Flame Tree Publishing is an independent publisher of books, calendars and other stationery items, based in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

with an editorial office in New York. It focuses on art, music, lifestyle and fiction categories. Flame Tree creates content in the form of paper printed encyclopedias, guides and practical books and publishes them in different book, gift, stationery and digital markets worldwide. It has a number of license arrangements with museums, galleries and other licensors, including

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, V&A and

The Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. The publisher started releasing

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

s and launched a new fantasy, crime and science fiction classics imprint called Flame Tree 451. In 2015 Flame Tree launched a range of deluxe Gothic Fantasy titles combining new stories from open submissions and curated classic writing. In 2018 a new trade imprint fiction imprint called Flame Tree Press began to publish new novels in the horror and suspense, sf and fantasy and crime and mystery genres.

Origins

Flame Tree was established in 1992 as The Flame Tree Publishing Company, a part-time illustrated art book and gift packaging operation by Founder Nick Wells. In 1995 Wells left

HarperCollins Publishers HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

to turn Flame Tree into a full-time business, operating from an office in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

. The company name was changed to The Foundry Creative Media Company Ltd but Flame Tree Publishing was retained as the publishing imprint and brand. Managing Director Frances Bodiam joined in 1996. Wells and Bodiam continue to run the business. In 2012 The company name changed to Flame Tree Publishing Ltd and John Holloran and Ross Clayton of Marston Book Services Ltd invested to provide distribution and accounting services.

Activity

In the first few years Flame Tree's main activity was to create a range of packaged books for a series of corporate publishers, including

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

(25 of the original colour reference Collins Gems and two illustrated encyclopedias),

Dorling Kindersley Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...

(including 16 ''K.I.S.S. Guides'', such as ''Astrology'') and 24 of the then Letts Education's ''Success Guides'' to KS3, and GCSE During this period Flame Tree started to create and sell calendars and greeting cards to retail markets and has exhibited at the Spring Fair and Autumn International Gift Shows at the NEC since 1997. In 1998, Flame Tree moved into new premises on the borders of Hammersmith and Fulham, close to

The River Café (London) The River Café is a restaurant in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, specialising in Italian cuisine. It was owned and run by chefs Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray until Gray's death in 2010; s ...

and, at that time, a few minutes walk from several other publishers,

Virgin Books Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm ...

and

Constable & Robinson Constable & Robinson Ltd. is an imprint of Little, Brown which publishes fiction and non-fiction books and ebooks. Founded in Edinburgh in 1795 by Archibald Constable as Constable & Co., and by Nick Robinson as Robinson Publishing Ltd in 1983, ...

. Flame Tree started publishing into the UK and international markets, focusing on art, music, cookery and general reference. Among its first books were ''Guitar Facts, An Illustrated Guide'' () and ''Simple Cookery: Wok and Stir Fry'' () both of which demonstrate Flame Tree's method of creating practical content for everyday use. Step-by-step photos continue to be a feature of many of their publications. In 2015 Flame Tree moved to its current premises near the Kings Road in Fulham, by Putney Bridge tube station, coinciding with a greater concentration on art, music and fiction. Flame Tree exhibits at a number annual trade shows including the

London Book Fair The London Book Fair (LBF) is a large book-publishing trade fair held annually, usually in April, in London, England. LBF is a global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and di ...

, The Spring Fair International Gift Show,

Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: Frankfurter Buchmesse, FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. It is considered to be the most important book fair in the world for internationa ...

BookExpo America BookExpo America (commonly referred to within the book publishing industry as BEA) was an annual book trade fair in the United States. BEA is almost always held in a major city over four days in late May and/or early June. Nearly all significant ...

. and The Beijing International Bookfair. Flame Tree's brand ''The Art of Fine Gifts'' includes illustrated art books, art calendars and deluxe notebooks featuring licensed and created art by a wide range of modern artists and illustrators such as Josephine Wall, Kerim Beyit, Ann Stokes and Lesley Anne Ivory In 2019 Flame Tree and the Chinese media giant Phoenix Publishing and Media Group held a signing ceremony at the Beijing International Bookfair for a cooperation venture in the Chinese and English language markets.

Gothic, dark fantasy and science fiction

2015 saw the publication of the first titles in a new range of deluxe edition short story collections which combined new writing from submission calls online, and curated classic writing. Examples include ''Chilling Ghosts Short Stories'', ''Time Travel Short Stories'' and ''Agents & Spies Short Stories''. FLAME TREE PRESS logo

2018 sees the launch of Flame Tree Press a new trade imprint for novels in genre fiction, mainly horror, sf, dark fantasy and crime. First writers include

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since 1 ...

winner

John Everson John Everson (born March 14, 1966) is an American author of contemporary Horror fiction, horror, dark fantasy, science fiction and fantasy fiction. He is the author of thirteen novels and four short fiction collections, as well as three mini- ...

, Jonathan Janz and Brian Trent, with new writers and novels in translation from China. Ramsey Campbell endorsed the launch of the new list which included the publication of his own ''Thirteen Days by Sunset Beach''. In 2020 Flame Tree announced a partnership with Compelling Science Fiction magazine, a US publisher of plausible science fiction.

Trade bodies

Flame Tree is a member of the

Independent Publishers Guild The Independent Publishers Guild (IPG), founded in 1962, is an association set up to support the needs of independent firms in the publishing industry in the United Kingdom, with a current membership of more than 600 companies. The IPG is a not-for ...

(IPG) and The Greeting Card Association (GCE).

Notable books

* ''Guitar Chords'' (). Edited by Jake Jackson. * ''World Art: The Definitive Illustrated Guide'' (). Foreword by Mike O'Mahony. * ''Animation Art'' Author Jerry Beck. Forewords by

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg (; born December 21, 1950) is an American filmmaker, animator, and media proprietor. He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994. After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and CE ...

and

Bill Plympton Bill Plympton (born April 30, 1946) is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Awards-nominated animated short '' Your Face'' and his series of shorts featuring a dog character starting ...

. * ''Dragon Art'' (). Author Graeme Aymer. Foreword by John Howe. * ''Art Deco: The Golden Age of Graphic Art and Design'' (). Author: Michael Robinson. * ''William Morris: Artist, Craftsman, Pioneer'' (). Author: N.M. Wells and R. Ormiston. * ''British History, An Illustrated Guide''. Editor: Professor

Eric J. Evans Eric J. Evans (2 July 1945 – 27 March 2022) was a British historian who was Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Lancaster and was Chair (1991–98) and vice-president (since 1998) of the Social History Society. Education Hi ...

. * ''Kings, Queens, Chiefs & Rulers''. Editor: Professor

David Loades David Michael Loades (19 January 1934 – 21 April 2016)Debretts.com

. * ''For the Love of Cupcakes'' (). Author: Ann Nicol. * ''The Definitive Encyclopedia of Rock'' (). Foreword by

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic D ...

. * ''Guitar Heroes'' (). Foreword by

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...

. * ''Led Zeppelin Revealed'' (). Author: Jason Draper. Foreword by

Paul du Noyer Paul Du Noyer (born Paul Anthony Du Noyer; 21 May 1954) is an English rock journalist and author. He was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and educated at the London School of Economics. He has written and edited for the music magazines '' NME'', ' ...

. * ''Classical Music Encyclopedia''. (). Edited by

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...

, Foreword by

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...

. * ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music''. (). Foreword by Sir

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

. * ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Opera''. (). Edited by

, Foreword by

Philip Langridge Philip Gordon Langridge (16 December 1939 – 5 March 2010)Millington (7 March 2010) was an English tenor, considered to be among the foremost exponents of English opera and oratorio. Early life Langridge was born in Hawkhurst, Kent, educ ...

. * ''The Definitive Guitar Handbook''. (). Foreword by

Paco Peña Paco Peña (born 1 June 1942) is a Spanish flamenco composer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the world's foremost traditional flamenco players. Biography Born in Córdoba, Spain, as Francisco Peña Pérez, Paco Peña began learning to pl ...

. * ''The Sorrows'' () by Jonathan Janz *''The Influence'' () by Ramsey Campbell

Notable calendar ranges

Erté Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials (, EHR TEH). He was a 20th-century artist and designer in an a ...

(Romain de Tirtoff) *

Alphonse Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decorat ...

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...

calendars and diaries. * V&A calendars and diaries. *

The British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documen ...

calendars and diaries.
Angela Harding
calendars and diaries

Notable eBooks

* ''Interpreting Dreams'' (). Author: Adam Fronteras. General Editor: Rashid Ahmad. * ''The Songwriters Rhyming Dictionary'' (). Author: Jake Jackson. * ''World War II'' (). Authors: Jon and Diane Sutherland. Introduction: Paul Cornish.
Animation Art
Author and Editor Jerry Beck.

References

{{Reflist

External links

flametreepublishing.com

flametreepress.com
British speculative fiction publishers Publishing companies established in 1992 Book publishing companies based in London Visual arts publishing companies Science fiction publishers Ebook suppliers