Editor Interview: New Writing Scotland

New Scottish writing

Publishers: 404 Ink, Penguin, Canongate, Aphrodite
Publications: Gutter Magazine

Fiction: Iain Banks, John Burnside, James Kelman, Alasdair Gray, A L Kennedy, Janice Galloway, Anne Donovan, James Robertson, James Meek, Irvine Welsh, Robert Louis Stevenson, Muriel Spark, Peter McCarey, Kevin MacNeil, Louise Welsh, Kirsty Logan
Poetry: Edwin Morgan, Norman MacCaig, Ryan Van Winkle, Mick Imlah, Don Paterson, John Burnside, Carol Ann Duffy, aonghas macneacail, Iain Crichton Smith, Kathleen Jamie, Donnie O'Rourke, Liz Lochhead, Jackie Kay

We've been going for more than forty years; no other publication has that depth of experience, or has given so many significant Scottish writers their first break into print. We accept material from people resident in Scotland, or Scots by birth, upbringing or inclination, and publish material written in any of the languages of Scotland (English, Scots-English, Scots, Gaelic, Scots-Urdu, etc.)

Send us your best stuff. Don't worry about themes, genres or content: quality alone is what counts. Each year we receive far more good material than we can hope to publish, so make sure that what you send us is your very best work. On a practical note, set it in a standard typeface (if in doubt, Times New Roman) at a sane size (12 point is fine), and give decent margins and line spacing. You are welcome to experiment with layout but remember: in the printed book, your work will have to fit into a type area of 100mm x 184mm and still be legible! Put the title of the piece on every page, but only put your name on the covering letter; our editors make their selections without knowing the names of the writers they're selecting.

Something well written, that stands out from the crowd. Use an authentic voice. Grab our attention with your words.

Too many submissions. The shotgun approach doesn't work. Select your best stuff, and send that: don't just fling everything at us in the hope that some of it sticks!

Name, address, and email (and telephone - for preference, although not vital). That's all we need at the submission stage. If your work is selected for publication then we'll ask you for further information.

We have a rotating editorship: two editors, each serving three years, and a Gaelic editor, also serving three years. Editorial styles and preferences will change with the editors. However, they're all experienced writers themselves, and can tell if something is good, bad or indifferent within a few paragraphs. If it's bad or indifferent, then I suspect they'll stop reading right there: life is too short, and the submission piles are too tall! Good stuff, though, will be read to the end and kept aside for further consideration.

We look for previously unpublished material of high quality. That's it.

I'm the Managing Editor, not an actual editor! I leave the hard decisions to other people ...

We copy-edit to fit house style (UK spelling, for example), unless an author specifically asks us not to. Authors get to review and correct typeset proofs, and any proofreader queries are passed on to authors for resolution.

Not directly, no.