Steve Dixon never planned to start his own book publishing company.

But life can take an unexpected turn.

In Steve’s case, it began on a Saturday morning.

The father of four was struggling following one blow after another.

He’d moved to Dorset to take up a new job – but it had been put on hold because of the pandemic.

Plans to stay with friends had fallen through after they suffered Covid symptoms.

And, to cap it all, he suffered from depression, anxiety, and a mild-form of temporal lobe epilepsy.

And so to that Saturday morning.

Unable to sleep, and with his brain racing, the former marketing manager turned to his computer and started writing.

Poem after poem about how he was feeling.

The words just poured out, and still do to this day.

Steve, 46, said: “I just found it great therapy.

“It’s amazing how letting things out can be so therapeutic.

“It doesn’t cure you, but it does help.

“It can be upsetting to loved ones to see, or hear, how you feel.

“But you have to be selfish, initially, when it comes to your own mental health, and take those first small steps to help yourself on the road to recovery.

“Without this sudden ‘inspiration’ to start writing?

“Well, actually I think it’s best not to think what would have happened.”

To start with Steve’s writing was, in his words, “to clear the fog from my head.”

But when friends and family started to read – and like – the poems he decided to publish them in a book.

The title?

Poems from a Depressed Mind.

Steve said: “I spent a lot of time researching how to get published.

“The chances of getting a traditional publishing contract were one in a million, however, there were other routes to try.

“I could self-publish or I could try and get a hybrid contract from a publisher to help see this new dream become a reality.

“I found a publisher in the US willing to take me on but the costs involved I thought were way too much.

“Instead, I set about starting a Kickstarter campaign.

“Within three weeks I had raised the £1,000 needed to start my illustrious writing career.

“In the meantime, because the poems were of all shapes, sizes, themes, and genres, I also had a good collection of poems for children gathering together.

“So, I thought, why not try and see if you can raise money and get these published too?”

Steve, who has four daughters aged 18 to 27 and one grandchild with another on the way, found an illustrator on the freelance website, Upwork.

He said: “I literally paid them any spare money I had to help bring my children’s book, Tigers Really Aren’t That Scary! to life.

“I also purchased a copy of the Children’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook and emailed every agent and publisher and resource I could.

“After rejection after rejection, it did yield more interest from a few publishers but at a cost of between £1,000 and £1,800 to get just my children’s book published.

“It was obvious another route had to be the best option – if indeed there was another path I could go down.

“So I decided why not start my own business using the Kickstarter money?

“Get both the books published for the price of one, as well as, maybe, help others who were looking to get their works published.”

And that was the birth of Pretty Pug Publishing.

Today Steve’s limited company has five authors, including himself.

Five books – three children and two adult fiction – are available for sale or pre-order through its website.

Books are also sold through Amazon and will be in the newly opening PEN Gallery in Kingland Crescent, Poole.

Pretty Pug Publishing is a hybrid publisher which means it’s like a traditional publisher with two key exceptions:

• The author subsidises the cost of publishing.
• The author is not given an advance on any royalties.

But, said Steve: “We work together with the author, as a partnership.

“We will only take on manuscripts we believe in (unlike most self-publishing establishments) and will help the author through every step of the publishing process.

​“Unlike a traditional publishing contract, as the upfront investment is from the author, the royalties will be much higher, usually at 50 per cent.

“We aren’t just looking for any old author who is willing to pay us.

“Publishing under our own imprint we want to ensure a quality end product hits the digital shelves.

“That includes everything from the cover to the editing and layout to, most importantly, the quality page-turning content of the book.”

Poole-based Pretty Pug Publishing is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association and adheres to its nine-point guidelines for legitimate hybrid publishing.

As for the type of books, Steve’s company is happy to publish, he said: “We are open to submissions from any genre, fiction or non-fiction.

“We want to be gripped from the start.

“Make us want to read more.

“If you can do that, then there are readers out there that also want the next book they cannot put down.”

It’s early days and Steve admits that he relies on income brought in by his partner Katharine, an agent for voiceover artists, to make ends meet at present.

But, he said: “I feel liberated at where I now find myself.

“Only the other day, Katharine said to me: ‘Look how far you’ve come since last year.

“At Pretty Pug Publishing our vision is to have a happy stable of authors, selling their books and getting the personal touch they deserve.

“We can’t guarantee our authors they’ll be the next J K Rowling, but we – and they – can dream!”

• Pretty Pug Publishing has partnered with Poole-based charity SPRING Support and is donating 25 per cent of all sales profits from its newly published children’s book Tigers Really Aren’t That Scary! The book can be ordered via the website here or Amazon.
• prettypug.co.uk