live publishing projects – Page 2 – Publishing By Degrees

Why Margaret Oliphant deserves to be on your bookshelf

As part of our Publishing Production project, each student was tasked with selecting an out-of-copyright Scottish author to republish. Admittedly it took me a while to settle on a specific author, but ultimately I chose Margaret Oliphant. Now, half way through the project, I am can’t imagine a better choice. Oliphant published over 170 novels and short stories between 1855 and 1897 – a testament to her skill and popularity – and became well known for her ghost stories.

For my project I decided to produce a small collection of these ghost stories; this collection would include Earthbound, Beleaguered City and Old Lady Mary. I have always enjoyed a good ghost story, and Margaret Oliphant’s works did not disappoint! Her stories were so different from what I had come to expect from ghost stories of her era. They have been unexpected, bizarre, and an absolute pleasure to read. Although I’ve only read a small fraction of her works, I look forward to diving into more of them and I can’t wait to help bring her stories to new readers.

About the editor and designer

I’m Georgia, an MSc Publishing student at Edinburgh Napier University. I’m also an avid reader of sci-fi, fantasy and supernatural stories.

Upcoming release: The Library Window by Margaret Oliphant

I chose The Library Window as my Publishing Production project as I wanted to publish a book in the supernatural genre. Margaret Oliphant, a Scottish author, was well-known for writing ghost stories in her day, so I looked into a few of her stories. What intrigued me about this specific story, was the combination of two supernatural themes. The very obvious ghost theme, and the more indirectly mentioned cursed diamond ring theme.

About the editor and designer
I’m Sinead, an MSc Publishing student at Edinburgh Napier University. My blog Huntress of Diverse Books focuses on reviewing and promoting diverse books. I’m also a co-host at Lit CelebrAsian, an initiative aiming to uplift Asian voices in literature.

#NapierBigRead book launch on 1 March

As you might have seen, the #NapierBigRead is well and truly underway and we are ramping up activity in the lead-up to our book launch on:

World Book Day – Thursday 1 March.

Copies of Detective McLevy’s Casebook will be available for all students and staff across the whole university!

More details can be found on our website: www.napierbigread.com, where you will see information on our recent activity, including an event at the National Records Office, a presence at the ALIEN conference, and even a mention on the BBC.

Our most recent endeavour, the #bookstohomeless initiative, is also proving to be a great success. See the video below for more details.

All books are going to the Edinburgh charity, www.streetreads.org.

Thanks to all of you who have donated your books!

We have a very special event planned for our book launch on
Thursday 1 March (World Book Day) – so please watch out for further details.

Forgotten Female Writers, 2018

In honour of the centenary of some women getting the vote in the UK, we are proud to reveal some of the new books that we are publishing in 2018.

Mona Caird

Catherine Carswell

Mary Findlater

Violet Jacob

Lorna Moon

Willa Muir

Margaret Oliphant

Felicia Skene

All Scottish, all amazing women, all talented writers. Mostly forgotten.

We are proud to be bringing their work back into the light.

We are also publishing some male writers this year, but we will tell you about them another day…

Projects & Placements, we have the skills you need!

We are now in the third week of the new trimester and things are moving fast!

We have submitted all our book title ideas and are keen to share them with you… soon!

We are also excited to be publishing a full-colour magazine! This will be the all-signing, all-dancing new incarnation of Publishers Inc. The article proposals are undergoing scrutiny as we write and we will be revealing all to you very soon!

But we don’t want to keep you waiting – if you have any relevant placement opportunities, please get in touch NOW.

We are an industry-accredited programme, and we can help you!

Napier Big Read: Participating in a Promotional Event

At the beginning of this trimester, all Publishing students were offered the opportunity to participate in the Big Read initiative.

The Big Read was launched in 2015 at Kingston University, as a scheme that aimed at increasing student engagement and initiating conversations through a shared reading experience. Every arriving student received a free copy of Nick Hornby’s About a Boy, and the project sparked very positive reactions from both the staff and students. Edinburgh Napier University joined the Big Read initiative last year, promoting Matt Haig’s The Humans.

For this year’s Big Read, we decided to do something a little different to Kingston, and our project puts students at the centre. We are using Detective McLevy’s Casebook, a collection of short stories by a 19^th-century Edinburgh detective James McLevy, said to be the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. The Publishing staff and students at Edinburgh Napier University produced this special edition back in 2012, tying it in with the 125^th Sherlock Holmes Anniversary and launching it at the first ever Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival. So, even from the choice of the book, #NapierBigRead is truly student focussed.

I knew immediately that I wanted to participate in the Big Read project. As a fan of Sherlock Holmes and detective fiction in general, I was fascinated by the book itself, and delighted at the prospect of being involved in a real-life promotional campaign. As part of the events team I still have a lot to organise before the book’s official launch, but last Monday I had the opportunity to participate in an off-campus event which proved to be a brilliant hands-on marketing experience. Continue reading “Napier Big Read: Participating in a Promotional Event”

Live Publishing Project: Turadh

Since January, I have been part of a wonderful group who have been working hard over the last few months to get Turadh, an ethical and well-being magazine based in Edinburgh, ready for publication. This experience has been incredibly worthwhile and not only will we soon have the first issue as a physical copy, but it has also helped open my eyes to another side of publishing.

At the beginning of the Publishing MSc at Edinburgh Napier University, when I thought of a career in publishing: I thought of books. Magazines weren’t something I had ever considered, despite spending a small fortune on them every month. However, within the first day of the course we had already been given the opportunity to attend MagFest, the international magazine festival held in Edinburgh, later in the month. Fast forward a few months to where we were given a choice in modules, and I immediately chose the newly structured Magazine Publishing option. So, why the change in heart?

Continue reading “Live Publishing Project: Turadh”