Willan Publishing are delighted to announce that they have won the Taylor Wessing Academic and Professional Publisher of the Year at the 2008 Independent Publishing Awards held in Brighton on Saturday 8th March. The award was presented to Willan as recognition for establishing itself very quickly in its niche of criminology publishing, and for setting high standards in both its books and customer service. The judge’s comments included:

‘Willan has shown great tenacity in going after a sector and taking on some much larger rivals, they are a great company to work with and convey a real sense of excitement about being in publishing.’

‘Willan's launch of a definitive new criminology textbook marked it out as an ambitious, committed publisher.’

To win the award Willan beat of strong competition from the two other short-listed publishers, Earthscan and SAGE. The Independent Publishing Awards are presented by the Independent Publishers Guild, the Bookseller and the London Book Fair to celebrate the successes of independent publishers and to showcase the best of independent publishing.

Winning this award has topped off a busy and successful year for Willan Publishing, having published more than 40 new books in the field oflaw, criminology, criminal justice, policing and forensic psychology. The biggest of these was Criminology by Professor Tim Newburn, which has quickly established itself as the leading and definitive textbook for students of criminology.

Willan’s publishing portfolio continues to grow with a similar number of books planned for publication this year, including new additions to the popular series of dictionaries and handbooks, each covering a major aspect of criminology and criminal justice.

Willan Publishing would like to thank its authors, customers, booksellers, agents and representatives, and others who have contributed to its success.

For further information please contact Lucinda Sanders, email Lucinda@willanpublishing.co.uk, telephone: 01884 840108.