SelfMadeHero

SelfMadeHero is an independent publishing house which specialises in adapting works of literature, as well as producing ground-breaking original fiction in the graphic novel medium.

SelfMadeHero's books are distributed in the UK by Abrams & Chronicle Books and in the U.S. by Abrams Books.

History
SelfMadeHero was founded in February 2007 by Emma Hayley, and launched with two lines: Manga Shakespeare, featuring works based on the Bard but with different settings – mainly Japan in the past and future, and Eye Classics, which are adaptations of great classic works, such as those of Poe and Kafka.

In 2008 Emma Hayley was named UK Young Publishing Entrepreneur of the Year as part of the British Book Awards.

In 2009 SelfMadeHero expanded to include graphic adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, including Hound of the Baskervilles and A Study in Scarlet, and later several works by H.P. Lovecraft, including the anthology LOVECRAFT by I.N.J. Culbard. It also began publishing the Graphic Biography series with Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness, which has further expanded to tell the fascinating life stories of era-defining pop-culture icons such as Hunter S. Thompson and Nick Cave.

Since 2010 SelfMadeHero has been publishing original material, notably Glyn Dillon's The Nao of Brown, The Motherless Oven trilogy by Rob Davis. In 2011 the company received the Kitschies Black Tentacle award.

Graphic Anthology Programme (GAP) and Catalyst
With support from Arts Council England SelfMadeHero launched the Graphic Anthology Programme (GAP) in February 2021. The GAP was a free, public programme that eventually selected 7 applicants for “an intensive 12 weeks of comics mentoring and masterclasses.” This resulted in the anthology Catalyst being published in October 2021, which featured 11 short stories, including the works produced by the 7 chosen GAP participants. The Cartoon Museum also hosted a temporary digital exhibition promoting Catalyst in 2022, titled Catalyst – the Online Exhibition, and Arts Council England also host an online exhibition titled Comics as a catalyst for change.

As well as its central theme of "catalyst", the GAP and the published anthology have both received recognition and praise for the diversity of the creators involved.

2023 First Graphic Novel Award
In June 2023, entries opened for the 2023 First Graphic Novel Award. The award was originally founded by Myriad Editions in 2012, and is now described as :"[...]a partnership between the Cartoon Museum, the publisher SelfMadeHero, and independent graphic novel editor Corinne Pearlman, former Creative Director at Myriad Editions, with thanks to generous support from the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and The bks Agency, sponsors of the £500 prize for the winning entry."Entries are set to close in September 2023, with the winner to be announced in December. Among the judges is SelfMadeHero founder Emma Hayley. SelfMadeHero are also offering a publishing contract as one of the two prizes awarded to the winning author or team, the other being the £500 bursary donated by The bks Agency.

Manga Shakespeare
The adaptations of Shakespeare's plays were made by Richard Appignanesi (who previously worked on Icon Books' Introducing... series), with the art created by UK-based manga artists who came to prominence via Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga (United Kingdom & Ireland) competition, their work for Sweatdrop Studios or London manga collective Umisen Yamisen.

Of SelfMadeHero's two initial lines, it was Manga Shakespeare and its first two titles (Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, which were published simultaneously in January 2007) that contributed most to establishing the company. This foundation later allowed SelfMadeHero to branch out into other genres and lines.

Eye Classics
The creators are drawn from a British comic background (in particular Nevermore) but also include screenwriters and more traditional artists.

Crime Classics
The Crime Classics line began with a set of four adaptations of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories, adapted by Ian Edginton, with art by I. N. J. Culbard:

Rachel Cooke reviewed A Study in Scarlet for The Observer and concluded:

Culbard and Edginton are adept at concision, leaving out nothing that is crucial and excising much that isn't. I relished every page and thought how this book would be the perfect primer for any child whose parents feel them to be just on the cusp of potential Holmes worship.