Sample Copy for Affirm Press

Sample Work Disclaimer

This piece is a writing sample created for my portfolio. This is not official company copy, and the organisation mentioned has neither commissioned nor endorsed this work.

Affirm Press: Books That Feel Like Friends

Some publishers make books. Affirm Press makes books that feel like they are already part of your life.

The story of Affirm Press began in 2010 with Martin Hughes from The Big Issue and Graeme Wise from The Body Shop Australia. It was not glamorous, more like a hopeful experiment. In those early years, Affirm Press was an independent Melbourne publisher, building slowly but with a clear sense of purpose. By 2014, when Keiran Rogers joined in, Affirm grew from a small part-time operation into an established publishing house.

They are proudly Melbourne-based, and you can feel that in the way they work. There is a kind of grounded optimism in their list, books that do not just reach out to the world but first pay attention to the lives and voices close to home. Many of their authors are Australian, some closely tied to Melbourne’s own writing scene, and their stories often carry a sense of place. You find local histories, cultural touchstones, and voices that sound like they are speaking right from the neighbourhood.

That is part of what makes Affirm different. They are not chasing trends for the sake of it. They are building a catalogue that reflects both the big questions and the small details of Australian life.

What They Publish

Their shelves are not crowded; they are curated.

Non-fiction that actually leaves you with something useful or uplifting. This is often where they explore memoir, history, culture and big-idea books that make us see the world differently.

Fiction chosen carefully, stories that stick rather than stories that just fill space. Much of this comes from Australian authors, literary in tone, often with strong characters or ties to place.

And since 2017, a growing children’s list that carries the kind of magic kids will remember when they are older. These books range from whimsical picture books to middle-grade adventures filled with imagination, humour and history.

Around 100 new books a year, more than 750 titles tucked behind them already.

Doing Good, Quietly

One of my favourite things about Affirm is their profit-for-purpose books. Every year, they team up with a charity and put out something that matters on more than one level. Letters of Love. The Silver Sea. From Little Things Big Things Grow. Books that are not just read, but shared, remembered, lived with.

Recognition Without Losing Soul

They have picked up plenty of awards, Small Publisher of the Year in 2019, shortlisted for Publisher of the Year in 2024, but the books themselves tell the story better.

Pip Williams’ The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Bookbinder of Jericho are everywhere, winning readers as well as awards.

Amelia Mellor’s The Grandest Bookshop in the World and The Bookseller’s Apprentice turned younger readers into prize winners too, with the ARA Historical Novel Prize in 2023.

Even picture books like Gwyn Perkins’ A Walk in the Bush found their way into the CBCA Book of the Year.

Their Latest Chapter: Pip Williams and The Bookbinder of Jericho

Affirm’s most recent triumph is Pip Williams’ The Bookbinder of Jericho, a companion to her bestselling The Dictionary of Lost Words. Set in Oxford during the First World War, it follows Peggy, a young woman stitching pages in a bindery but dreaming of an education and a bigger life. It is a story about books, women’s voices, and finding courage in small, quiet acts.

The novel has already taken home ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year in 2024 and Marketing Strategy of the Year, cementing both Williams’ place as a major voice and Affirm’s reputation as a publisher that knows how to back the right stories.

A New Chapter

In 2024, Affirm joined Simon & Schuster Australia. It was a big move and a big stage, but they have kept their own voice, the same independent, optimistic tone they started with in Melbourne.

Why I Am Writing This

Because Affirm feels like the kind of place where words are treated the way I treat them, as something alive. I like that their books balance joy with depth, purpose with play. It is the same balance I aim for when I write, whether it is a blurb, a blog, or a whole campaign.

Books that matter. Words that land. Stories that linger.

That is Affirm. And that is also why I would love to write with them, not just about them.