Letter from James Hogg to John Murray, 26 Dec 1814: Dear Murray What the deuce have you made of my excellent poem that you are never publishing it while I am starving for want of money and cannot even afford a Christmas goose to my friends?… —in DEAR MR MURRAY #C18 #C19 #romanticism #BookHistory

In his first hundred years of business in Scotland, Santa Claus delivered to children on Hogmanay (31st Dec), not Christmas Eve. By the 1960s, he had fully synchronised his visits and Scotland ran on the same timetable as the US and England. #OldWeirdScotland

They’re really pushing this narrative about the new CEO. If you want to believe women at HC have suddenly done the right thing, sure. But - Walliams’ editor/publisher was a woman, new head of kids dept & head of Corp Comms both women and new CEO all knew about this for 10+ years and did nothing.

Does Coca-Cola make your country’s favourite drink?

British public employees still imagine that Britain is a wealthy country and, ergo, they deserve to paid comensurately. In reality, Britain is a country of middling wealth which gets poorer with every passing year. This is one of Britain's (and Scotland's) most urgent problems.

Pink sunset mist over Scotland’s sheep last night. @stormhour.com

Deep dive into the Unbound disaster

Now there's a headstone full of life's adventures...

Two weeks to go before we cast off the bowlines! The 5th #JonasFlynt #adventure #thriller sets sail on August 21 in #hardback & #ebooks @canelobooks.bsky.social @belllomaxmoreton.bsky.social

That’s a wrap on The Good Father book tour. I may go for a wee lie down. Thanks to everyone who came along…💙📚

I'm going to the kitchen, would anyone like a cup of tea?

The Scottish ballads are one of the wellsprings of Tartan Noir. They loom large in my own new novel, The Good Father. I wrote about them for Shots Magazine…💙📚

New #WriterBeware blog post: Publisher bankruptcies are terrible for authors. The recent implosion of Unbound (now Boundless Publishing) is especially awful, w/ over 200 authors owed thousands; but the less high-profile failure of Albert Whitman is pretty bad too writerbeware.blog/2025/06/06/b...

Thank you so much, @portybelle.bsky.social!

📢 Tickets are NOW LIVE for #Cymera2025 events—such as panels, workshops, agent one-to-ones, live performances and more 📢 There are a variety of in-person and digital events to choose from, plus livestream tickets for our in-person panels: www.cymerafestival.co.uk/cymera25-eve...

Crying Thank you. Thank you. Thank you 🤩

If you are a Westminster-based analyst who has paid no heed to Scotland since 2014, please, I beseech you, there is no need to change that pattern today.

As someone who has been tracking, writing about, nerding out about publishing news for over 15 years, I can't think of a worse scandal especially in terms of the money owed to authors. And, if the theft from staff pensions proves to be true, then fuck me, this is truly a massive scandal.

Don't forget—the #Cymera25 Charity Auction is still live! 🤩 Bids will close on Fri 6 Jun at 11am BST. All funds raised will go toward supporting Cymera: www.32auctions.com/organization...

Freelance work is slow at the mo, so a reminder that I'm available for all sorts of typesetting, ebook creation and general publishing/production assistance for those self-publishing & general publishers. Services: www.lauraflojo.com via Reedsy (though I prefer direct!): reedsy.com/jones-laura 🙏

And now #thefridaygirl has cracked the top 100 overall! Can we keep it going? Come on, folks! Let's go! #booksky #scottishcrime @bwpublishing.bsky.social #kindledailydeal

#Edinburgh peeps - @ifecosse.bsky.social & La Belle Adventure (Franco-Scottish comics shop on Leith Walk) are holding the Auld Alliance Comics Festival in July, celebrating Scottish & French creators www.ifecosse.org.uk/events-agend... #Ecosse #Scotland #France #comics #BandeDessinee #Edimbourg

THE COLONY, by Daniel Pollock. Five stars, and will be one of my books of the year. The story of the Darien Scheme, superbly told in a thrilling ride through a part of Scotland's shadowy, shameful history. Five stars, a cracking read. www.amazon.co.uk/Colony-Danie...

According to that great British newspaper @theguardian.com nothing has happened in Scotland for five days. Nothing.

Nice to see Muriel taking an interest in fire safety.

Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical "Rerum Novarum" (On Capital and Labour)

The marketing money spent by the Big 5 on sponsoring panels at literary festivals to showcase their authors, a vital earner for those festivals, will diminish due to said budget being diverted to influencer campaigns, pop-ups, blog tours and social media events. Discuss.

Hit wis da swans, dat’s whit it wis. Dat’s whit set da day apairt… —Maxine Rose Munro, “A fine day” published in NEW SHETLANDER #295, 2021 #Scots #poem #Shetland #Shetlandic Listen to Maxine read the poem here, via @byleaveswelive.bsky.social soundcloud.com/scottishpoet...

Kind words for my new book. @severnhouse.bsky.social

This week on the blog tartan noir awaits in the gripping The Cost by Morgan Cry www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2025/4/...

Am absolutely chuffed to bits that this lovely book store has made my debut novel #CrowMoon its book of the month for May. @orendabooks.bsky.social #booksky

And then, somehow, there were ten. The hardest book I’ve ever had to write. Started it as a son, ended it as an orphan. Hope you all enjoy it… amzn.eu/d/f3Y6Ta6

#IndiePressDay Supporting independent publishing is so important, and is a cause that we care about deeply. Help us to celebrate indie press day by posting your favourite releases!📚Here are just a few of ours…

Which reminds me, this is a great channel. www.youtube.com/@WhatsForTea

Appear to have confirmed a book event at Auld Hag, the Scottish cafe in Islington, in July. The good people at Auld Hag are responsible for the things of utter gorgeousness below. I have never been more excited for a gig in my life. Watch this space…

@leamington.bsky.social Looking forward to this one. Outstanding reviews so far. www.amazon.co.uk/Emma-Ewan-Mo...

If you feel inclined, you can vote for Stone Yard Devotional in this Better Reading Top 100 books competition - once votes are counted, seven lucky entrants each win a pack of all 100 books! Voting closes this Sunday, May 4.

This is what we are doing, what we are allowing. And it's getting worse.

Anyone listening to any new (or newish) writing, publishing or book-related podcasts that you'd recommend? I have a list here but I think some of them are a bit out-of-date now. #booksky #publishingsky #amwriting theempoweredauthor.com/lounge-blog/...

The final honor guard for Pope Francis included migrants, prisoners, transgender people, the homeless and others selected by the Vicariate of Rome as a symbol of the late pope’s mission of inclusion and outreach. Read more from the funeral: wapo.st/3YdDGqM

“I am still alive then. That may come in useful.” ― Samuel Beckett, Molloy

This is Sweeper. His human couldn't be with him on his 10th adoptaversary. They planned ahead and got their friends to take him out to lunch, who were more than happy to make sure Sweeper still felt celebrated. 14/10 #SeniorPupSaturday

It's #IndieBookshopDay for our chums in the US today, please show your local bookshop a lot of love (and cookies, they like cookies too). #books #livres #bookshops #librairies #IndieBookstoreDay

Fake literary agency alert: Pitch Ready Literary Agency prliterary.com It's slicker than usual but scam-sign is there: no sales/client list, web domain less than 2 weeks old, stock & AI images of "agents" & testimonials, "team directory" w/ names mostly stolen from Writers House

@markleggattbskysoc.bsky.social 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Publication Day for Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Uncharted Island - thank you, @saraband-books.bsky.social and Snag Tights!

Edinburgh folk, do come along if you're free!

More April events goodness coming this way: good chum of the bookshop, @olgawojtas.bsky.social will be here on 16th of April with Miss Blaine's Prefect & the Uncharted Island www.edinburghbookshop.com/events-1/olg... #books #livres #Edinburgh #Edimbourg