ABOUT US
Road Song Books is home to a very small team of publishing professionals who love literary fiction tales, especially those set since the 1980s (in our lifetimes). We have combined our talents and experiences that include sharp editing, rigorous punctuation, tasteful designs, dynamic typesetting skills, and a proven track record of working in marketing, publishing and the bookselling trade.Road Song Books is envisioned as a home for both new and established authors of fiction and narrative non-fiction.
In June 2025, we are proud to release our first book is a novella, Coldwell by David Gladwin. A folkloric tale set during the Great Plague, Coldwell remixes history, offering a new spin on the events that befell the Peak District village of Eyam.
On 1 December 2025 our second publication, Gentle November by Alan Edward Roberts will be released.
Visit our Shop Books page for more info…
Road Song Books was initially set up as an experiment between friends to discover how to run a small press through trial and error. Three books by Alan Edward Roberts (The Magpie / A Century of Storms / Cerberus) were printed in very limited runs in order to learn the processes by printing quality books with exemplary typesetting, and sharp cover design. We also got them into the shops and beyond via wholesalers and good old door-to-door determination. We’ve enjoyed some successes along the way too, and with the release of David Gladwin’s Coldwell in June 2025, we launched the Road Song Books brand for real. We are also inviting writers to submit their novellas and narrative non-fiction books to us in order to expand our catalogue and reach.
Other releases followed: Gentle November by Alan Edward Roberts in December 2025, and Into My Arms by Estelle Phillips in February 2026. More books to be announced for 2026.
The Road Song Books team is made up of Alan Edward Roberts (Creative lead, commissioning editor and author), Matthew U (editor and polymath), Chris R (design and typesetting), Cat T (publishing assistant intern), Steve T (website manager @ Federation Design), Rose R (illustrator), Sarah C (publicity) and David G (author and polymath).
GET IN TOUCH
We are looking for literary fiction, short story collections and narrative non-fiction. We want to hear from talented writers from all social backgrounds.
Fiction – Get to the front of the queue if you have written a coming of age tale, a social issues-led dramas, some folk horror, or potent ghost stories. If your story doesn’t fit any of these, try us anyway.
Narrative non-fiction – We don’t want to limit this. We know what we’ll publish when we see it. First-hand accounts of the UK dance music scene in the 80s/early 90s are high on my wish list. We are also interested in singular voices with a unique story to tell. You can either send us a short pitch or drop a full manuscript our way.
Short-story collections – Please drop us the full-collection, or if it is a work-in-progress your favourite completed ones.
Poetry collections/song lyric collections – Please send us the full-collection. We only accept finished manuscripts for poetry. No work-in-progress. We only expect to publish two poetry collections at most in our cycle.
No thank you – We’re very sorry but we don’t publish fan fiction, erotica, plays, screenplays, YA, graphic novels, children’s books, textbooks, cookery books, conspiracy theory screeds, political manifestos, or alt right / hard left pamphlets.
If you feel like your book is still a good fit, despite what we’ve said above sell yourself to us in a covering letter. We are a new publisher and we’ve only narrowed our focus because of resource and experience. Our submission guidelines are found on our Contact Us page, click on the button below.