Profile Books has completed its acquisition of the SFF and horror imprint Solaris from 2000AD publisher Rebellion Publishing first announced back in June, for an undisclosed sum, taking over all turnover and e-book distribution.
Founded in 2007, Solaris was acquired by Rebellion in 2009, growing to publish 30 to 35 titles per year, with a focus on commercial genre fiction. New titles range from speculative fiction to mysterious folklore, supernatural horror and explosive space opera, offering something for every genre-loving reader.
Published authors include Katherine Addison (in the UK and Commonwealth), fantasy author and fashion historian Natania Barron, Vajra Chandrasekera, C.S.E. Cooney, R.T. Ester (author of The Ganymedan), Corry L. Lee, Emma Newman, MK Hardy, Ren Hutchings, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Simon Jimenez and Rebecca Roanhorse (both also only in (in the UK and Commonwealth), RuNyx and Adrian Tchaikovsky.
The Salt Oracle by Lorraine Wilson is shortlisted for this year’s Arthur C Clarke Award, and Rakesfall by Vajra Chandraseker won the 2025 Ursula K Le Guin Prize for Fiction, and his The Saint of Bright Doors, which was shortlisted for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Its titles are licensed in translation across Europe and Japan, and many have been optioned for film, including 2025’s Mickey 17, based on Solaris’ Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton.
As downthetubes regular readers know, Rebellion Publishing was founded in 2000 by owners Chris and Jason Kingsley with the acquisition of UK comic imprint 2000AD, and is a division of European independent media and video games studio Rebellion. It continues to publish graphic novels, comics, shared-world fiction and award-winning non-fiction.
Profile Books, which has won Independent Publisher of the Year awards at the British Book Awards four times, was founded in 1996 to publish stimulating non-fiction in a wide range of fields. Today, they publish some one hundred books a year.
Looking for inventive books, powerful voices and lively thought, early bestsellers included Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (more than three million copies sold worldwide) and the New Scientist ‘Last Word’ series, which sold over 2.5 million copies. They consider themselves a lifelong home for authors and create books “that surprise, delight and endure”. Bestselling authors include Mary Beard, Oliver Bullough, Alan Bennett, Margaret MacMillan, Francis Fukuyama, Shaun Bythell, Robert Greene, Ryan Holiday, Shoshana Zuboff and Eugenia Cheng.
Five staff who work on the Solaris imprint – David Thomas Moore, Amanda Raybould, Amy Borsuk, Jess Gofton and Natalie Sorrell Charlesworth – have transferred across to Profile Books growing staff.
“We are thrilled to be taking this big step into a new genre,” said Profile chief executive officer Rebecca Gray of the acquisition.
“Solaris is already home to a wealth of acclaimed authors writing original, captivating books. We can’t wait to work with them, and everyone involved from Profile and Solaris is terrifically excited to get going. It’s been a pleasure making the deal happen with Rebellion, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
Rebellion’s head of film, TV and publishing Ben Smith added: “Since we acquired Solaris in 2009, we have grown the imprint into a market leader in SFF and Horror. We are immensely proud of the books we have published, the authors we worked with and the countless major award wins and nominations achieved by our dedicated authors, editors, designers and artists. We are excited to see the list, the team and Profile build off this success and thrive in the future.”
• Solaris is online at solarisbooks.com | BlueSky | Instagram | Linktree
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Books, British Comics - Current British Publishers, downthetubes News, Other Worlds, Science Fiction
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