Independent literary house · est. 2019
Books worth keeping, made to be read twice.
Nivakana publishes fiction, poetry and essays with the patience of a small house and the reach of a large one. Seven imprints. One standard.
Shortlisted six times for the Wren Prize · Rights sold in 31 territories
Featured publications
The season, in six books.
Mini Smiles: Sea World
Mini Smiles: Mandala Magic
Mini Smiles: Flora Fun
Mini Smiles: Fruity & Veggie
Mini Smiles: Tasty Doodles
Mini Smiles: Wonder Scape
Inside a Mini Coloring Book
Every page is printed but unfinished. The colour is the part you bring.
Our philosophy
We do not publish many books. We publish the ones we could not talk ourselves out of — then we stay with them long after the launch, because a book's life is measured in decades, not in its first fortnight.
The story behind the books
A life that became a library.
Dr Sonali Joshi
Sonali Joshi's journey of resilience, healing, hope, and transformation has inspired authors to capture her story through their own words. These books reflect different chapters of her life — from surviving cancer to discovering strength, purpose, creativity, and happiness through healing.
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Surviving cancer
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Discovering strength
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Purpose and creativity
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Happiness through healing
Imprints
Seven panels of one window.
Each imprint carries a fixed hue from the Nivakana mandala — a wayfinding system you learn without being taught.
Literary fiction
Keyline
Novels with a hard edge drawn around them. 6–8 titles a year.
Poetry
Facet
Debut and mid-career collections. Always sewn, always jacketed.
Non-fiction
Leading
Histories, criticism and long reportage. Footnotes welcome.
Children's
Mandala
Picture books and first chapter books, illustrated in-house.
Translation
Passage
Work in translation, with the translator's name on the cover.
Memoir
Colophon
Lives written from the inside. One or two a year, no more.
Recognition
Quiet authority, earned slowly.
“The most consistently interesting small list in the country.”
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Territories with rights sold
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Wren Prize shortlistings
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Titles in print
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Debut authors since 2019
From the Journal
What we think about between books.
Craft
On openings, and the year we spent on one paragraph
Interview
Adaeze Okoro on carrying a novel across a language
Production
Making a book that opens flat
How we publish
Four stages. Eighteen months. No shortcuts.
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Stage 01
Submission
Every manuscript is read by a person. We answer within twelve weeks, always with a reason.
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Stage 02
Editorial
Structural edit, line edit, copy-edit, proofs. Three rounds minimum, with the same editor throughout.
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Stage 03
Design & production
Cover, typesetting and paper chosen for the book in hand — not for a template.
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Stage 04
Launch & rights
Publicity, festivals, and a rights team that keeps selling the book years after publication.
Every Nivakana book is made twice — once on a screen, once on a press.
Visit the binderySubmissions
Before you send us your book.
Our window is open twice a year. Read these first — most rejections are for reasons listed below.
Open the submission formA one-page covering letter, a two-page synopsis, and the first three chapters (or thirty poems). One PDF, under 10 MB. Please include the word count and the imprint you think it belongs to.
Twelve weeks from the close of the window. Every submission gets an answer, and every rejection gets at least a sentence explaining it. We think you are owed that much.
No. Roughly a third of the books we publish arrived unagented. We do recommend getting an agent before you sign anything — including with us.
Screenplays, textbooks, and anything already self-published in the same territory. We also don't take series proposals for books one through nine when book one isn't written.
The Nivakana letter