The world’s biggest publishers dream of signing up best-selling authors like Peter James, Lee Child, Karin Slaughter and Bernard Cornwell. Now a small Bristol publisher specializing in books for dyslexic adults has struck a major deal to publish novellas by each of these authors.
Books on the Hill Press is the UK’s first dyslexia-only publisher. The books use a different format, including a larger font and greater spacing between lines – adjustments that reduce processing demands and “unlock the joy of reading a printed book” for dyslexic readers.
The publishing house is a one-man band led by Dr. Alistair Sims, 37, who also owns an independent bookshop in Clevedon, near Bristol. Diagnosed as dyslexic at the age of nine, he could not read until he was thirteen. Thanks to a dyslexia unit at his school, he went on to study history and archeology at university and obtained his PhD.
He founded his publishing company three years ago because he was struggling to find books specifically designed for adult readers with dyslexia.
It is estimated that around 10% of the UK population is dyslexic. Although a whole range of books are published for dyslexic children, there is almost nothing available for anyone over the age of 14.
In his bookstore, Sims has certain shelves labeled “speed reading, dyslexic friendly.” He said: ‘I’ve had people come into the shop and once they looked at those books they said ‘that’s something special to me, I can read this.’ A few people even cried. So it does make a difference in people’s lives.”
Crime writer Peter James recalled similar reactions when his novella, The Perfect Murder, was offered in a dyslexic-friendly version: “A middle-aged lady came to me in tears and said that for years she could only read children’s books. books and she was too ashamed to ever see one read in public. But now… she could enjoy my novellas and those of other authors and was especially proud to be seen as an adult reader.”
Historical novelist Bernard Cornwell said, “I hope my book with Books on the Hill will also encourage people to read more books.”
World Dyslexia Awareness Week starts on October 7 and Sims is campaigning to change attitudes within the book trade. He calls on publishers to produce 1% of their fiction in a dyslexia-friendly format and booksellers to give such books the shelf space they deserve.
He said: ‘People assume that if a book is for dyslexic adults it is simplified in terms of story and language, but that is not the case. We don’t really change the content, we change the formatting to make it more readable.”
His book covers look like novellas from one of the “big publishers,” he said, “because we want to make them look as good as possible so they don’t look out of place.”
Sims and his sister, who is also dyslexic, were among those who conducted extensive testing on print sizes. Their texts are left-aligned instead of justified, which makes a big difference for dyslexics, for example.
Noting that readers often complain about the small font size in traditional books, he said: “I have people who are not dyslexic look at our dyslexia books and say, ‘That’s easier for me too,’ people who have had a stroke and dementia to have. .”
Sims believes it is up to the big publishers to focus on high volumes, which are too expensive for a small company like his to produce. He said: “It is up to them to bring these dyslexic books to adults, with our help and our presence. We continue to write novellas and shorter stories. Moreover, some people are afraid of big books.”
Speculating on why publishers haven’t seen this opportunity, he said, “Part of it is that a lot of people in publishing don’t have a problem with reading.”
He expressed his delight that Bloomsbury is now responding to this need. Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is one of the dyslexia editions with “a large, more readable font” launching on October 31.
A spokesperson for Bloomsbury said: “There are very few dyslexia-friendly books for adults to choose from on the market at the moment… Dyslexic readers have a choice of e-readers, but sometimes people just want to be able to read a physical copy of their favorite book. .”