Membership news from Publishing Scotland

7 October 2022

Member news:

Case Study from Saraband and The Queen’s Lender from Scotland Street Press are longlisted for HWA Awards; and

the recent Scots Language Awards winners for 2022 include Doric Nursery Rhymes for Loons & Quines, from Doric Books and author Anne Donovan, whose books are published by Canongate; The Night Ship from Canongate is one of the BBC's Between the Covers book club choices; and Barrington Stoke is launching a new audio range to mark Dyslexia Week with editions of its top 10 selling titles.

The Scotland at Frankfurt stand returns after a 2 year break. We are really looking forward to heading to Germany again with our Scottish publisher members and literary agents.

In this bulletin: (calls to action in red)

Publishing Scotland Board elections, call for nominations until 28 October
New Books Scotland Autumn rights catalogue launched
Year of Stories Autumn/Winter catalogue
Book Festival pitching – Boswell Book Festival, send submissions by 25 October
Call-out for titles for the BA Books of the Month slots, submit by 16 October
Introduction to Authenticity/Sensitivity Reads – online event, 26 October, sign up now
Fair Work overview from the Scottish Government
Year of Stories events programme continues
Top 20 bestselling Scottish books in Scotland charts
Training news and committee meeting, send in your suggestions
BooksfromScotland Pause, submit for next issues
Greening the industry
What does the mini-budget mean for Scottish businesses?
Arkbound match funding opportunity

News and events
Opportunities and jobs

Best wishes,

Lucy

Lucy Feather

Membership Services Manager

Publishing Scotland Board Elections - call for nominations

The Publishing Scotland Board can have up to 12 trustees. There are five places elected directly from the PUBLISHER MEMBERSHIP; two places from the NETWORK MEMBERS; one optional place for the Chair of BookSource, three co-opted members plus the Chief Executive.

The Board meets approximately 4 times a year to discuss strategic direction, governance, the finances and to ensure that the charity is administered effectively. They must account for the organisation’s activities and outcomes.

PUBLISHER MEMBERS elect their representatives

NETWORK MEMBERS elect their representatives

We are currently looking for nominations for 1 network member and 3 publisher members to start with us in February 2023. The term is for three years - with trustees able to stand for re-election after that three-year term and serve a second term of three years also.

Next steps

Attached to this note is a form, calling for nominations to the Board of Publishing Scotland. We require nominees to be put forward by two members in the relevant membership category. There is also a trustee declaration form to be signed by the nominee.

We request that you ensure that the nominee is willing to be put forward and is not someone from your own company.

Nomination and trustee forms may be returned by post or emailed.

Nominee to supply, with this form, a short biography of no more than 300 words, setting out their experience and their reasons for wishing to serve on the Board. This will go forward to members for election purposes.

Please return by Friday 28 October 2022.

To: Patrick Jamieson

Publishing Scotland

Scott House

10 South St Andrew Street

Edinburgh EH2 2AZ.

[email protected]

Nomination forms may be returned by post or email but must be signed.

See forms here.

New Books Scotland Autumn rights catalogue launched

We are delighted to launch the latest New Books Scotland Rights Catalogue, available now in its interactive format. You can peruse it here or download a pdf.

A printed version of this catalogue will also be available on the Scotland stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair. If you would like a hard copy contact Vikki.

Year of Stories 2022 Autumn/Winter catalogue

Our latest catalogue of member publishers’ books Shaping Scotland’s Stories is now available to download. You can also pick up a print copy from booksellers across Scotland while stocks last.

Or contact Patrick for hard copies.

More.

Book Festival Pitching – Boswell Book Festival, send submissions by 25 October

Many thanks to our member publishers who took part in this week’s pitching session to book festivals Paisley, Borders and Granite Noir.

Caroline Knox, programmer for the Boswell Book Festival has been in touch and is keen to see sales materials to help her programme next year’s festival. She has asked that you send your pitching materials to us at Publishing Scotland for us to send to her.

The Boswell Book Festival is held in May and specialises in memoir and biography. If you would like to pitch an author appearance at Boswell Book Festival, please send your submissions to Heather McDaid by Tuesday 25 October.

Submit your titles for the BA Books of the Month slots by 16 October

The Bookseller’s Association are calling in submissions for January, February and March Fiction and Children’s Indie Book of the Month titles.

Over 150 independent bookshops across the UK are signed up to support the Children’s Book of the Month campaign, and over 90 bookshops have signed up to support the Fiction Book of the Month campaign.

Each shop promotes the book through orders, POS material, social media campaigning and is supported with PR from Midas PR.

You can find the submission forms here (children’s submissions) and here (fiction submissions).

When you are choosing which titles to submit please keep in mind to submit your key frontlist titles that will have a wide readership. The BA have also asked to keep diversity and inclusivity in mind. They’re keen to see more writers of colour submitted for the Fiction Book of the Book in particular.

The submission deadline is 16 October 2022.

Introduction to Authenticity/Sensitivity Reads – free online event, 26 October, sign up now

We will be running an introductory session on sensitivity and authenticity reads with Hamza Jahanzeb. The session will include: what readers are being asked to consider, how this works with publishers and authors, and best practice.

With authenticity/sensitivity reads being a new concept to many, and something on the rise across publishing, this one-hour session will be a valuable introduction to their purpose, why publishers are using them, and chance to hear from someone specialising in the field.

Hamza is a publishing professional and a Bookseller Rising Star, who works as a sensitivity/authenticity reader and publishing consultant.

The session will take place on Wednesday 26 October, 1pm via Zoom and is free to attend.

Fair Work overview from the Scottish Government

Fair Work is important for us all working in Scotland. It is being driven by the Scottish Government primarily, and will affect publishers and literature organisations who employ people, but who also apply for funding to, for example, Creative Scotland, or the Enterprise Agencies.

We have outlined some of the aims and thinking behind the principles of Fair Work. We would encourage members to start familiarising themselves with the Action Plan.

More.

Year of Stories events programme

Our programme of events to celebrate this Year of Stories continues with one final session. Thank you to all for their support with this project. Any enquiries please contact Heather McDaid.

8 Oct: Neil McIntyre at BookMark Festival, final event

The red deer, majestic monarch of the glen, is Britain's largest land mammal and undisputed king of wood lands and glens. Common across the Scottish Highlands and resident elsewhere, the animal is emblematic of our wild country and a beloved icon.

More.

Top 20 Bestselling Scottish Books in Scotland Chart

Welcome to this week's Top 20 Bestselling Scottish Books in Scotland chart. We have a new number one, C. J. Cooke's The Lighthouse Witches.

Canongate have a newly minted entry with The Start-Up Wife by Tahmima Anam, Stuart Braithwaite’s Spaceships Over Glasgow makes it into the chart, as does Sally Hincliffe with The Hare House, which is the new Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month. Finally, D.C Thomson’s Oor Wullie and The Beano annuals are joined by The Broons and Oor Wullie Giftbook too, and The Dandy Annual is just creeping below the Top 20, so expect that to make an appearance soon. The quantity levels of the books reaching the chart are rising too – Christmas shopping starts now!

NB. At the moment, these stats are for Publishing Scotland members only, and will only be shared via this bulletin. Please do not circulate

See the chart.

Training news and committee

Our next Training Committee is in early November. We will be discussing next year’s programme so if you have any suggestions, send them to Joan.

Harper Macleod’s next free webinar is a Guide to legal issues in the publishing lifecycle. It’s on 25 October. Register in advance on their website.

If you missed the excellent and very informative webinar on Access to Funding, you can watch the recording.

The BookMachine course for PS members on Social Media Advertising for Beginners is on Wednesdays 26 October and 2 November and only £30+VAT. Find out whether and what advertising is worth doing and how best to spend your money.

Booking is open for the November/December introduction to proofreading and copy-editing. Before that we have Further Copy-editing and Proofreading courses which are great for improving your skills as well as a chance to question the experienced tutors on editing issues.

For details of all our courses, see the Publishing Scotland website. See also Events.

BooksfromScotland Pause - and submit for the next issues

BooksfromScotland are now taking Pause with the current BfS issue. Thank you for your submissions; all these titles are included on the BFS website and in regular newsletters to subscribers.

Read the issue.

Submit for future Issues:

• October – Beyond borders: Books that have an international outlook

• November/December – Festive Reading and Gifts

To submit or for enquiries please contact Vikki Reilly.

Greening the industry

Publishing Perspectives article by Richard Charkin: 'A Climate-Crisis Response Checklist for Publishers' caught our eye this week.

Having signed the new ‘Publishing 2030 Accelerator’ for climate action, Richard Charkin offers ‘a checklist’ for the industry to improve its green credentials

More.

What does the mini-budget mean for Scottish businesses?

UK Government mini-budget 2022.

On 23 September 2022, the Chancellor unveiled the UK Government’s Growth Plan, widely referred to in the media as a mini budget.

In its press release, the UK Government said that the majority of announcements today are UK-wide. However, the power to set rates and bands of certain taxes are devolved. In the absence of alignment by the Scottish Government, there will remain a divergence. In its initial response, the Scottish Government said that: ‘On Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and on Scottish income tax, the Scottish Government will set out its plans as part of the normal budget process. We will discuss the proposed investment zones with the UK Government but we are clear they have to be the right fit for Scotland’. See the Scottish Government website 23 September 2022.

For an analysis of what the fiscal changes mean for businesses in Scotland, see the article by Peter A Walker in Business Insider of 23 September 2022.

For the UK Government press release and factsheets on the major measures, see the UK Government website.

Arkbound Match Funding Opportunity

Arkbound are a publishing social enterprise based in Glasgow. Their aim is to support authors from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds.

They have £4000 available of match funding for eligible books that want to use crowdfunding to cover the publishing costs of their titles. The initiative works after publishers raise £500 on Crowdbound.org, Arkbound then contribute £250. If they then pass £1000, they can contribute a further £250. So the total eligible support per book is £500.

Interested parties must apply for the funding first with a focus on titles that cover social or environmental themes, by authors who are under-represented or disadvantaged.

The first step is for publishers to review the criteria.

There is an application at the bottom of the page. Contact Steve at Arkbound for further information.

News and events

Mairi Kidd's new appointment

Mairi Kidd will take up leadership of Moat Brae, Scotland’s National Centre for Children’s Books, in October 2022. She brings considerable experience from her previous roles at Creative Scotland, as CEO of Seven Stories and as Managing Director of children’s publisher Barrington Stoke. More.

Amazon reforms ebook policies in response to union concerns

Online retailer Amazon is to change practices around returns of digital books following discussions with the Society of Authors (UK) and Author's Guild.

More.

Push the Boat Out Poetry Festival, 4-6 November 2022

The festival was created to capture the vibrancy and dynamism of contemporary poetry, and to celebrate its ever-increasing influence; to not only give poetry a new platform, but to create an environment where all variations of this vital artform are encouraged to grow, evolve and even collide. A fantastic, diverse programme begins in early November..

More.

Visit our events page for more.

Opportunities

London Book Fair Trailblazer Awards

Applications are now open for this year’s Trailblazer Awards. Created to celebrate the next generation of the UK publishing industry, those blazing a trail, you can now enter or nominate someone. Applications close 30 January ‘23. More.

Bologna Children's Book Fair Grant

The Department for International Trade are offering grant support for the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in March 2023, which includes eligibility criteria and how to apply.

Bologna Exhibitor Support more.

Bologna Attendee Support more.

Author International Travel Fund

There is no deadline, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis while there is an available budget for the quarter. With support from Creative Scotland, this fund has been established by Scottish Books International to support writers who have been invited overseas to promote their work.

Visit our opportunities page for more.