Saraband expands award-nominated Inklings series with four new titles and international publishing programme
Posted on September 3, 2026
Saraband has announced a major expansion of the acclaimed Inklings collection, unveiling four new books while continuing the international rollout of the award-winning pocket-sized non-fiction list, acquired from 404 Ink.
Following the transfer of the series to Saraband, the independent publisher has commissioned four new titles. They explore subjects ranging from Hijabi representation in the media to the fandom and politics of K-pop, the exploitative commodification of βcuteβ soft toys, and the story behind the evil clown phenomenon. The books join a growing publishing programme that is now reaching readers across the UK, North America, the wider English language market and in translation.
The announcement underlines a period of significant growth for the series. Most of the original Inklings titles have now transferred to Saraband after the closure of 404 Ink and are being prepared for reissue with refreshed branding and updated editions in the UK and US. Three of the original Inklings titles will publish in the UK this month, with more to follow in October, November and early 2027, while several titles have already been successfully released in North America, Canada and Australia.
The series is also expanding internationally with the first translation: BFFs: The Radical Potential of Female Friendship by Anahit Behrooz is currently underway in Simplified Chinese, with additional translation deals under discussion.
Sara Hunt, Publisher at Saraband said: β404 Ink created something genuinely special with Inklings, and itβs a privilege to continue the story and work with their authors. Of course, itβs exciting to welcome a new group of books and authors to the series, too. The collection has always been about big ideas in pocket-sized books, bringing fresh, unexpected voices on contemporary culture to readers in an accessible, thought- provoking way. Itβs great to see it continuing to grow and thrive.β
Originally conceived by 404 Ink, with covers by the Booksellerβs Designer of the Year Luke Bird, the series expanded its reach through Saraband in North America in 2025 and now has worldwide distribution.
After receiving close to 1000 submissions in the first new Inklings call-out for Saraband, an editorial panel including Edinburgh-based culture writer and editor Arusa Qureshi and Lauren Rosemary Hook, former Editorial Director of the Feminist Press in New York, selected the first four new titles for commission. Input from 404 Inkβs former co-founder Heather McDaid and a process similar to 404 Inkβs submissions helped to provide continuity and to preserve the ethos of the imprint.
The new commissions for 2027 are:
The Hijab in Hollywood: From Prop to Protagonist by Jannat Suleman (Doncaster, UK)
Soft Power: Cuteness Commodified by Red Newsom (Manchester, UK)
K-Popaganda: Complicity and Global Fandom by Rho Chung (Brooklyn, NY, USA)
This is Clowncore: The Rise of the Evil Clown by Daniel Lukes (Montreal,Canada)
Soft Power and The Hijab in Hollywood will publish in early 2027, with the others following later in the year. Two further titles will also be unveiled in the near future.
New editions of the first three of the original Inkling titles are out in the UK this month:
On His Royal Badness: The Life and Legacy of Princeβs Fashion by Casci Ritchie
All the Violet Tiaras: Queering the Greek Myths by Jean Menzies
Happy Death Club: Essays on Death, Grief & Bereavement Across Cultures by Naomi Westerman
Further titles are being reissued from October.
The Inklings series was shortlisted in the British Book Awards 2025, covered in press including: Bustle, Guardian, The Face, The Quietus, Dazed, i-D, BBC, STV, The Big Issue, and many more. The Inklings have also been endorsed by Margaret Atwood. 404 Ink, founded by Laura Jones-Rivera and Heather McDaid, closed in July 2026.
