Scottish Publisher of the Month

Thirsty Books is the Edinburgh imprint of Argyll Publishing. Since 1999 Thirsty has been committed to publishing poetry and fiction from Scotland and beyond. Thirsty Books has hosted Thirsty Lunch, a series of thrilling literary events and published the knock-out magazine, Deliberately Thirsty. In recent years they have produced a number of non-fiction projects.

Kohl Publishing is an innovative Scottish book publisher based in Glasgow. It was founded by Lesley-Ann Dickson and Leila Cruickshank. Kohl publish books for women. Not chick lit. Books that you can think about.

One of Scotland's newest and most dynamic publishers, Cargo was founded in 2009 with the aim of creating a new publishing voice inspired by the likes of Rebel Inc, Clocktower Press and Canongate.

Olida Publishing was founded in 2008 on the banks of Loch Lomond, with a view to exploring and developing the rich vein of Scottish writers.

Freight Books specialises in high quality, well-edited and beautifully designed English language books. Its primary interest is fiction but it is publishing some humour and full colour non-fiction titles. Freight provides design and typesetting support to a number of other publishers UK-wide, too.

Blasted Heath launched in November 2011 as Scotland’s first digital-only publisher. It was formed as a partnership between novelist and literary agent, Allan Guthrie, and digital specialist, Kyle MacRae.

Ayrshire-based Giglets has undergone a startling metamorphosis. Formerly publishers of Scottish educational storybooks, Giglets has now released the first three titles in an animated ebook SmartReads series.

We take a fresh look at the Kelpies series of Scottish books for children, and the success of the annual Kelpies Prize.

The History Press is the UK’s largest local and specialist history publisher. From Aberdeen to Penzance, their local titles cover the length and breadth of the UK, and in this feature we look at their strong Scottish list.

Scottish book wholesalers Bookspeed have built on their experience of servicing the tourist and gift markets by launching their own publishing imprint, doodlemacdoodle. Their first title sold over 23,000 copies in just three months - a remarkable start for a new imprint.

Merchiston Publishing is an imprint managed by the students of Edinburgh Napier University's MSc Publishing course. The students choose classic titles, edit text and layouts, commission artwork, perform market research and arrange the printing of their books. For 2011, the students have published three classic Scottish children's books.

Brown, Son and Ferguson are a long-established Scottish publisher of nautical almanacs, books on ship building and the River Clyde and books on seafaring and navigation. The Glasgow-based company also has a separate imprint publishing Scottish playscripts for amateur and professional theatre groups.

Neil Wilson Publishing is one of the stalwarts of the Scottish publishing scene, with a strong non-fiction list of Scottish and Irish interest titles, and imprints including The In Pinn, The Angels' Share, Vital Spark and NWP.

The Library of Innerpeffray and Innerpeffray School were founded in 1680, and until 1968 it served as a free public lending library - the oldest in the UK. To celebrate the history of the library, they have published The First Light by George Chamier, to raise funds for the library.

Vagabond Voices have set themselves the difficult task of publishing contemporary European fiction in translation, as well as a series of polemical essays and, in 2011, a range of autobiographies. Visually distinct, they are a fresh voice in publishing in Scotland.

Saraband began in the 1990s in the New York area of the USA, but they moved to Glasgow in 2000. The mostly publish beautiful, highly illustrated books on the arts, architecture, mythology, symbolism and the natural world, but have started to branch out into fiction.

Mainstream was founded in Edinburgh in 1978 and is one of the leading non-fiction publishing companies based in Scotland. They now work in partnership with Random House, but maintain a strong independent identity.

Floris have recently launched a new 'Picture Kelpies' series of illustrated books for younger readers. The Picture Kelpies join their long list of children's books. We also take a look at some of Floris' adult non-fiction titles.

The National Museums of Scotland have been revising, updating and extending their popular Scotties activities series of books for children - refreshing the old HMSO-produced books with new text and photographs from the rich treasures of the National Museums. We take a look at this updated range.

East Lothian 1945-2000 was the brainchild of David Moody, the author of Scottish Towns and Scottish Local History. A seven-volume statistical account of the parishes of East Lothian, it was a labour of love for local historians and writers and forms the bedrock of Scottish local history.

We take a look at a different sort of publisher - Academy Media, who create educational DVDs featuring biographies of famous authors and composers. Academy Media are members of Publishing Scotland and are based in Brora.

One of Scotland's leading education publishers, Leckie and Leckie, ends 2009 with two new series of books for schoolchildren.

Formed in 2006, Serafina Press is a small company specialising in illustrated children's books. The press is based in The Smokehouse Gallery in the Borders fishing town of Eyemouth, and is particularly keen to work with young illustrators with a passion for the Scottish Borders.

As well as being holding the largest collection of books, manuscripts and maps in Scotland - and now, managing the UK's Legal Deposit copy scheme - the National Library of Scotland also runs its own publishing program.

Lead by authors Matthew Fitt and James Robertson, Itchy Coo have been publishing fantastic Scots language books for kids for six years.

The Linen Press is a one woman band based in Edinburgh and run by Lynn Michell. What the press lacks in size, it makes up for in enthusiasm.

Cicerone are one of the UK's most respected publishers of walking and hillwalking guides. We take a look at their Scottish book list, a vital part of the business.

Benchmark's founders were puzzled at what they saw as a strange anomaly in the world of publishing: there were mountains of sports books out there, and piles of books for children – but very few that bridged the gap to make sporting stories accessible to children.

Bright Red Publishing are a brand new producer of Educational books for the Scottish market. Launched in 2008, their first two titles have just been published, and they have a strong programme of new books for this year and next.

Leckie & Leckie was formed in 1989, and is looking forward to its 20th anniversary next year with a range of new study guides, grade boosters and the official SQA past papers. Leckie & Leckie are one of the leading educational book publishers in Scotland.

Hallewell Publications produce a series of handy pocket-sized walking guides to Scotland and parts of England. Their "rewalking" policy ensures that their guides are kept up-to-date and take into account changes in access and pathways.

Fledgling Press are a small Edinburgh-based publisher set up by Zander Wedderburn in 2000. Fledgling offer a mix of fiction, poetry and biography, and offer many books in electronic format from their website.

The Scottish Poetry Library is one of Scotland's best-loved literary institutions. Nestled in a close just off the Royal Mile, the library holds 30,000 items of Scottish and international poetry. The also co-publish a number of poetry anthologies.

From Hairmyres, near East Kilbride, come Strident Publishing, our April Publisher of the Month. Strident began with the novels of Keith A Charters, and are now a growing company with a range of children's and young adult books planned.

Ablekids Press is a new children's publisher, established in 2007, to promote language learning for primary school children. As well as publishing books in English, they have plans for multilingual titles and Gaelic translations of their books.

One Published are a unique publishing company who produce "themed photobooks". One Published provide the text, the printing and binding, and you provide the illustrations, to create a truly personal book.

Formed in 1954 to promote the works of highly popular theologian, William Barclay, Saint Andrew Press is the publishing arm of the Church of Scotland with a broad range of titles.

Birlinn have long been one of the largest and most successful independent publishers in Scotland. With a variety of imprints, including Polygon, Tuckwell and Mercat, they publish a wide range of books, from fiction, poetry, Scottish history and guidebooks, sport, and academic titles.

The Saltire Society was founded in 1936, and it has always featured literature at its core. As well as running the prestigious Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Awards, they have their own publishing programme designed to promote Scottish culture, keep classic Scottish texts alive, and to comment on contemporary Scotland.

Reflecting Scotland's historical influence in fields as diverse as philosophy, religious studies, education theory, medicine and the natural sciences, Dunedin Academic Press's range befits their status as a leading independent academic press.

Scran are a very different publisher - in fact, they don't publish books at all. Instead, they are a charity and online learning resource base with over 347,000 images, movies and sounds from museums, galleries, archives and the media. They have a particular expertise in Scottish subjects, and are members of Publishing Scotland.

Two Ravens Press are a new company with a strong sense of purpose, reflected in their manifesto to publish with passion. They are building a literary list of novels, poetry and short stories.

The Publishing Cupboard is a new company, based in Glasgow, specialising in non-fiction. Their first three books are language study guides, based on the idea that you learn better when you are relaxed... so relaxed, you may even Nod Off.

Edinburgh University Press has an international reputation for academic and journal publishing, leading in areas such as American Studies, Ancient History, Islamic Studies, Philosophy and more. Their Scottish list includes the definitive editions of Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg.

Fidra Books is a publisher specialising in reprinting unjustly neglected children's fiction that deserves to be back in print and accessible to a new audience. Many of the authors and books on their list are Scottish.

As part of April's Gaelic theme, we introduce one of the leading Gaelic publishers, Acair. Acair (the name means 'anchor') are based in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, and publish around 20 books a year.

Floris Books, based in Edinburgh, are one of Scotland's leading children's book publishers, and run the Kelpies prize for children's fiction. Floris are also a leading publisher of books on religion, science, language and anthroposophy.

Whittles Publishing, our February Publisher of the Month, is a well-known technical publisher of engineering titles such as Basic Principles Of Plates And Slabs and Close Range Photogrammetry and Machine Vision. But for BooksfromScotland.com, Whittles introduce us to their Scottish and Natural World list, with writers such as Bridget MacCaskill and Hamish Brown.

The first Publisher of the Month for 2007 is Ayrshire-based (Catrine) Stenlake Publishing, who produce a huge range of illustrated local, transport and industrial history books. Their local history titles are particularly popular, with titles such as Old Muirkirk and Glenbuck and Old Crianlarich, Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy.

The Association for Scottish Literary Studies - our December Publisher of the Month - is an educational charity and publisher which promotes the study, teaching and writing of Scottish literature. As well as publishing the annual collection New Writing Scotland and the regular ScotNotes series, the ASLS produce a biannual journal Scottish Literary Studies and the ScotLit newsletter.

November 2006 - This month we feature independent press Argyll Publishing. Based in Glendaruel in Argyll, are a general publisher of Scottish-interest titles, and their fiction and poetry imprint Thirsty Books has had several successes at the Saltire Society Awards. Argyll are also the publishers of the literary magazine Scottish Review of Books.

October 2006 - After one of the biggest Scottish publishers last month, this month we feature one of the smallest. Otago Publishing were founded earlier this year, 2006, and have published one title so far, award-winning Gaelic writer, Angus Peter Campbell's Invisible Islands. But they plan on growing in Scotland and internationally...

September 2006 - One of Scotland's largest and most successful publishers, Mainstream, are our Publisher of the Month. They are responsible for some of the widest ranges of books on BooksfromScotland.com, from football and rugby titles to politics, journalism and Scottish-interest books.

August 2006 - Last month we featured the publishing programme from Glasgow Museums. This August, we look at The National Museums of Scotland - 6 National Museums, including the prestigious Royal Museum and the National Museum of Scotland, make for a varied and exciting publishing programme.

July 2006 - Glasgow Museums have plenty of materials to draw on when deciding what to publish, with 12 museum collections in Glasgow.

June 2006 - Sandstone Press, publisher of the Vista series of novels for Adult Literacy development, tell BooksfromScotland.com about their plans for the future.

April 2006 - Originally from Barr in Ayrshire, Luath Press have been based right at the top of Edinburgh's Royal Mile since 1997. An independent publisher of fiction, biography, politics, history and one of Scotland's main publishers of new poetry, Luath Press has a growing and varied list.

March 2006 - Rucksack Readers are very proud of their unique walking and hiking guidebooks, and the close relationship they have developed with their customers. Their compact, waterproof and lightweight books manage to cram in everything you need to know when tackling the West Highland Way or Mont Blanc.

February 2006 - Barrington Stoke are one of Scotland's publishing success stories. By producing books for reluctant readers - but presenting them no differently from other children's and teenage books - their books are popular with both children and teachers.

January 2006 - The Rory Stories are beautifully illustrated, warm, funny and popular children's picture books from our January publisher of the month, Keppel Publishing. Learn more about these charming books, including interviews with the author Andrew Wolffe and Illustrator Tom Cole.