Mirage Publishing

Mirage Publishing was a publisher of true crime books, founded by Stephen Richards in 1998.

History
The first book that Mirage published was about a murdered Tyneside gangland figure Viv Graham, written by Investigative author Stephen Richards.

Mirage is also known as the first publisher to publish a book of poems by UK prisoner Charles Bronson, titled Birdman Opens His Mind. This was followed by Bronson's autobiography, Silent Scream, which depicted the anachronistic penal system in the UK. Mirage continued publishing Bronson's books, including those co-authored by Stephen Richards..

Considered by The Times to be an "obscure publishing company from Tyneside", Mirage published the authorised biography of Rock star Sting, A Sting in the Tale, written by James Berryman, which came to be Night & Day magazine's book of the week, as well as being serialised in a UK tabloid.

Numerous books from Mirage Publishing have since been serialised by the UK press and magazines. One of its books, Burnt, by Scottish author Ian Colquhoun, was held aloft by Richard Madeley on the Richard & Judy show on UK TV.

Mirage, in a change of publishing genres, later moved away from publishing true crime, citing the increase in violence for doing so. Moving forward, it solely concentrated on publishing mind, body and spirit books, self-help books, how-to guides and biographies.

The official website of the company was taken down between 19 September and 19 October 2020.