Myriad Editions is an independent publisher of original literary fiction and graphic novels, and producer of the acclaimed 'state of the world' infographic atlases.
After over a decade as a successful packager of the atlas series, we established our own imprint in order to showcase new writers and artists, build fresh audiences for their work, and establish a literary niche against the mainstream. Myriad is quickly building a reputation as an innovative publisher committed to selecting and nurturing talented authors who often go on to be nominated for, or to win, awards.
In celebration of Myriad's 20th anniversary this year, we have launched the 9th edition of our flagship title, The State of the World Atlas. Whether we are curating information on the most pressing issues facing the world today, introducing exciting and original new novelists, or providing a platform for truly innovative visual storytelling, we publish books we believe in and strive to achieve excellence in all three fields.
Our fiction list includes some of the most outstanding debuts of the past few years, from crime to literary fiction. We recently launched the career of Elizabeth Haynes, whose debut novel was Amazon’s Best Book of the Year 2011 and selected for TV Book Club 2012. Into the Darkest Corner has sold over 200,000 copies in the UK alone and is now a New York Times bestseller. A film is underway and translation rights have been sold into more than 30 countries.
Among other successful Myriad debuts are London Triptych by Jonathan Kemp (winner of the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award), Glasshopper by Isabel Ashdown (Observer Best Debut Novels of the Year and Evening Standard Best Books of the Year), A Kind of Vanishing by Lesley Thomson (winner of The People’s Book Prize), The Cloths of Heaven by Sue Eckstein (dramatised on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour) and Genie and Paul by Natasha Soobramanien (Guardian Books of the Year and Foyles’ Best Fiction of 2012). Our books regularly appear on the Best of the Year lists and prize listings.
Now established as one of the most thought-provoking and characterful lists in the UK, Myriad's graphics' list brings together a distinctive and diverse selection of unconventional viewpoints, controversial opinions, new voices and new ways of seeing. Comics, sequential art, narrative illustration, graphic novels – call them what you will, we publish some of today's most exciting cartoonists, complementing the topical, contemporary focus of our fiction and atlas lists.
In 2011 Myriad organised the First Graphic Novel Competition with judges including Ian Rankin, Bryan Talbot, Hannah Berry and Steve Bell. Over the next two years, Myriad will publish the winning entry, The Black Project by Gareth Brookes, as well as runners up Hannah Eaton and Ian Williams (aka Thom Ferrier). Now a biennial event, the next First Graphic Novel Competition will be launched in July 2013 and judged in January 2014.
As part of our mission to support and encourage aspiring writers, we collaborate with universities, colleges and other arts organisations to initiate creative projects. We joined forces with West Dean College to launch an annual prize for a narrative work in progress, the Writer’s Retreat Competition, now in its fourth year. In 2012 we partnered with the University of Sussex to launch First Fictions, a festival of events to explore new writing and new forms, and an opportunity for audiences to engage with authors. We have worked closely with the WEA to design a series of creative writing weekend masterclasses, each led by a Myriad author, and the first 'Write Now' weekend will take place later this year.
We have embraced digital publishing in order to reach out to new audiences, co-producing the interactive flash fictions app, Quick Fictions, with Aimer Media and the University of Sussex. An evolution in digital storytelling, Quick Fictions is designed be continually developing, exploring interactive ways to curate fiction and responding to current affairs.
We publish up to six novels and three graphic books each year. Find out about our submissions policy for fiction here and for graphics here. For all the latest news and events, follow us on Twitter @MyriadEditions.
Our award-winning atlases are unique visual surveys of economic, political and social trends. By ingeniously transforming statistical data into valuable, user-friendly resources, they make a range of global issues – from climate change to the Middle East – accessible to general readers, students and professionals alike.
Myriad sets a standard for quality, clarity, creativity and analysis. Our atlases are consistently well-reviewed and honoured with prestigious awards. They are also used by newspapers and magazines for value-added editorial. We have created bespoke thematic posters for a variety of publications, including the UK’s Independent, Ireland’s Sunday Tribune, New Scientist and Geographical Magazine.
Myriad's core title is the definitive reference book on the way we live now, The State of the World Atlas. This magnificent visual survey of current events and global trends is widely hailed as revolutionary in both form and content, marking a radical departure from conventional cartography. Authored by leading international peace researcher Dan Smith OBE, the atlas has sold over 700,000 copies in different languages around the world.
Myriad’s atlas series is sold worldwide through publishers including Penguin and the University of California Press in the USA, Earthscan and the New Internationalist in the UK, Fischer Taschenbuch in Germany, Editions Autrement and Éditions Armand Colin in France, Maruzen in Japan, Publifolha in Brazil, Gleerups in Sweden, Sigma in Taiwan and Pajera in Thailand.
In 2012 we launched Myriad's Factmapper Design Studio to offer our infographic expertise to a broader audience. Our highly skilled team of editors, designers and cartographers has developed a fast and highly effective way of conveying large amounts of information through the medium of the map. Drawing on 20 years' experience of creating special projects for the UN and other international organizations, we gather, analyse and creatively display data – in print and online – to help disseminate information for public benefit and provide tools to effect positive social change.
Our regular commissions reflect a track record of fruitful collaborations as well as the success of our atlas formula to provide remarkably cost-effective, reader-friendly and beautifully produced reference material. Myriad's mapping concept has already proved to be a great success for The World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, the American Cancer Society, the CDC Foundation and the Nile Basin Initiative.
You can follow new global developments with facts and figures from the latest atlases on Twitter @factmapper.
