth and Tim will each give your book a five star review on Amazon to get you started!
Kobo - in some countries - Canada, Japan, France - Kobo rivals Kindle in terms of e-reader market share. If you want to tap into this extra income stream we can add your book for the small additional fee of £25.

More detail:

We will prepare your manuscript for publishing. Many "self-published" books look self-published. Incorrect page layout, poor cover design, even the wrong colour paper - will all contribute to a poor product. We make sure your book looks like the books on your bookshelf.
We will design a cover for you if you need one. An eye-catching cover is an essential element of your book. We will work with you to create the perfect cover.
We will send you electronic proofs of the manuscript and cover so you can check everything over before publishing. And we will keep working on it until you are happy, with as many rounds of amends as you need, even after it has been published.
We will publish the book to your own Amazon KDP account in paperback, hardback and Kindle - so everything remains in your name and you keep all of the royalties from sales. We will also create an Amazon author page for you. This part of the process can be tricky if you're not used to it - why not let us handle it?
We will provide you with marketing material and a10-page booklet of ideas to help you maximise sales, including how to approach bookshops, a dummy press release etc.
We will stay in touch with you as long as you need us to, and if you need any more amendments we will manager that for you if required.

This service, with personal service from Ruth and Tim, is priced at £200 - which we think is reasonable for the time and expertise required. The whole process can take as little as a week, but this depends how many rounds of amendments there are. If you are one of our existing authors (you have contributed to one of our anthologies) we will give you a 10% discount.

Optional Author Services - Available whether you use our assisted publishing service or not

Proofreading - we can provide a detailed and comprehensive proofreading service, giving you valuable feedback on any grammatical improvements, typos, structural issues and continuity errors. This service is competitively priced at £5 per 1000 words.

Promotional Items - we can design and source a whole range of promotional material at low prices. Talk to us about your requirements.

Website - we can build you a simple author website for just £100 (plus hosting and domain costs which are minimal). We can also provide ongoing upkeep of your site - adding updates as required, for example. Talk to us about your requirements.

Book MOT - if you have already self-published and you're not happy with the results we can help you get back on track and improve your book quality. We will review your manuscripts, covers, online presence etc and advise how we can help. We charge £25 per book for this, which is then refundable against our publishing services should you decide to go ahead with our suggestions.

If you would like to contact us to discuss our publishing services, please email us on hello@sonderbooks.co.uk or use the Contact page

Testimonials

“Working with Tim and Ruth at Sonder Books has been an absolutely incredible experience from start to finish. I genuinely cannot praise them highly enough. Having previously paid over £4,000 for publishing services elsewhere, I was amazed to discover that Sonder Books offer a far more personal, professional, and supportive service for just £200 — an unbelievable bargain and exceptional value for money.

What truly sets Sonder apart is the personal touch. Tim and Ruth guide you through every single stage of the process with patience, encouragement, and outstanding communication. Nothing ever feels too much trouble, and you always feel supported, informed, and genuinely valued as an author. Publishing a book can often feel overwhelming, but Sonder Books made the entire journey enjoyable, exciting, and completely stress-free. Their passion for helping authors shines through in everything they do. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better experience and I’m incredibly grateful for all their help, dedication, and kindness. If you’re considering publishing a book, I would recommend Sonder Books without hesitation — they are simply outstanding.”- Paul Wardle, author of Trying Again.

"I finished writing my story a couple of years ago, but then I procrastinated, rewriting and revising it constantly. Why? Because I knew that I did not have the IT skills to self publish on Amazon and neither could I afford the huge sums publishing companies demanded. Luckily for me a friend recommended Sonder's assisted publishing service and now a hardback, paperback and e book (all containing photographs) are for sale. I have greatly appreciated the individual attention and ongoing support throughout the whole process and would recommend this service to anyone like me, who needs help and reassurance that it will all work out well!" Susan Rose, author of Breaking Barriers.

"Working with Tim on my manuscript and getting it ready to publish on Amazon was delightfully easy. Tim took care of all the things I was unsure of, staying in touch throughout the process and keeping me informed at all times. Before I knew it, I had a book ready to go, formatted, with a cover design, and with an ISBN number. Tim and Ruth have been in touch since my book went live to make sure I am happy with everything and have sent marketing ideas and posters for me to use to help sell my book. A first-class service, at a very reasonable price. I can’t recommend Sonder Books assisted publishing service highly enough and look forward to working with them again in the future. Amanda Rose, author of Copper Falls

"Having had a short story accepted for one of their anthologies, and having had help getting my book up on Amazon UK, I found Ruth and Tim/Sonder Books friendly, enterprising, open to new ideas and effective. Their business model is unusual and affordable. I would recommend them." - Tessa Woodward, author of Small Crimes and In the Middle of Somewhere