Bus driver just asked whoever was playing their phone without headphones to please switch it off. He’s now my favourite.

Very much enjoyed talking to @uncertainstories.com about my love for vampires and short stories! www.uncertainstories.com/inside-stori...

PUBLISHING JOB! We're hiring a Publishing Operations Assistant to play a supporting role in our ops team, based out of our Edinburgh office full time - if you're highly organised, detail-orientated and passionate about books take a look!: canongate.co.uk/about/jobs/

Jobs at Canongate

Current vacancies at Canongate – the award-winning independent book publisher based in Edinburgh and London.

canongate.co.uk

I wonder if I should record the calls with my agent where I moan about hating the new novel I’m trying to write, just in case I need proof it’s not AI some day.

I have not been good at social media since the demise of twitter (RIP), but thought I should come on to say that I am open for queries until end of August.  I am open to most fiction genres (do check our website) so this is not to restrict, but to do a little #mswl (below).

Anyone receiving a festival invite from contact.leerandall@gmail.com, even though the gushing email has the Wigtown logo on it, IT IS FAKE and generated by AI. In no way does it resemble a proper festival invite but I can see why one might mistake it for that.

Calling Scottish folks because fuck data centres. Personally I'd go for yeeting the shareholders into the sun but I guess I'll settle for a moratorium petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE...

Petition: Moratorium on planning applications for all hyperscale data centres until their environmental impacts have been fully assessed

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce a moratorium to prohibit planning permission from being granted for any hyperscale data centres, until it has carried ou...

petitions.parliament.scot

Edinburgh’s Book Fringe is back for 2026 & we have a jam-packed roster of world-class authors in store for you! We're delighted to be partnering with @argonautbooks.bsky.social and Greenhouse Records to bring you a broad range of events, workshops and talks. Get your tix here! linktr.ee/bookfringe

It’s 9am and tickets are on sale! Fill your boots! Come to Scotland’s National Book Town. Fall in love with it, as I did almost 20 years ago! Fall in love with new writers. Meet writers you already admire. Be a reader, a writer, a filmgoer, a music lover. Lots here.

Lee Randall@leerandall.bsky.social · 2w ago

Oh and here's a PDF of the programme, which goes on sale tomorrow morning: www.wigtownbookfestival.com/uploads/file...

Sometimes you wake up and make yourself a coffee and then drop the cup on one of your favourite glasses and while you’re cleaning up fragments you wonder whether you might’ve been better off staying in bed

As the type of freelancer who likes to be all over their finances, I thought I’d find Making Tax Digital easy - even useful. This has not been the case!

Never allowing having too many books to be an impediment to buying more books

Will you join the more than 25 authors who have secured a publishing deal as a result of appearing at Pitch Perfect? Applications for this year close on Friday (17th July) at 5pm: bloodyscotland.com/take-part/#p...

Never allowing having too many books to be an impediment to buying more books

🗣️ The Scots Language Publication Grant is open fir applications! 🗣️ The grant exists tae support publishers tae publish and promote work scrived in the Scots leid. Send in yir applications by ⏰ 12 (noon) on Wed 2 Sept 2026 ⏰ Mair info can be found here: www.scottishbooktrust.com/writing-and-...

The Scots Language Publication Grant

The Scots Language Publication Grant exists to support publishers to publish and promote work written in Scots.

scottishbooktrust.com

Found this super interesting, especially the idea that the social tools we use to try and share art are steadily replacing consumption of said art. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

How Lizzo Became One of Pop Culture’s Great Flops

The singer is experiencing a new form of downward mobility—and she’s not alone.

theatlantic.com

Get your summer reading, sorted ☀️📚 Pick two paperbacks from our curated list, save 10%, and get them delivered in time for wherever the summer takes you. Whether it's a sun lounger, a loch or your own back garden, a good book makes it better. shop.scottishbooktrust.com/apps/bundles...

‼️Vacancy alert‼️Early Years Trainer (TCP Project). We have a fantastic opportunity to join the Scottish Book Trust team. We are seeking someone with experience in training professionals and volunteers, to deliver a early years training. Sounds like you? 👇

Vacancy: Early Years Trainer (TCP Project)

We are a national charity bringing the benefits of reading and writing to everyone in Scotland.

scottishbooktrust.com

Just sharing this again after several more dispiriting conversations with writer friends. Scam emails ain't nothing new, they're just easier to personalise and send en masse these days. www.scottishbooktrust.com/articles/how...

How to watch out for scam emails targeting authors

In the age of AI, scam emails targeting authors have grown more sophisticated – here are some handy ways to spot them and protect yourself.

scottishbooktrust.com

And finally, trapped and facing horrifying trials with THE BONE DOOR by @franceswrites.bsky.social and THE SEA HIDES ITS DEAD by @megbontra.bsky.social, chaired by @lynseymay.com at @cymerafestival.co.uk

And my final panel of the weekend is @franceswrites.bsky.social and Megan Bontrager in conversation with @lynseymay.com - an excellent ending to a superb festival.

SFF and horror pals! There are loads of really cool items available in the @cymerafestival.co.uk auction - closes tomorrow & supports Scotland's only SFFH book festival! There are books aplenty, mentoring, critiques, a stay at the Cymera retreat, and more! 👇 ✨ 🚀 www.32auctions.com/organization...

Cymera Auction 2026

Silent auction 'Cymera Auction 2026' hosted online at 32auctions.

32auctions.com

It's the final days for Tara Togs! An all ages comic featuring Tara's adventures around Scotland - all in a lovely ligne Claire style www.kickstarter.com/projects/com...

Tara Togs Year One

Tara is back in a new set of adventures. The original book The Silence of Unicorns is also available.

kickstarter.com

Do you have a selkie-witchy-northern-islands loving chum? Someone who loves genre bending, weird books? Share Widdershins with them. There's only 28 hours left of the Kickstarter! #fantasynovel #booksky #projectswelove #witches #scotland kickstarter.com/projects/all...

Widdershins

A genre-bending fantasy novel, a Viking Age time-slip & a selkie retelling spanning a thousand years

kickstarter.com

My Edinburgh-based short story, from tomorrow, on BBC4Extra www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b... 16.45pm

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Edinburgh Haunts, The Misadventures of Magnus Lovatt by Susie Maguire

An actor performs a one-man show, but the words echo back to him.

bbc.co.uk

These limited sketch cards were lovingly inked for Saturday's signing The Book of Murmurs signing @goshcomics.bsky.social 1 - 2pm!

All of 404's ebooks went offline today. The sign that our ten years is really coming to an end. We've got the last remaining stock on our website before it's gone for good in a few weeks, so please check out 404's site and treat yourself! www.404ink.com / @404ink.bsky.social

404 Ink

404 Ink is an alternative, award winning, independent publisher of the likes of Nasty Women, Chris McQueer and more.

404ink.com

The Cymera 2026 Charity Auction is now live! Bid on book bundles, signed copies and special editions; 1-2-1 zoom calls, critiques and beta reads with published authors; query critiques and more! All funds raised will go towards supporting Cymera: www.32auctions.com/cymera2026

Reading isn't guaranteed. It takes policy, investment and collaboration. This week, Scottish Book Trust joins 39 organisations from 28 countries at EURead's AGM in Stockholm. Big conversations incoming! 📖 euread.com/euread-annua...

🚨CLOSING SOON🚨: We’re looking for a creative, bookish digital content creator to join the Scottish BPOC Writers Network (SBWN) team! Apply by 24 May. Follow the link to get the full details: scottishbpocwritersnetwork.org/were-hiring-...

We're hiring a Digital & Social Media Assistant! - Scottish BPOC Writers Network

We’re looking for an experienced, creative Digital & Social Media Assistant to join the Scottish BPOC Writers Network (SBWN) team!

scottishbpocwritersnetwork.org