Penny Authors: From a Penny to a Publishing Footprint
A record of what we have built, where our books have travelled, and what others have said along the way
There is a point in any project when you stop and look back.
Not because everything is finished.
Not because you have achieved everything you set out to achieve.
But because you suddenly realise that something which began as a small idea has become something much bigger than the idea you first imagined.
For Penny Authors, that moment has arrived.
In 2017, the journey began with the publication of Anthology One.
What followed was not simply another book.
It became a continuing commitment to give people the opportunity to write, to be published, to see their words in print and, perhaps most importantly, to know that their voice matters.
Today, Penny Authors has reached Book of Lived Volume 12.
Between those volumes, the project has also produced specialist anthologies and collections, including He Poetry, She Poetry, Cornish Poets and BAME Poetry, as well as celebrating five years of the project.
What began with a single anthology has become a publishing journey lasting almost a decade.
And the books have travelled further than we sometimes realise.
More than a website
One of the things we wanted to establish recently was a simple question:
What evidence is there outside the Penny Authors website that this project actually exists, has been published, has reached readers and has become part of a wider literary and publishing landscape?
So we started looking.
The results were revealing.
We found that Penny Authors books have been independently catalogued and listed by booksellers and book platforms in the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Korea and the United States/international market.
That includes listings through organisations such as Foyles, Readings, Booktopia, AbeBooks, Tertulia, Bookscape and YES24, alongside independent publishing and book platforms.
These listings are important.
They do not necessarily constitute literary reviews — and we are not going to pretend that they do.
But they demonstrate something else:
the books exist beyond our own website.
They have ISBNs.
They have publication records.
They have entered international book databases.
They can be found by readers searching outside the Penny Authors network.
That is a significant achievement for a project which began as a grassroots publishing initiative.
From 2017 onwards
The publishing record itself tells a story.
Anthology One appeared in 2017.
The project continued through subsequent volumes of Book of Lived, with independently traceable records for volumes including V5, V8, V9, V10 and V11.
And now we have arrived at Volume 12.
That continuity matters.
Many small publishing projects begin with enormous enthusiasm and disappear after one or two books.
Penny Authors did not.
It continued.
Volume after volume.
Writer after writer.
Story after story.
And each volume became part of a growing archive.
From Britain to Australia, India and Korea
One of the most unexpected things to emerge from this research has been the geographical footprint.
Penny Authors books can be found through Australian booksellers including Readings and Booktopia.
V11 has also appeared through Bookscape in India.
V9 is listed by YES24 in South Korea.
V11 can be found through AbeBooks and Tertulia, extending the discoverability of the project into international markets.
This does not mean that Penny Authors has suddenly become a global commercial publishing house.
That isn't the claim.
The more modest — and more interesting — point is this:
words written by ordinary people in a grassroots anthology project in Britain have travelled into international publishing catalogues.
That is something worth recording.
Cornwall became part of the story
The story has also developed in another direction.
Penny Authors has increasingly become connected with Cornwall and the independent arts and literary community.
Our books have been listed through Cornish independent book and gallery outlets, including Terrace Gallery Cornwall / Hermitage Press, where Penny Authors appears within the wider community of local authors.
We have also produced Cornish Poets, bringing together writers connected with Cornwall.
This is particularly meaningful because Penny Authors was never created simply to manufacture books.
It was created around people.
And wherever those people are, the project develops another connection.
When the writers speak
Perhaps the most meaningful evidence is not found in a catalogue at all.
It comes from the writers themselves.
Over the years, contributors have described what being published through Penny Authors has meant to them.
Gary Curson wrote that he could not recommend Penny Authors enough for giving people a chance and a voice.
Michelle Berry described seeing her work in print alongside other authors as being “beyond my expectations.”
Tyrone Warren described the opportunity as “the perfect prescription to carry on.”
Julie Ann Wheeler wrote warmly about the poetry appearing in the anthology.
These are not professional literary reviews.
We don't present them as such.
They are something different.
They are the voices of people who actually experienced the project.
And for Penny Authors, that may be more important.
There is also a record of the gatherings
The books have not existed only as objects on a bookshelf.
They have brought people together.
An independent account by writer and contributor Angie Butler, published through West Country Giants, records the launch of Book of Lived V10 at Redwing Gallery in Cornwall.
Her account describes contributors and supporters coming together for the launch and readings.
That is another important part of the Penny Authors story.
A book can be printed by a machine.
A publishing project becomes something else when it brings people together.
What we haven't found
There is another part of this research that is worth being honest about.
We looked specifically for reviews and references to Penny Authors through WOW! Women On Writing.
At present, we cannot substantiate a published WOW! review or feature about Penny Authors.
We also have not found a large body of conventional reviews from major newspapers or literary journals.
And we don't intend to manufacture a reputation that isn't there.
Penny Authors has never been built around chasing literary prizes or critical acclaim.
It has been built around something different:
giving people a chance.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't seek wider recognition.
It means that when we talk about what we have achieved, we should be accurate.
So, what have we actually built?
Perhaps this is the question that matters most.
Since 2017, Penny Authors has:
- continued publishing year after year;
- produced twelve volumes of Book of Lived;
- created specialist anthologies;
- brought together writers from different backgrounds and generations;
- developed a publishing archive;
- established ISBN and international catalogue records;
- reached book platforms in several countries;
- developed connections within the Cornish literary and arts community;
- provided writers with opportunities to see their work in print;
- created public launches and readings;
- built a community around writing rather than simply selling books.
And there is another measure which cannot easily be put into a spreadsheet.
People kept coming back.
People kept writing.
People kept submitting.
People kept encouraging one another.
And the project kept moving forward.
From a penny to something much bigger
The name Penny Authors was never intended to suggest that the writers were worth a penny.
Quite the opposite.
It reflected the idea that something small can have value.
A penny can be overlooked.
A penny can be dismissed.
But collect enough pennies and something begins to happen.
The same is true of voices.
One writer may be overlooked.
One poem may never reach a publisher.
One person's story may never appear in a conventional literary journal.
But bring those voices together and something begins to emerge.
An anthology.
Then another.
Then another.
Then a publishing archive.
Then a community.
Then a legacy.
That is what Penny Authors has become.
And now — Volume 12
As we approach the release of Book of Lived Volume 12, we are not claiming that the journey is complete.
Far from it.
We are simply taking a moment to recognise how far the project has travelled.
From the first anthology in 2017 to Volume 12.
From grassroots beginnings to international book catalogues.
From individual writers to a growing collective.
From a small publishing idea to an archive of lived experience.
There is still much more to do.
There are more writers to reach.
More voices to publish.
More stories to preserve.
More people who have something to say but have never been given the opportunity to say it.
So we continue.
Penny by penny.
Writer by writer.
Book by book.
And the next chapter is already being written.
A note on our research
This article is based on publicly available catalogue listings, bookseller records, independent websites, contributor testimonials and publishing records identified during our 2026 review of the Penny Authors project.
Where a source represents a catalogue listing rather than a literary review, we have deliberately described it as such.
We believe the history of Penny Authors should be recorded honestly — not exaggerated, but not understated either.
Almost ten years. Twelve volumes. Hundreds of voices. One continuing purpose: Championing the spirit within.
Website
#PennyAuthors #BookOfLived #Volume12 #MAPublisher #ChampioningTheSpiritWithin #GrassrootsPublishing #IndependentPublishing #IndependentAuthors #EmergingWriters #PoetryCommunity #PoetryAnthology #PoetryPublishing #WritersCommunity #WritingCommunity #SupportWriters #GiveWritersAVoice #EveryVoiceMatters #LivedExperience #VoicesMatter #CornishWriters #Cornwall #CornishPoetry #UKWriters #BritishPoetry #LiteraryCommunity #BookPublishing #BookOfLivedV12
