News from the Scottish Publishing Industry

Issue 92 | April 2020

Scottish Publishing Industry News

Hello

Spring flowers, longer days and warmer weather usually lift the collective spirit. Even now in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, it's hard to be unmoved by their collective magic. Books can also have magical powers or so it seems when we find we have, for a while at least, forgotten our new everyday realities and concerns.

We hope that you are well and keeping safe.

Best wishes

Everyone at Publishing Scotland

The pic above is of a beautiful cherry tree near the East Gate at the Botanics in Edinburgh (taken about this time last year).

The Bookseller's focus on Scotland

It's great to see the just-published annual Scotland focus from The Bookseller. Some of the content is in the main Bookseller issue/website but there's also the special edition supplement Books From Scotland in partnership with Creative Scotland.

A lot of work went into this including face-to-face interviews with publishers at our Publishing Scotland office at the start of the year. Some of the highlights include: an overview ( The Big Picture ) by Tom Tivnan, a feature by Kiera O'Brien on Scotland's bestsellers , a look at what publishers outside the central belt are doing, a piece on the nature writing resurgence , and interviews (Douglas Stuart, Damian Barr, Bookspeed and BookSource ).

Book industry support

Some people in the book industry are still working from their usual workplaces - like a few of our colleagues at the BookSource warehouse supplying and taking deliveries of books. But like a lot of non-key workers, many in the industry are working from home or furloughed. Others, especially freelancers of which there are many in the book trade and other creative industries, face greater uncertainty..

The UK and Scottish governments and various other organisations have announced financial and other support measures. We've gathered the ones that we think will be most helpful on our website's Covid-19 information page. Many organisations such as Creative Scotland, the Society of Authors and the Booksellers Association have advice and resources too of course.

Book people news

ANDREA JOYCE

Andrea Joyce stepped down as rights director of Canongate Books on 6 April 2020 after 13 years with the publisher. CEO Jamie Byng paid tribute to her both for the key role she played in Canongate's success and as a delightful colleague. See The Bookseller of 16 April 2020 .

JESSICA NEALE

Canongate Books has promoted J essica Neale to rights and contracts director. She has been senior rights manager at Canongate since 2016 and joined in 2011. She joins the senior management team with immediate effect.

SANDSTONE PRESS

Congratulations to Sandstone Press winner of the Scotland category of the British Book Awards Small Press of the Year 2020 . They are now in the running for the overall prize which will be announced on 29 June 2020. Congratulations also go to the other publishers that were shortlisted in the Scotland category: BHP Comics , Charco Press , Little Door Books , and Scotland Street Press .

JENNY BROWN

Jenny Brown of Jenny Brown Associates has been shortlisted for the Literary Agent of the Year Award at the British Book Awards.

SCOTTISH BOOK TRUST

Scottish Book Trust is shortlisted for a British Book Award in the Marketing Strategy of the Year category for Book Week Scotland 2019.

HARPERCOLLINS

HarperCollins has a slew of British Book Award shortlistings for itself ( Publisher of the Year ) and its imprints including Collins ( Academic, Educational and Professional Publisher of the Year ) (for the eighth time in nine years).

LIGHTHOUSE

The bookseller Lighthouse is the Scotland winner of the British Book Awards' Independent Bookshop of the Year Award 2020 . That means it is also shortlisted for the overall Independent Bookshop of the Year.

THE EDINBURGH BOOKSHOP

T he Edinburgh Bookshop is shortlisted for Children's Bookseller of the Year at the British Book Awards.

Book buying

You can still buy books from many publishers and bookshops and they'll get delivered direct to you. Our BooksfromScotland website has a page with updated information about bookshops: see Bookshop Information across Scotland-Covid-19 . For a list of publishers, see the Publishing Scotland website . Writer Bec Evans helpfully suggests 15 ways to support writers, publishers and booksellers . Don't forget magazines and newspapers too which all have online subs - including the Big Issue.

Looking further afield, Italian bookshops in some regions can reopen (as essential businesses) but many are choosing not to. See Angela Giuffrida's article in The Guardian of 14 April . German bookshops are to be allowed to reopen on 20 April along with certain other brick-and-mortar retailers. Health and hygiene measures will be in place including social distancing and face mask wearing is recommended though not compulsory. See Philip Oltermann's article in The Guardian of 15 April 2020 .

Book prizes, awards and listings

WISDEN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020

Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution (Polaris Publishing) is the Wisden Book of the Year 2020 . All cricket books published in the previous calendar year and submitted to Wisden for possible review are eligible for this prestigious award.

JANE GRIGSON TRUST AWARD FOR NEW FOOD AND DRINK WRITERS 2020

Seafood Shack by Kirsty Scobie and Fenella Renwick ( Kitchen Press ) is the 2020 winner . The book won't be published until 2021 but hopefully once the pandemic restrictions lift you can try the delicious food yourself at the Seafood Shack in Ullapool.

TOLKIEN SOCIETY AWARD 2020

Tolkien's Library: An Annotated Checklist by Oronzo Cilli (Luna Press Publishing) has won Best Book at the Tolkien Society Award 2020 .

INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2020 SHORTLIST

The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Iona Macintyre and Fiona Mackintosh, and published by Edinburgh-based Charco Press, is one of the six books shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2020 . The winner was due to be announced on 19 May 2020 but this has been postponed to a date yet to be confirmed to allow readers to get hold of the books.

WALTER SCOTT PRIZE 2020 SHORTLIST

To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek (Canongate Books) is one of the six books shortlisted for this prize for historical fiction. The winner is normally announced in June at the Baillie Gifford Borders Book Festival but that has been postponed with a new date yet to be announced .

CILIP KATE GREENAWAY MEDAL 2020 SHORTLIST

Lark by Anthony McGowan (Barrington Stoke) has been shortlisted for this prestigious award . The winner will be announced on 17 June 2020.

COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT LONGLIST 2020

Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace by Olga Wojtas (Saraband) and So Lucky by Dawn O'Porter (HarperCollins) are among the books longlisted in the Published Comedy Novel category. The longlists for unpublished novels and comedy graphic novels have also been announced. See the CWIP website. We'll find out who has been shortlisted on 8 June and the winners on 14 September.

NOMMO AWARDS LONGLIST 2020

Two works published by Luna Press Publishing in Edinburgh have been longlisted for the NOMMO Awards for Speculative Fiction by Africans. They are: "Incompleteness Theories" in I ncomplete Solutions by Wole Talabi (Best Novella) and "A Million Reasons Why" in Learning Monkey and Crocodile by Nick Wood (Best Short Story).

ORWELL POLITICAL FICTION BOOK PRIZE 2020 LONGLIST

To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek (Canongate Books) is longlisted for the Orwell Political Fiction Book Prize 2020 . The author won the Political Book Prize in 2015 with Private Island and was longlisted for the Journalism Prize in 2013. S hortlists will be announced later this spring and the winners of all four Prizes will be revealed at the Prize Ceremony, on or around 25 June 2020 (George Orwell’s birthday).

GAELIC LITERATURE AWARDS 2020 - CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES 1 MAY 2020

Writers and publishers are invited to submit Scottish Gaelic books published between 1 May 2019 and 30 April 2020 for prizes in the following categories: poetry (Derick Thomson Award), children’s books, non-fiction (Donald Meek Award) and fiction (Highland Society of London Award). There are

also prizes for unpublished manuscripts for adults and for children. For further information and

to enter, see the Gaelic Books Council website . The closing date is 1 May 2020.

Top and below: the covers of the winning and listed books mentioned above.

Edwin Morgan Centenary Celebrations

Ahead of Edwin Morgan's centenary on 27 April 2020, BooksfromScotland brings you a celebration of the great poet, playwright, essayist and translator. If you've not come across Edwin Morgan's work before, we hope this taster will inspire to discover more - and there's a lot of great work available! The picture below refers to Strawberries (which you can read on The Scottish Poetry Library website ). To find out about the official Edwin Morgan Centenary events which will run until 2021, visit the Edwin Morgan Trust website .

Health on the shelf

Libraries are undoubtedly among the most-missed public spaces during this lockdown. Not just for the books of course but for the myriad of other ways they support their local communities. The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) has published a report based on its research into the health offer from Scotland’s public libraries. Health on the Shelf provides a rich overview of the range of resources and activities at Scotland’s public libraries, captures the range of partnership working and demonstrates the important role public libraries play with the self-management agenda.

Book festivals and other literary events

Aye Write! (March) and the Edinburgh International Book Festival (August) are just two of the book festivals that had to cancel in response to the pandemic restrictions and future uncertainties. However, some bodies have increased their online presence or have gone digital.

LITERARY LOCKDOWN

Our BooksfromScotland Editor has rounded up some Scottish events that have been recorded or will take place online in a special BooksfromScotland Literary Lockdown newsletter .

EDINBURGH LITERARY SPOTLIGHT

The UNESCO City of Edinburgh Literature Trust is handing the ‘online mic’ to the city's literary creatives as part of Edinburgh Literature Spotlight. It will feature commissioned pieces from creatives in the city's literary landscape in the form of live videos on Instagram and Facebook, online interviews and Q&As via Zoom, captioned images, blog pieces, and much more. For more information, see the trust’s website .

CÚ IRT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF LITERATURE: 23 TO 25 APRIL

We'd not normally include this festival in Galway but not only is its Director - Sasha de Buyl - a former colleague but the festival is going ahead as a digital festival broadcast online, entirely free of charge. All the very best to Sasha and the team. For more details, see the Cúirt International Festival of Literature website .

MY VIRTUAL LITERARY FESTIVAL (VARIOUS DATES)

MYVLF won the BookTech Start-up award at The Bookseller's FutureBook Awards in 2019 so predates the lockdown. See the MYVLF website for details of forthcoming events and recordings of past events. It will also host The Big Book Weekend in May.

THE BIG BOOK WEEKEND (8 TO 10 MAY)

The Big Book Weekend is a 3-day, virtual festival that brings together the best of the British book festivals cancelled due to coronavirus, featuring the biggest names in books alongside unknown debut authors and rising talents. It has been co-founded by the authors Kit de Waal and Molly Flatt, is supported by the BBC and Arts Council England, and will take place on the online book festival site MyVLF.

OPEN THE DOOR FESTIVAL (18 TO 22 MAY)

Every second year (and 2020 is one of those years), Glasgow Women's Library invites the world to Open the Door by hosting its festival of women's writing entirely online. Visit the GWL website to see the festival themes for 2020 and ways in which you can get involved.

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL

When announcing its cancellation, the Edinburgh International Book Festival said that it very much hopes to be able to programme a series of online events to take place this summer. In the meantime, you can enjoy Festival photographs, listen to or download free podcasts of event recordings and watch exclusive interviews and Festival highlights from past Book Festivals on its website, on YouTube channel and on iTunes. See the Edinburgh International Book Festival website .

WIGTOWN LIVE

Though the Wigtown Book Festival is not due to take place until the Autumn, they are putting a little festival spirit into lockdown life with #WigtownLive. it was clear to the festival team early on that they couldn’t just sit there in silence at such a time so they’ve come up with a digital offering that feels like Wigtown, the book festival and the town. As well as live events on #WigtownWednesdays there will be commissioned articles and items from the archives. Read more about on the Wigtown Book Festival website .

HAY FESTIVAL

The Hay Festival normally takes place in Wales but this high-profile festival is another one that has had to cancel and to look at what it can and wants to offer online. They've announced a brand new Hay Festival podcast as well as presenting the first stages of their digital offering for families at home..See the Hay Festival website .

CONFERENCES AND BOOK FAIRS

All the book trade fairs (the forums for buying and selling rights) up to June have been cancelled or postponed.

Many trade conferences have also been cancelled or postponed. Publishing Scotland and the Booksellers Association are monitoring whether our own postponed Scottish Book Conference can go ahead later in the year.

Having had to postpone its April/May spring conference, the Independent Publishers Guild is to hold a virtual conference on 2 and 3 June instead.

JOBS, TRAINING AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

HEAD OF MATH PUBLISHING

An innovative and creative digital education company focused on the K-12 international schools market, has an exciting opportunity for a Head of Math Publishing. This is a remote, home-based role, offering a competitive salary and excellent benefits. Recruitment is via Inspired Selection .

LIVE LITERATURE REMOTE EVENT FUNDING

Scottish Book Trust is looking to support activity that ensures people in Scotland can continue to enjoy the benefits of reading and writing at a time when in-person events cannot take place. This could be any project involving a writer from the Live Literature Author Directory which follows social distancing guidelines eg a remotely delivered workshop or reading; a podcast or local radio recording; a piece of commissioned work displayed in the community or inserted into food parcels. Scottish Book Trust will cover the full fee of £175, paid directly to the author. For more details and to apply, see the Scottish Book Trust website . The closing date is Friday 22 May 2020.

RISING STARS

The Bookseller (8 April 2020 ) has called for entries for the 2020 Rising Stars. Each year, the Rising Stars salutes around 40 book trade professionals who are tipped as future leaders of the trade. The lists are a mixture of those relatively early in their careers and long-serving professionals who have changed tack to help revitalise the industry. To nominate a colleague, or yourself, send a testimonial outlining their/your accomplishments to tom.tivnan@thebookseller.com by 15 May 2020.

BOOKCAREERS

The Bookcareers website has a new look and of course is a great source of all sorts of useful information about working in publishing. As a direct response to the current employment situation caused by Covid-19 they will be re-instating the bookcareers Job Club Initiative, in association with The Book Trade Charity (BTBS). For more information, see Bookcareers.com .