About

Bedford Square Publishers is an independent publisher of fiction and non-fiction, founded in 2022 in the historic streets of Bedford Square London and the sea mist shrouded green of Bedford Square Brighton.

Our goal is to discover irresistible stories and voices that illuminate our world.

We are passionate about connecting our authors to readers across the globe and our independence allows us to do this in original and nimble ways.

The team at Bedford Square Publishers has years of experience and we aim to use that knowledge and creative insight, alongside evolving technology, to reach the right readers for our books. From the ones who read a lot, to the ones who don’t consider themselves readers, we aim to find those who will love our books and talk about them as much as we do.

We are hunting for vital new voices from all backgrounds – with books that take the reader to new places and transform perceptions of the world we live in.

Meet the Team

Jamie Hodder-Williams

CEO

Jamie started his career working in a Scottish bookshop, then joined Hodder & Stoughton where he worked with many bestselling and award-winning authors including David Nicholls, David Mitchell, Andrew Miller, Graham Norton, Maggie O’Farrell, Abi Daré, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, Stephen King, Mick Herron, John Connolly, Sophie Hannah, Mike Gayle, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ella Mills, Rolf Dobelli and Matthew Syed. 

His favourite books are Slow Horses, The Bone People, Cloud Atlas and One Day.

Laura Fletcher

Commercial Director

Over the last 20 years Laura has worked at Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins and Hachette UK. Throughout her career she has been fortunate to work with some incredible authors and their estates including Stuart MacBride, Bernard Cornwell, Agatha Christie, JRR Tolkien, George RR Martin, Sir Billy Connolly, Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly and Miriam Margolyes.

Some of her favourite books include The Time Traveler’s Wife, Gone Girl and The Road.

Carolyn Mays

Publisher

Carolyn worked as a scout for Maria Campbell Associates in New York, and over a career of 30 years was Publishing Director and then Managing Director of Hodder & Stoughton. She edited and published numerous number one bestselling authors including Jodi Picoult, Jasper Fforde, Sophie Hannah and Peter Robinson.

Maxim Jakubowski

Editor-at-Large

Maxim Jakubowski is a well-known novelist, critic and reviewer whose columns have appeared in Time Out, the Guardian and Crime Time, and the owner of leading London bookshop Murder One for 20 years. He has also edited many award-winning anthologies, and has spent several decades in publishing roles in France and UK, where he published many bestsellers.  He has been awarded the Anthony award, the CWA’s Red Herrings and the David L. Goodis award and chaired the CWA until 2023.

Photo credit is: Fenris Oswin

Anastasia Boama-Aboagye

Senior Marketing Executive

Anastasia started her career as a digital marketing executive at a creative boutique, before pursuing her publishing career by undertaking a publishing apprenticeship at Bloomsbury, where she became the marketing and publicity assistant in the Special Interest team and gained invaluable experience. She is passionate about the impact of written words on people’s understanding of different lives and experiences and the space books give to  amplify lesser-heard voices and stories.

Her favourite authors are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Jodi Picoult. 

Polly Halsey

Production Editor

Polly studied English at Sussex University and has worked for Short Books and Pearson. She is co-ordinating all the editorial work and printings for Bedford Square and No Exit Press. Her favourite authors are Arundhati Roy, Vladimir Nabokov and Yvonne Vera.

Rebecca Weigler

Editor

Rebecca studied English at Royal Holloway, University of London, before pursuing a masters in Publishing at UCL, where she did an internship with BolognaBookPlus. She is assisting in editorial work. Her favourite authors are Emily Henry and L. M. Montgomery.

Claudia Bullmore

Press Officer

Claudia studied History at Oxford University. Before joining Bedford Square Publishers, she worked as a freelance reader for a literary scout.  After starting as an intern, she now works in publicity.  Her favourite authors are David Sedaris, Edna O’Brien and Zadie Smith.