Quindrie Press Closing Down
Get their books through 2026
Some sad news for Quindrie Press. It must have been a tough decision to make, and I encourage you to visit their site to explore their excellent selection of books, available in both digital and print formats.
I have made the incredibly difficult decision to close down Quindrie Press.
This may seem sudden, but it’s been something that’s been percolating in the back of my mind for a while now. There are a huge number of factors that led to this decision and I don’t make it lightly.
I first reached out to creators in March 2020 (literal days before everything went to shit) to see if people would be interested in taking a gamble on an idea I had. In spring 2021, I launched the Kickstarter campaign for the first Quindrie books, featuring work from Letty Wilson, Thomas Heitler, Jem Milton, and Ver. It was a massive success and Quindrie Press solidified its presence in Scotland and indie comics nearly overnight.
For the first round of comics, I applied for funding from Creative Scotland for £12,000, but was rejected. The first Kickstarter went on to raise nearly £40,000. Since then, Quindrie Press has published 17 books and worked with over 75 creators, writers, and illustrators. We have raised almost exactly £150,000 on Kickstarter. Quindrie books are in homes, libraries, schools, and shops all over the world. Our comics have been nominated for Eisner, Ignatz, Selkie, Broken Frontier, and ComicScene awards. We have raised £1,146 for Scottish charities supporting marginalised communities, and £3,294.17 for UK organisations that support trans youth. We ran the Càirdean Comics program to use the Quindrie Press website to spotlight and sell more self-published comics from Scottish creators. We had signings and talks, stamp rallies, and even a Quindrie creator pop-up event. I am immensely proud of what I have managed to do through Quindrie in the relatively short time I’ve been running it.
Quindrie has been a huge part of my life since March 2020, and other than hired editors and prepress I am the only one behind the scenes. I’ve absolutely loved the work. But it has also come at a huge personal cost; I have never made a living wage from Quindrie Press and the stress of being a solo publisher began to affect me a long time ago. Print costs are rising, import fees are rising, international shipping fees are rising, international shipping rules and tariffs are becoming more hostile to small businesses, sales are dwindling as our economic crisis worsens, and the income I would need to push Quindrie to the next level of success just isn’t there. I handle applications, project coordination, lettering, crowdfunding campaigns, marketing, social media, shipping, customer communication, events, and wholesale completely by myself. Distributors are either too expensive for my small business or my business is too small to be worth their while - but without a distributor, I can’t make that money or expand. I’ve spent far too many sleepless nights worrying about Quindrie. I’m not alone in feeling the burden that comes with being a small publisher; only a day after I decided it was time to close Quindrie, Kristen Alfaro of Tilted Axis Press released a statement on behalf of small press publishing, highlighting the difficulties we face in this industry. It’s heartbreaking to see how many businesses these issues affect, but also a relief to know that I am not alone in this. I have worked hard on this business for almost 6 years and it’s just not sustainable any more. I think it’s time to close down this version of Quindrie Press while it’s still healthy and I have a good relationship with publishing and with comics.
I want to give a massive thank you to Alex Assan and Hari Conner for being nothing but supportive of Quindrie Press from the very beginning and for working so hard as editors on all the original Quindrie books. Their friendship and drive has been vital to Quindrie’s success and their own comic work is always inspirational, please check out both their websites. I want to also thank Jules Valera for their hard work and commitment to making comics beautiful; I loved working with them on the 2025 collection. If you need a prepress technician (that’s someone to help set up your pages for print so they come out looking the best they possibly can), I can’t recommend Jules enough. Thank you to Ell J Walker for the hours of stress venting they endured, to Brian Tyrrell and Tab Kimpton for being fellow publishers who knew exactly what I was going through, and to Spire, for everything, always. And of course, thank you to Letty, Thomas, Jem, and Ver for taking a chance on me all those years ago, and to Ell, Faye, Norrie, Otava, Beth, Julie, Chris, Jack, Cara, Lio, Dominique, Ashling, Helena, Judy, and all the contributors of When I Was Me for trusting me with your work since.
My final thank you is to you, the Quindrie Press readers. I was always surprised and touched to see just how many names returned again and again to support each new project, and how many people I’d see year after year at conventions who couldn’t buy anything because they already had our complete catalogue. It was also touching to see how many new names and faces came up constantly, as new readers gave our books a chance or went all out and snapped up nearly every title we have. I’ve heard countless stories online and in person from readers who loved a story, discovered a creator for the first time, started reading indie comics because of Quindrie, started making comics because of Quindrie—and that makes the blood, sweat, and honestly literal tears I put into this publisher all worth it.
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