Hiive Books is a small press set up to publish books on a number of computer related topics, that was informally founded in 2006 by Andrew Rollings - noted author of the award-winning best-seller, Game Architecture and Design (with Dave Morris), and On Game Design (with Ernest Adams).

The catalyst for the formation of this small press was the release of his first entirely self-published book, The ZX Spectrum Book - 1982 to 199x to universal acclaim in the early part of 2007. With the initial printing selling out within a year solely on word-of-mouth, Hiive Books has gone on to publish the second book in the Golden Years series, The Commodore 64 Book - 1982 to 199x in early 2008.

Amongst the other exciting developments for the fledgling small press is an extension of the Golden Years series to cover all popular retro platforms of the 80s and 90s, as well as a number of other specialist titles which will be announced in the coming months.

As an author, Andrew Rollings knows only too well the raw deal most authors get when dealing with the big publishing houses. Tiny royalties and 'cog-in-the-machine' treatment is only bearable for so long, and so authors for Hiive Books will be pleasantly surprised at the difference. They will also be surprised at the difference in what is expected of them. Larger publishing houses can only afford to publish guaranteed huge-sellers, but a small press such as this one can take more risks and work more directly with an author. This process isn't entirely without give-and-take, as a small press certainly cannot afford the advances that larger publishers can provide. However, for a more rewarding experience - and the chance to get involved in every stage of a book's production (and earn a correspondingly larger share of the proceeds) - authors could do far worse than give us a try.

If you're an author and believe you have a book in which we would be interested, go ahead and contact us with your proposal.

If you want to read more about the submission process, what type of books we are looking for, and exactly what is expected of an author for Hiive Books then go ahead and click here.