We don’t know if we’re bombastic enough to claim that we’re redefining the Scottish book bubble, but we do know that we want to bring a bit of fun to the industry while tackling some big and difficult subjects. Indie publishers 404 Ink are being modest. In just six months, founders Heather McDaid and Laura […]
The funny thing about the Man Booker Prize is that it’s more often judged on the merits of its exclusions than its inclusions. Never diverse enough, “too readable” last year and “decidedly unstarry” this year, coverage is almost always skewed towards the negative, because “Six brilliant books nominated for prestigious prize” probably isn’t going to set […]
In software testing, we often speak about a Happy Path – where ‘good’ input yields an expected result (or, in other words, when a program behaves itself). In life, we apply the same logic to our careers: we input hard work and passion, and we expect to yield a successful career in our chosen field. […]
In news that will shock absolutely no-one, it was revealed yesterday that books written by women and about women are less likely to win major literary prizes. Amongst the findings – compiled by author Nicola Griffith – was the depressing note that “women wrote zero out of 15 [Pulitzer] prize-winning books wholly from the point […]
There is a culture of diplomacy at the heart of the Scottish book industry. It sounds quite nice, doesn’t it? In the abstract, it connotes an image of benign fair-mindedness, of tea-supping, left-leaning culturals just being really nice about saving a largely independent industry. Read just a small number of reviews of Scottish books – indeed, […]
A Novel Bookblog 