The Story of Rowanvale

"We truly believe that parents shouldn’t have to pick between a career or a family, and Rowanvale’s culture affords people the ability to do both."
- Cat C.
Managing Director

Rowanvale Books was founded in early 2012 by Managing Director, Cat, after her father had a bad experience with a self-publishing company. Since then, it has grown from a small Cardiff office into the largest and one of the longest running self-publishing companies in Wales. Committed to focusing on a healthy and happy work-life balance, at the heart of Rowanvale is its people.

By running virtually, there is no need for commuting or set hours of work, meaning that our team can focus on the really important stuff: our books and our authors.

Our mission is to fundamentally change and improve the self-publishing world, to take it from its ‘vanity publishing’ roots and transform it into something more ethical and caring.

As a business, we are also invested in making our workplace as inclusive and welcoming as possible. Part of the reason why Rowanvale transitioned into a virtual company was, in fact, to offer its director and staff the opportunity to have both a family and a career. After the birth of her first child, Alfie, Cat wanted to ensure that she was able to achieve her goals in nurturing both the growth of the company to help as many authors as possible, whilst also nurturing the growth of her family. In focusing on a happy and healthy work-life balance, our team are able to help publish some amazing work while also raising their children — all from within the comfort of their own home.

"Working for Rowanvale enables me to work with some incredible authors while also completing my own English degree. It's very rare that you come across a company that lets you work so flexibly around things like home life and child care. I can truly see myself working for Rowanvale for a number of years."
- Hannah Gill