Overview
Hi - I'm Simon.
My business is the UK’s only agency dedicated to delivering bespoke website and e-commerce projects for publishers, authors, and literary agents. Our extensive experience, coupled with active participation in industry events like the London Book Fair and Byte The Book, ensures we have a deep understanding of our clients’ needs. We can move beyond the basics and focus on your strategic objectives. Based in the UK, serving a global client base.
We use the world's most popular Content Management System, WordPress, to make our sites easy for clients to manage, capable of evolving over time and good value.
Check out some of the lovely feedback we've had from clients:
“I’m an electrical engineer and also a popular author with a good eye for design, so I’ve maintained my own website for many years. I finally took the plunge and had [them] remake my site. What an incredible difference! The site is SO beautifully designed and easy-to-use! [They] took my ideas and shape shifted them to bring out exactly what I wanted, but in ways far better than I’d originally envisioned. Really, website design and implementation doesn’t get any better or easier – I cannot recommend them more highly!”
Dr Barbara Oakley
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“Simon at Bookswarm made my transition to a dedicated author site effortless and cost-effective. With his deep expertise in the literary market, he provided practical, insightful guidance that gave me confidence every step of the way. His support was invaluable, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.”
Laurel Alexander, author and resilience coach
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“I’m a total technophobe, but Simon made the process of building my new website entirely stress free. Bookswarm have a lot of experience setting up authors’ websites and it shows. I’m delighted with the look of my new site and with how easy it will be to maintain in the future.”
Sharon Bolton, Sunday Times Bestselling Author
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“I’ve never seen anyone in this field, or related fields, move so quickly and with such expertise. We discussed ideas and they were executed. We discussed some more ideas, they were executed. We discussed tweaks and they were done.
AND Simon was an absolute pleasure to work with. I think the price was an absolute bargain!”
Andrew Saffron, author of Better Culture, Faster
Services
Non-Fiction
Fiction
Works with
Awards
- Winner, GBS Services to Independent Publishers Award, Independent Publishing Awards, 2021
- Shortlisted, Services to Independent Publishers Award, Independent Publishing Awards, 2023
- Shortlisted, Services to Independent Publishers Award, Independent Publishing Awards, 2024
- Winner, The Bookseller Essay Prize, 2013
Work experience
The Reading Agency
Octopus Publishing Group
Bookswarm
Projects
James Verini
James Verini is a features writer at The New York Times Magazine, specializing in the coverage of war and conflict, and the author of They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate. His journalism has also appeared in National Geographic Magazine, The New Yorker, Foreign Policy, and elsewhere.
We created a new website to streamline the management of James’ database of articles.
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“I could not have asked for a finer designer than Simon, and cannot recommend him highly enough. In a short matter of days, he completely revamped my website to my exact specifications, and he did so at far less cost than what other designers would have charged. He is inventive, responsive, and endlessly helpful.”
Fenella J Miller
Fenella J Miller is a hybrid historical fiction writer with more than ninety books published. We created a new site for Fenella to make it easier for readers to navigate her extensive backlist and streamline her blogging experience.
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“I have just had a new website designed by Simon Appleby of Bookswarm. Not only is the website exactly what I wanted, easy to negotiate and update, it was also a pleasure to work with Simon. I can’t recommend his company highly enough.”
Alice Oseman
Alice Oseman is an award-winning author, illustrator, and screenwriter, and was born in 1994 in Kent, England. She has written four YA contemporary novels about teenage disasters: SOLITAIRE, RADIO SILENCE, I WAS BORN FOR THIS, and LOVELESS. She is the creator of LGBTQ+ YA romance webcomic HEARTSTOPPER, which is now published in physical form by Hachette Children’s Books, and she is the writer, creator, and executive producer for the smash-hit television adaptation of HEARTSTOPPER.
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“Working with Simon and the team at Bookswarm was an absolute dream. The whole process was smooth and professional. Simon is so experienced with author websites it meant we could skip past the basic needs and focus on the unique aspects we needed to appeal to our international audience, fan base and new readers alike. They had a real problem-solving attitude and were quick to respond to edits during a tight turnaround. We were also delighted with the look and design which perfectly matched our brand vision.”
Krissi Hill, Marketing Manager at Hachette Children’s Group
J.B. Turner
J.B. Turner is a thriller writer, best known for the Jon Reznick® series of novels. He is a former journalist.
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“Simon was a delight to work with. His attention to detail and can-do attitude were very refreshing. Thrilled with the brand new website. Would highly-recommend to any authors looking to refresh their author websites.”
Simon has 21 reviews
Professionalism
Quality
Value
Responsiveness
Tony H.
Feb, 2025
Pinned
Richard S.
May, 2022
Pinned
Christina E.
Oct, 2017
Pinned
Terri P.
Dec, 2022
Cat C.
Jul, 2022
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