I started Byker Books back in 2008 with a vague notion of publishing the working class lads and lasses who weren't taken seriously by the big publishers or agents. The people who didn't have degrees in 'creative writing' but had crap jobs that sapped their souls instead, the people who didn't have a 'journey' to bore people to death with but did have an idea for a bloody good story that other people from the estates would enjoy, the people who didn't get glowing reports at their great schools but instead had to battle their siblings for the one pen in the house to write anything down before doing their paper round in the rain. 
That's who Byker Books was for. People like me. 
As you can imagine this has been a gut-wrenching decision for me as I started Byker Books in 2008 and at the time it was a much needed initiative for the kind of writer that I've detailed above but the advent of mass-market self-publishing of e-books has pretty much negated any need for that any more and it is now impossible for me to continue in the same vein as before.


Finally, I would like to pay tribute to the many authors I've published/met/drank with over the last eight years and to publicly thank them for allowing me the opportunity to publish their great work, it's been a fantastic experience and I wouldn't change it for the world. Ladies and gents I know you're mint so make sure you all go out and do yourselves..and me..proud!
It's been fucking brilliant.
Cheers
Rivs