ABOUT US

Welcome to Two Ravens Press, a new independent publisher of cutting-edge literary fiction, poetry and non-fiction. We are a limited company registered in Scotland (no. 314459) and are members of Publishing Scotland (formerly the Scottish Publishers' Association).

Why We Publish

Everything that we publish, we publish with passion. We love each of our books. They say something about the author, they say something about us and they say something about the time and the place they were born into. Each book is a person we like being around. Because each, in its own way, fights back against formulas and homogenization, against the analgesic washing-out of colour that threatens to fade our bright thoughts.

And no, agreed, this battle-cry is not enough. We need to put substance behind it. We need tooling-up for the job. We want scalpels and spanners and great big wrenches; we want literature: literature that follows conventional narrative structures, or literature that goes beyond them. Innovative literature, beautiful and ugly literature that speaks of its time and its people. We want the beautiful that breaks your heart – the real one, not the mawkish, sentimental one that can grow in its place. We want clever – much cleverer than us – we want not-afraid-to-be-clever, we want something to aspire to in its entirety. Not the clever elements of a formula, and not the clever charlatans who hide behind ‘clever’ and disappear up their own backsides. If you want to write the same word end to end until the page is full – go ahead. We may well publish it. We are publishing such books – but only because there is a reason for the repetition: it means something. This is not a game. This is the Alamo. We want ideas, we want the language that Albert Camus demanded should ‘disorientate and challenge us.’ We want language as a rallying flag, as a sanctuary, a bayonet, a broom. This includes what Raymond Federman has referred to as ‘surfiction’ – the kind of fiction that explores the possibilities of fiction; that challenges the traditions that govern it; that reveals life as a fiction.

And yes, we want sales and we want profit. We want profit to create the space to think, to be able to publish the next titles. We want to reward writers who give us something to swim for in the torrent. But we won’t compromise for profit. We won’t hesitate to publish books which barely make a profit – if we believe them and believe that they need to be published.

There is a long interview with Sharon about what we publish and why and what we think about the publishing business, on the excellent Vulpes Libris book blog, at the following link:

http://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/publisher-feature-two-ravens-press/

For more details on the type of books we’re prepared to consider, and details of how to submit, please go to our submissions page.

There are a few other things that we believe make us stand out from the average small press:

1. We care about the craftsmanship of our product: our books are high quality trade paperbacks with distinctive designs. We work very hard to ensure that we have a cover that complements the content of the book and the aims of the author, rather than simply going along with the latest cover fashions.

2. We care about our product's impact on the environment: we are committed to supporting environmentally friendly printing processes and the use of Forest Stewardship Council-accredited paper in all our books. In our office we recycle everything that we can.

3. We also care about our authors. We are very much aware of the difficulties that new writers face in getting their work noticed by large publishing houses, and so we are especially interested in helping to grow the careers of previously unpublished writers.

We operate with no geographical boundaries: we publish authors from around the UK and overseas. But we’re firmly based in Scotland and so have an interest in publishing Scottish writers.

Independently of our publishing business, at Two Ravens we offer a series of related services that can help you grow your writing career even if you’re not one of our authors. We provide a variety of writing services for writers who are having difficulty getting published, or who feel that their work needs a little help and polish. Please visit this site for manuscript appraisal, editing, proof-reading, tuition, mentoring and courses.