Uhibbook Publishing is an independent publishing house aimed at creating Books for Impact. They are a mission-based initiative that focusses on creating high quality books that create positive social impact. They support the local, UAE based, authors community in their writing and publishing journey. They enable professionals to establish themselves, expand their reach and create impact through beautifully designed books and e-books.
A play on the phrase ‘I love you’ in Arabic, Uhibbook symbolizes the founders love for books.
Having begun their journey as self-published authors in 2015 with their flagship brand ‘Bismillah Buddies; Mehnaz Anshah, Sadia Anwar and Shabna Ibrahim worked on projects with organizations like Dubai Culture and were awarded the Golden Visa for their contribution to the cultural landscape of the UAE. Sadia was also awarded multiple grants from Sharjah and Abu Dhabi in 2019 and 2020 for their second children’s book brand ‘Storically’.
Combining all the knowledge and experience gained over a decade of working within the local publishing industry led them to identify gaps within the sector. They also recognized the demand for support amongst the local author community. This gave them the impetus to launch Uhibbook Publishing.
‘Traditional publishing does not exist in the UAE, and we want to enable aspiring writers to get professional help while retaining creative control of their book.’ Says Mehnaz who has written several children’s books for the House.
Shabna who heads the production and distribution side says “We treat each project as a unique work of art and give it the support most suited to its nature. In order to do so, we work with a pool of illustrators, content editors, graphic designers, printers and distributors.”
Uhibbook Publishing hosted its official launch event at the Sharjah book fair. They aim to bring together the authors community and connect them to people and services that they wouldn’t have access to as an individual looking to self-publish.
“As self-published authors we faced many obstacles in our creative journey. We had two options: we could either pay a large sum of money to a publishing house, get miniscule royalties and lose control over the book; or do everything ourselves which was a daunting prospect. There was no middle ground.
What makes Uhibbook Publishing different is that they offer the full publishing service, where an author can hand over a first draft and relax, while they create and market the book for them. They also offer self-publishing support and help to break down the steps of the process. So, if an author wants help in just one part of the process, be it only distribution support, or creative help, or in the marketing stage, they can customize their services.
“It’s a plug n’ play model. This gives an author more control over the creative process as well as helps them manage budgets.” explains Sadia.
