Deixis Press
Deixis Press was founded in 2021 by Angel Belsey. Angel began her publishing career in 2016, working both as an editor and as a literary agent. She believes some books just need to be read. She is based in London.
Angel runs a newsletter about the day-to-day operation of the press.
Website: deixis.press
Bluesky: @deixispress.bsky.social
Twitter: @DeixisPress
Instagram: @deixispress
Facebook: facebook.com/DeixisPress
YouTube: YouTube Channel
In their own words…
When did you start publishing?
I started Deixis Press in April 2021 and published my first two books in September and October of that year. I now have books 9 and 10 coming out this autumn.
What made you want to start an independent publisher?
I started working as a literary agent just a few months before Covid happened, and in that strange time throughout 2020 I found it tricky to build relationships with acquiring editors: people were furloughed, they lost momentum, nobody liked meeting people on Zoom then, and so on. I stopped agenting because, in combination with the pressures of lockdown and homeschooling, I found that I was not capable of giving my clients the service they deserved–but I also very much wanted their books to be in the world. Then I realized I didn’t need anyone else’s permission to make that happen, so I started my own press and did exactly what I wanted to do.
What genres do you specialise in?
I have one criterion for any book I publish: It has to tell a fucking great story. Genre is irrelevant. My list has everything from historical fiction to technothrillers to food-based feminist short stories.
Where are you based?
London, UK
Do you have a submission window, if so when?
Right now my list is small and full, with a handful of previous viable submissions still pending. I thought I might open submissions again this autumn, but now I probably will not until Spring 2024.
What is your submission procedure?
I like to look at the first 10k words, then call in the full MS. I’m just one person so it does take me a while to give every manuscript the attention it deserves before making a decision. I have deeply enjoyed all of the submissions I’ve received, and it is so gutting not to be able to take on every single book I enjoy. But any book I do take on has to be something I genuinely love. I can’t afford to take on every book that is simply very good. I wish I could; my list would be enormous!
Angel Belsey
Who are you (team photo if possible)?
I’m Angel Belsey. My team photo is a selfie.
What was your background in the book industry before this venture?
I had a previous career in IT (including in the Civil Service) that ended in 2016 when my maternity leave was grossly mishandled by someone who now handily serves as the villain in my own draft MS (hi Lisa!). At that point I did a work experience stint at a major publisher, which led to freelance editorial work at various places including several large publishers and an editorial consultancy, for whom I also manage a yearly novel prize. As I mentioned before, I also worked as an agent briefly. So I had experienced publishing from a number of viewpoints without ever really being in the thick of the action. But I am now also doing a maternity cover role for a commissioning editor at the same large publisher where I started 7 years ago with that work experience piece.
Talk about some of your books if possible, upcoming, favourite?
The first book I published is called SOME RISE BY SIN by an author called Sion Scott-Wilson. It’s about a pair of Regency graverobbers who are good men in bad jobs. They want to leave the business, but they get wind of a project that’s potentially too lucrative to pass up: they need to acquire a very special, very particular newly-dead body. And, as happens with all of these kinds of schemes, a lot goes wrong when they decide to take this one last chance. It’s beyond incredible; Alan Moore read it and said that Sion is a storyteller after his own heart (he has blurbed for the sequel, too, as well as for one of my other historical fiction books). But because it was my first book, it also suffered from all of my mistakes as a fledgling publisher. I want everyone to read this book! There’s even an audiobook for it–I can’t afford to do those all the time, but I experimented with this and one other.
I’ve got two upcoming books this autumn: both horror, but in two different ways. On Halloween we’ve got Richard Gadz’s new supernatural horror, THE BURN STREET HAUNTING, set in a grimy 1970s London from which there is literally no escape. A small-time crook is on the run from not only the law but also a horror that has chased him since childhood, one that has emerged out of his mind and into reality. And in November we have Marc Joan’s second book, THE CARTOON LIFE AND LOVES OF A STUPID MAN, about an independent comic book store owner/heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, whose struggles with mental illness mean that he relies on his wife, an outwardly successful surgeon who has her own haunting secrets. Their fragile world begins to crumble when an anonymous comic strip begins arriving at his store, featuring a character with an eerie resemblance to him…
