You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Following a year of uncertainty, bookshop closures and an absence of physical events, Scottish publishers are reflecting on lessons learned as the country prepares to ease restrictions, with many reporting a sense of cautious optimism.
When the pandemic hit last year, most publishers in Scotland adapted to the new way of working quickly, but there was “real uncertainty for publishers who are totally dependent on high street sales”, according to Canongate publishing director Francis Bickmore. He adds: “The first six months of the pandemic were dominated by coping, which is not great for creativity.” Despite the challenging landscape, he notes the “incredible renaissance of indies… and a huge upsurge in people wanting to buy locally”.
Jan Rutherford, publishing and marketing director at Birlinn, agrees that booksellers have adapted “incredibly well”, strengthening both their online offering and links with publishers. She also praised distributor BookSource for being “consistently supportive throughout”. Birlinn had a “difficult, painful, challenging” year, yet “it has brought with it opportunity and really pushed creativity”. Rutherford feels the indie now has closer ties with its authors as well as booksellers and festivals, plus sales through its website have grown.
Sandstone Press reports “really mixed sales” and campaigns manager Ceris Jones feels many titles “would have done a lot better in a different situation”, however the move to online events has enabled the indie to take “a more international outlook”. Sandstone has closed its office altogether and Jones believes more companies will move in this direction, or adopt a hybrid model.
At Luath Press, sales initially “fell off a cliff” but they picked up again by September. Like many of Scotland’s presses, heritage and tourism publishing is a big focus for Luath, but director Gavin MacDougall notes it was “a very different market last year” with many visitor sites closed. Suzanne Kennedy, m.d. of Floris Books, says the children’s indie had “a tough start to lockdown, but in the grand scheme we’ve been fine”. While it had to juggle publishing schedules, it gained from website and direct-to-consumer sales, and had its best year to date for American sales. Domestically, it built on direct marketing channels and consolidated relationships with teachers. Kennedy adds: “Homeschooling has helped hold up the children’s and education market. Craft books have held up well too.”
Micropublisher 404 Ink always planned a quiet 2020 with co-founder Heather McDaid on maternity leave, but when the pandemic hit it “effectively went into hibernation”, says co-founder Laura Jones. It has recently emerged from that hibernation to launch a pocket-sized non-fiction series of deep dives into timely topics, Inklings, raising £26,000 towards the project through a Creative Scotland crowdfunding initiative. The first eight titles will be issued incrementally from July 2021 through to the end of the year.
A helping hand
Publishing Scotland chief executive Marion Sinclair feels the trade body has been “needed more than ever” in the absence of industry events and networking. It stepped up its online activity, issuing its Books From Scotland newsletter weekly instead of fortnightly. It also facilitated promotions with Scottish Book Trust, signposted financial support for the sector, held public-facing events to promote authors and organised seminars to help members navigate the digital sphere. In October 2020, marketing, sales and marketing liaison manager Vikki Reilly took on a new role, offering sales support mentorship to publishers. She praises nimble indie presses who have “made the best of lockdown”, with some even selling more in 2020 than in 2019.
Waterstones’ Scottish buying manager Angie Crawford says the past year has “undoubtedly been challenging for bookshops across the UK”, but that when shops were open “we had some really strong, interesting titles that captured the imagination of our customers”. These included non-fiction highlights Frank, Get the Door by Janey Godley pictured right, Andrew Cotter’s Olive, Mabel & Me, The Seafood Shack by Kirsty Scobie and Fenella Renwick, and novels from Andrew O’Hagan, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Sarah Moss, in addition to Booker Prize winner Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart.
Some publishers are already feeling the effects of Brexit. Commercial director Jenny Fry says red tape has been “challenging” for Canongate, but “we are getting there by working collaboratively across the industry”. She adds: “There’s no doubt it will cost more, in staff time and customs clearances, but no one yet knows exactly how much that will be.” Kennedy thinks “it will take quite a long time to figure out how to trade with Europe without the profit margins being sucked up by shipping, VAT and customs”, and as result Floris has temporarily suspended its direct orders to European customers. She hopes to see “the trade working together on solutions”.
Despite having its best year in a decade in 2020, this year Canongate plans to focus on its backlist and is looking to reduce the size of its publishing list. Bickmore explains the move is “about recognising that focus is what creates success”. As things open up, Birlinn’s Rutherford says: “Our digital side will be further strengthened; it is an increasingly important part of the business. We have a strong and gutsy publication schedule for 2021/22 and we are excited to see what this new world has to offer.”
Publishing Scotland plans to keep digital elements to its future events, though member services manager Lucy Feather notes that “there is still an importance to physical events and in-person networking”. In March, the trade body held its first international trade mission with the Australian Publishers Association, with Scottish and Australian publishers meeting virtually to pitch titles and exchange contacts. It intends to run more of these throughout 2021. Feather predicts that Publishing Scotland’s conference will be online again this year, which “works better in some ways because some publishers are in such remote areas”. This summer, the trade body is launching The Scottish Books Long Weekend (10th-13th June), a celebration of the writing and publishing coming from Scotland across genres and age groups, with the full programme to be announced in early May.
Summer will also see the return of Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF). In 2020, the festival ran a fully digital, free programme of 146 events. Festival director Nick Barley says the pivot was “extremely difficult”, but it paid off with “extraordinary engagement” from audiences. In 2021, EIBF has moved to the Edinburgh College of Art. It is planning a range of live online author talks, workshops and readings from 14th-30th August, with some events taking place in front of socially distanced audiences, if circumstances allow. Barley believes that the future for literary festivals is hybrid, which brings exciting possibilities as well as challenges, including how to be more environmentally responsible. He believes the answer to creating a more sustainable model for festivals is a “less competitive and more collaborative” approach across the book trade.
Spreading the wealth
Looking ahead, Kennedy is hopeful that there will be increased regional diversity in the industry, saying: “Remote working has taught us that it is possible to live outside the centre of London or Edinburgh and still work in publishing. Hopefully that bodes well for much needed socioeconomic and cultural diversifying of our industry.” Considering the upcoming Scottish Parliament election on 6th May, Luath’s MacDougall says: “The opinion polls predict that the SNP will get a majority and possibly have a mandate to hold another referendum around independence. What will this mean for publishing and bookselling?”
Despite the uncertainty, there is a general feeling of optimism about Scotland’s publishing at the moment, with literary agent Jenny Brown saying: “Shuggie Bain is all of Scotland’s success, it’s given everyone a lift…Scottish books are doing well and people are responding to them. Confidence is back.”
This is echoed by Waterstones’ Crawford, who describes 2021’s list as “one of the strongest publishing line-ups I have seen in years”. She is excited for a number of upcoming titles, including: Hyde by Craig Russell; Graeme MacRae Burnet’s new book Case Study; William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin’s The Dark Remains; Billy Connolly’s autobiography; and new novels from Diana Gabaldon, Alan Warner, Helen McClory, Denise Mina and Jenni Fagan.
Publishing Scotland’s Feather agrees that the industry “feels very positive”, with the trady body’s membership currently at its highest figure, with 75 publishing members and 30 network members. Canongate’s Bickmore adds: “It’s great to see Hachette moving to Edinburgh, and I believe we’re at the start of a renaissance for Scottish writing.”