A publishing company built around one idea
That an author should finish the process owning their book completely — the rights, the royalties, the files and the accounts.
Arkedia Publishers is a London-registered book writing and publishing company. We were founded on a straightforward observation: the self-publishing industry had quietly filled up with companies that take a percentage of an author's royalties in perpetuity, keep the publishing accounts in their own name, and hand back a book the author does not fully control.
We decided to do the opposite, and to be boring about it. You pay once, for work. Copyright assigns to you in writing. Retailer accounts are opened in your name. Royalties are paid directly into your bank account, and we never see them.
Since then we have delivered over a thousand books for more than twelve hundred authors in over forty countries — memoirs written from hospital bedsides, business books that turned into speaking careers, children's series, thrillers, academic monographs and a surprising number of family histories that will never be sold to anyone.
We work with a network of more than 150 specialist writers, editors, designers and narrators, matched to each project by genre rather than availability. Everyone who touches your material signs a non-disclosure agreement individually.
We are not the cheapest option and we do not pretend to be. What we are is specific: a fixed price, a dated schedule, a free sample before you commit, and a book at the end of it that belongs entirely to you.
Four things we will not compromise on
Honest before enthusiastic
If we think a book will not sell, or that you need a cheaper service than the one you asked for, we say so on the first call. It costs us work and earns us referrals.
Craft over volume
We take on a limited number of projects at a time because a ghostwriter juggling nine books writes nine mediocre ones.
Your book, your rights
Every right, every royalty, every file and every account belongs to you. This is not a feature we added — it is the reason the company exists.
Plain language
No industry jargon designed to make simple things sound complicated. You will always know what you are paying for and why.
Books we have helped into the world
What authors say afterwards
English is my second language and I was worried the edit would flatten how I write. It did the opposite — it removed what was getting in the way. The copy edit also caught two factual errors my own department had missed.
I was quoted in euros from the first page, which sounds small and was not — I could actually compare. The project ran to the schedule they gave me at the start, and the book has brought in more consulting enquiries than my website ever did.
The book was supposed to be a business card. It has turned into the reason people call. Twelve speaking bookings in the first year, all traced back to someone reading it. They understood that was the goal and built the whole thing around it.
Tell us about your book
A 45-minute call, no charge and no pressure. You will leave with a realistic timeline, a fixed price and an honest view of whether the book is worth writing.