A FORMER student from the King Alfred School celebrated graduating in publishing at Oxford Brookes University by buying local independent publisher March Hamilton Media.

Melissa Eveleigh bought the Somerset media company from its previous owner in March and has moved its office from Taunton to Street.

She said: “I want to give authors the chance to be part of the publishing world without having to tackle the hurdles of getting noticed by big London publishers.

“It’s really important for me to do this in Somerset – it gave me so much when I was growing up.

“Publishing has been London-centric for too long, and with areas in the north getting attention from the industry I thought, what about the South West?

“I also want to offer children and young adults the chance to read relevant books that reflect their everyday lives in a real and supportive way.”

Melissa said she hopes to partner with local budding designers to nurture talent within Somerset communities and to offer genuine industry experience in the future.

She plans to continue publishing work from children’s author, Beth Webb, as well as introducing exciting new talent in 2019.

Melissa will be at several local events including Taunton Live! this summer and is planning to attend more events in the next few months.

If you are an author and would like to join March Hamilton media, submissions for new authors will open this summer. For more information visit marchhamilton.com.