Diversion Publishing Corp. Unveils Boundary-Pushing Influx Press Spring 2027 List and Major Marketing Campaign

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, September 17, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Diversion Publishing Corp., the independent publishing company founded by CEO and Publisher Scott Waxman in 2010, has announced the Spring 2027 Influx frontlist and a multi-tiered marketing campaign running through 2027. The list continues Influx’s tradition of boundary-pushing literary horror and weird fiction, including books that draw on body, folkloric, and eco-horror to explore contemporary anxieties around identity, belonging, and our relationship with the natural world.

Dubbed “a lynchpin of the indie scene” by THE BOOKSELLER, and incorporating genre elements of upmarket horror, eco-thrillers, psychological suspense, and speculative fiction, the UK-based Influx Press was acquired by Diversion Books (distributed by Simon & Schuster) in March 2026. The acquisition expands Diversion’s international presence and literary program, which will add American authors in the coming seasons.

“Building on the legacy Influx has established over the last fifteen years and bringing our titles to a US audience properly for the first time is a professional dream come true. It marks an important new chapter for the press, and I’m incredibly proud to be part of the team building an exciting new list for 2027 and beyond,” said Gary Budden, who co-founded Influx Press with Kit Caless in London in 2012, and will continue as acquisitions editor.

Lauren du Plessis makes her literary debut on March 30 with TENDER, a novel blending folkloric body horror with an exploration of womanhood against the backdrop of eco-anxiety in England’s Somerset fens. Early readers on NetGalley are already responding enthusiastically, with reviews including: “The prose was beautiful, the story was strange, riveting, emotional, and unsettling. I just loved it.” and “I was fully immersed, I finished this in one sitting. Full of love, shame, grief, and familial trauma.”

Also arriving on March 30 is celebrated weird fiction author Joel Lane’s (1963 – 2013) MIDNIGHT BLUE, a posthumous “lost novel” that completes his post-industrial noir Blue trilogy. Ben Tufnell’s Kafka-esque suspense novel PARADISE and short story collection AS IF, both previously published to acclaim in the UK, will be released simultaneously on April 7 to round out this exciting Spring ’27 list.

Diversion Books CEO and publisher Scott Waxman said, “We could not be more excited to be launching Influx Press widely in the U.S. Gary’s eye for psychological horror is what many readers are looking for in literary fiction today. So far the anticipation for the launch has been very encouraging and we have some creative initiatives planned for next year.”

Diversion will also celebrate and promote highlights from the distinguished Influx backlist, including Percival Everett’s THE TREES (Booker Prize nomination), Eley Williams’s ATTRIB. AND OTHER STORIES (James Tait Black Award winner), and other titles that have been longlisted or shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, Edge Hill Prize, Jhalek Prize, and Gordon Burn Prize. “The Year of Influx” campaign will launch in 2027, featuring a re-read of one backlist title per month, in the press’s first subscription program. Each month’s read will include social media elements, capped with a virtual discussion, open to the public, between the author and Influx editor Gary Budden. The campaign will include a limited-time wholesale discount for independent bookstores (January 1 – February 15, 2027), featuring a selection of core backlist titles.

About Diversion Publishing Corp.

Diversion Publishing Corp. is an independent publishing company founded by Scott Waxman in 2010. It encompasses Diversion Books, Influx Press, Diversion Audio, and Radius Book Group. Recognized as one of Publishers Weekly’s fastest-growing independent publishers in 2024 and 2025, Diversion Books publishes fifty new titles per year in non-fiction as well as science fiction, horror, dark romance, fantasy and suspense. Authors include Mark Cuban, Tiffany Haddish, Pelé, and, T.C. Kraven, Jennifer Delaney, and S.E. Hinton. All books are distributed to the trade by Simon & Schuster.

About Influx Press

Influx Press is a London-based independent publisher known for bold literary fiction, innovative nonfiction, and place-focused storytelling that reflects the cultural and geographic diversity of contemporary life. Founded in 2012 and described as “a lynchpin of the indie scene” by The Bookseller, Influx Press has launched the careers of many writers who have gone on to critical and commercial success, and has won and been shortlisted for numerous prestigious prizes including the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the James Tait Black Prize, and Booker Prize.

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