Currently publishing fiction for ages 5-18, Strident has developed a strong reputation for not only backing titles but also backing authors, assisting them in creating websites and trying to help them make the most of opportunities to present in bookshops, schools and libraries and at festivals. Strident are based in Hairmyres, in East Kilbride.

Keith Charters' first hilarious Lee novel, Lee and the Consul Mutants (for ages 9+), was published by Neil Wilson Publishing in 2004, with a second edition published in early 2005. Later that year Strident bought the rights and the book topped The Herald's Children's Bestseller chart in early 2006. It is now in its third edition.

Strident went on to launch Keith's second novel, Lee Goes for Gold, in January 2006 at an event in Glasgow which was attended by almost 1,500 very enthusiastic Glaswegian schoolchildren. The book went on to reach No.4 in The Herald's bestseller chart and the third in the series, Lee's Holiday Showdown, was launched in November of the same year.

In September 2007 Strident published DarkIsle, a captivating and original fantasy for children, which announced D A Nelson's debut as an exciting new storyteller. It was Waterstone's Scottish Children's Book of the Month in October 2007, and was described by The Scotsman as "... refreshingly humorous… this fantasy will appeal to boys and girls alike."

Even before the official UK publication, rights to DarkIsle and its sequel had been sold to Delacorte Press / Random House in the US, Canada, Japan, Italy, Spain, Germany and Korea. It will be published in hardback in the US in November 2008.

DarkIsle was inspired by a huge stone dragon that overlooks Irvine Beach on Scotland's west coast. The sculpture was created by the artist Roy Fitzsimmons, and was built using stone from the demolition of an old railway bridge.

In view of the location, Strident launched a major competition for schools in the North Ayrshire area, working in tandem with the area's hugely energetic Education Resource Service. In all, 14 schools took part.

Each school was given an extract from the book and pupils from P4 –6 were invited to submit an entry in one of three categories; a piece of written work, a piece of artwork, or something on a recycling theme.

The entries were of such an extremely high standard that the team found it really tough picking the winning entries! The winners then attended a launch at The Harbour Arts Centre in Irvine where they received first edition copies of the novel, signed in person by D A Nelson. The winning entries were displayed in a special exhibition that the staff at The HAC kindly helped put together.

Most recently Strident has republished the long out of print children's classic The King of the Copper Mountains by the late Paul Biegel. The author of more than fifty books for children, Paul Biegel was one of Europe's most acclaimed and best-loved storytellers. He was born in the Netherlands in 1926 and died in October 2006.

The Strident edition features beautiful new illustrations by the artist Sally J Collins, and a poignant foreword by the author's daughter, Leonie Biegel. Leonie is delighted that the book is finally back in print, loves the illustrations and believes that reading it will truly enrich a child's life. In her book review in The Times on March 14th for ages 7+, Amanda Craig described The King of the Copper Mountains as "… the best book of all for this age… out of print for decades… it is still one of the blazing jewels of children's literature."

In September 2008 Strident will publish Spider, by acclaimed children's writer Linda Strachan.

Spider is a brutal and provocative novel about teenage love, loyalty and joyriding. By turns vicious and funny, it's a compelling and harrowing ride into the cheap thrills and high costs of car crime. Guaranteed to generate media debate, Spider takes an uncompromising look at the consequences of joyriding, without shying away from the motivations behind it.

October sees the publication of Bad Faith, an enthralling novel from Gillian Philip, who is fast gaining a reputation as an accomplished and exciting writer.

Set in a dystopian future Bad Faith tells the story of fifteen-year-old Cassandra. Her father is a One Church rector, and since the dictatorial Church runs the whole country, she's both privileged and protected from extremist gangs and militias. Cass's beautiful brother Griffin has turned into a nocturnal Goth who never comes out of his room, but that's a phase and he'll get over it. Her boyfriend Menzies is an infidel, with subversive atheist parents who are constantly in trouble with the religious authorities, but he and Cass have been friends forever, and that isn't about to change.

Bound to generate controversy, Bad Faith is set to be one of the most talked about novels this year.

Strident will continue to develop its list of new titles for Younger Readers aged 6-13 and titles which have been allowed to fall out of print. However, building on the publication of Spider and Bad Faith, there are also plans for a separate Young Adult imprint and an Adult Fiction imprint in future. An audio imprint, producing unabridged and abridged versions of Strident titles, is currently in development.