About Forward Thinking Press
Forward Thinking Press is a small hybrid non fiction publisher that lives close to research, practice and lived experience. The imprint grew from years of ghostwriting and editing for academics and professionals and from the wish to give serious ideas the kind of careful book treatment they rarely receive in commercial settings.
The person behind Forward Thinking Press
My name is Jürgen Pretsch - it’s a pleasure to meet you. For more than a decade I worked as a ghostwriter and editor, most of the time hidden behind other names. I shaped and created academic theses, research reports, business books and specialist manuscripts, always with the aim of helping someone speak clearly and confidently in their own voice. My name stayed off the cover, that was part of the deal. During that work I learned how people sound on the page once something truly matters to them. I began to see where fear makes sentences heavy, where expertise turns into jargon, and where real insight hides in a quiet line or brief example.
I carried my own projects through those years, and one pattern kept coming back: books grounded in real work and real data, written by people who know their subject deeply, yet struggling to reach readers outside a narrow circle. That tension, between depth and reach, became the seed for Forward Thinking Press. I wanted a place where research, professional practice and lived experience could become readable books without being flattened into slogans.
How Forward Thinking Press began
Again and again I met people with strong material: finished dissertations, long running projects, field studies, handouts for trainings, slide decks from keynotes. They were told their work was too niche, too technical, too specialised or too sober for big trade publishers. At the same time self publishing routes rarely offered the editorial depth, structural thinking and long term positioning that complex topics need.
Forward Thinking Press exists as a response to that gap. The list stays focused so each project can receive close editorial attention. Authors talk to a person, not to a ticket system. Decisions are made in clear language, from first concept talk to final proof. Production is calm and deliberate, sized to the needs of the project and the way the author will use the book in their field.
Our hybrid model grew directly from this practice. Some books have clear market appeal and can work with a shared risk, shared royalty approach. Many other books create value in different ways, for example by strengthening an expert profile, supporting speaking and consulting or making teaching material more visible. For those projects author funded publishing combined with full rights and income makes more sense. Forward Thinking Press holds both options and helps you choose the one that fits your goals.
What Forward Thinking Press stands for
Forward Thinking Press supports voices that grow from real work and real conditions: clinical practice, social research, education, healthcare, policy, entrepreneurship, consultancy and lived experience around topics such as migration, mental health or organisational life. These subjects are not decoration, they are the ground the authors stand on.
The books aim to be accurate enough for peers and clear enough for informed lay readers. That means respect for methods and data, clear sourcing, and at the same time a strong focus on structure, examples and language that invites people in. The list favours projects that help readers think, decide, act or care in a more informed way.
Keywords for what we do would include academic non fiction, science to public books, expert handbooks, thought leadership and hybrid publishing for professionals, yet at the core it remains simple: serious ideas, made readable.
How it works
Work with Forward Thinking Press feels like a structured, honest conversation around a manuscript or idea. You see every step, from first read to publication plan. Feedback arrives in direct, grounded language. Strengths are named so we know what to protect. Weak spots are addressed with concrete suggestions for structure, argument and style. The aim is to help the book grow without stripping away your voice or your disciplinary standards.
You stay in control of your book. Edits are discussed, not imposed. If a suggestion touches something central to your work or feels off, you can say so and we adjust. Timelines are set with your job, teaching, research or business obligations in mind. Agreements spell out scope, cost, rights and royalty model in plain terms, so you understand exactly how the hybrid setup applies to your case, whether as a partner title with royalty share or an author funded expert title with full income from sales.
Forward Thinking Press can promise careful reading, honest editorial feedback, transparent pricing, clear contracts and a process that respects both your expertise and your time. Your project will receive the steady care it needs to become a coherent, well produced non fiction book.
Forward Thinking Press cannot promise bestseller lists, viral media coverage or instant career transformation. No publisher can promise that with honesty. What we can create together is a book that feels true to your work, shaped with craft and patience, and given a real chance to reach the readers who need it, whether they find you through libraries, classrooms, conferences, bookshops, or client work.
Get in Touch with us NOW
You share our vision? You feel like your idea, your manuscript, your dream deserves to be heard? Reach out now - we will be in touch within 24 hours.