ABOUT US

Welcome to Two Ravens Press, an independent publisher of cutting-edge contemporary literature. We are a limited company registered in Scotland (no. 314459).

'Two Ravens have been creating a stir since they started in 2006, and in a time when major publishing houses are full of doom and gloom, the small independent press has been a beacon of light in the darkness, publishing quality work on a tight budget to considerable acclaim.' Doug Johnstone, HI-Arts' 'Northings' Magazine

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.

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 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, and all are printed here in the UK. 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 always interested in helping to grow the careers of previously unpublished writers. We will always work with an author to ensure that their book is edited professionally, and thoroughly if necessary, so that it is the best it can be. However, it is our policy to respect an author's voice and to maintain the integrity of their vision for their work wherever we can. (For a detailed article on our editing policy, see the following entry on our blog: http://tworavenspress.wordpress.com/ 2008/10/01/do-you-know-the-difference-between-god-and-an-editor/)

For more information about our ethical publishing model, please see the 'Our Publishing Model' section of the 'Submitting Your Work' page of this website.

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/

There's an article by Sharon defending 'literary fiction' on the Strictly Writing blog here.

See an article about us in The Bookseller here.

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.