IN DEPTH
Company Spotlight Sandstone Press
Sandstone The key titles
SALES SUPPORT OFFICER ALICE LAING
MARKETING & PUBLICITY OFFICER CERIS JONES
ASSISTANT PUBLISHER KAY FARRELL
Babylon Berlin, and two other titles in Volker Kutscher’s series, were bought at Frankfurt in 2015, just before a TV deal was announced.
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR MOIRA FORSYTH
FOUNDER ROBERT DAVIDSON
most important person in selling a book is the author.” A “beautiful locale, but not local” is something of a mantra, though the firm does not shy away from its roots. The non-fiction side’s strength is in natural history and outdoor pursuits, many with a Scotish theme, such as 2018 hits There’s Always the Hills by the adventurer Cameron McNeish; Johnny Muir’s William Hill-longlisted history of hill-running, The Mountains are Calling; and Andy Howard’s The Secret Life of the Mountain Hare, which won the public vote for the Favourite Scotish Nature Photography Book 2018.
Going global Yet the fiction list—of which Davidson says editorial director Moira Forsyth is the “princi- pal architect and driving force”— in particular shows that Sandstone is not looking inward. Its biggest seller of the past two years has been German crime author Volker Kutscher’s Weimar Republic-set Gereon Rath books, which have been turned into the “Babylon Berlin” TV series.
ADMINISTRATOR SUE FOOT
And the hot titles Sandstone is keen on selling rights to at this London Book Fair have more of a Russian flavour than a Scotish one. First up is an “uncomfortable family history”- cum-travelogue, along the St Petersburg to Venice Amber Trail, by the historian and jour- nalist C J Schüler. Then there is The Wolves of Leninsky Prospekt, the first title in Sarah Armstrong’s new 1970s-set spy series. “[Armstrong] is an author and a series that we really believe in,” Davidson says. “In the not too distant future [her books] will be read across the world.” Sandstone is changing its beautiful locale, however,
26 12th March 2019
Mainstream publishing has long since evolved into giantism... it is the small independents who take risks on authors they believe in
upping sticks from Dingwall to go to the other side of the Moray Firth to new offices in Inverness. The move is partially due to an expanding team and an influx of recent hires, including assistant publisher Kay Farrell, marketing and publicit officer Ceris Jones and sales support officer Alice Laing. But it also reflects a raſt of deeper changes: “From the outside and the look of what we are publishing, you probably wouldn’t notice a difference. It’s like an iceberg: the eighth that is above the surface is going to remain the same; what we are focusing on is the seven- eighths below the surface.” He is referring to streamlining back office functions and improving efficiencies in things like its IT and royalties systems. Plus, there is help at the board level: former Canongate publisher Jenny Todd joined as a non- executive director in May 2018. Davidson says: “We’ve done prety well for 17 years but are looking to grow and improve profitabil- it. It has been great to have [Todd], who has the experience, and can look at our business with fresh eyes.” Yet indie publishing remains challeng-
Robert Davidson, founder
ing: “It’s never a good time to be an indie, especially if you start from scratch. You have to make it work, as mainstream publishing has long since evolved into giantism. It is necessary to be idealistic but to leaven your idealism with pragmatism, play to
your strengths, find money, and pray for luck… Yet, it is the small independents who take risks on authors they believe in. It is the small independents who reach out most intimately to the public. It is small independents who go against the grain. Independent publishers are the soul of publishing.”
The Testament of Jessie Lamb, a 2011 Booker longlistee, was bought after it was turned down by Jane Rogers’ main publisher.
Eve Harris’ début, The Marrying of Chani Kaufman, was longlisted for the Man Booker in 2013, Sandstone’s second nod in two years.
Cairngorm John, John Allen’s memoir, was published in 2009. It is Sandstone Press’ top-selling non-fiction title to date.
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