Clevedon: Dyslexia-friendly publisher lands top authors deal

A publisher that specialises in books for adults with dyslexia has landed a deal to publish titles by bestselling authors.

Books on the Hill Press in Clevedon, North Somerset, uses a bigger and more spaced out format to help dyslexic readers.

Manager Alistair Sims, who can now publish works by popular authors such as Lee Child and Bernard Cornwell, said “dyslexia doesn’t go away once you’re an adult, it stays with you.”

Author Dr John Llewellyn Probert said anything that allows more people to read and enjoy fiction “is terribly important”, adding: “It was terrific to be asked to be a part of this.”

Mr Sims said: “For many years there’s been children’s books for dyslexia but there hasn’t been any thing for adults at all.

“Dyslexia doesn’t go away once you’re an adult, it stays with you.

“Three years ago, when we started, there wasn’t anything and we had to do something about it.

“We’ve had customers come in and look at the books and partly break down, because they’re going, ‘I can read this’ for the first time.

Dr Llewellyn Probert said he was “delighted” Mr Sims had been able to get “some big name authors” on board.

“Anything that allows more people to read and enjoy fiction is a terribly important thing,” he said.

“I was one of the first eight authors who were asked to be part of the imprint and I was very happy to do so.”

Author Thana Niveau said she was “delighted” to “get on board” and contribute stories to the project.

“We had no idea there were no dyslexic-friendly books for adults until Alastair told us,” she said.

“I think it’s a real shame if there’s any barrier to someone reading what they want to read and I had no idea they didn’t have dyslexic-friendly books for adults.

“It’s a real delight. I’m very proud of him.”