'A quiet publishing revolution' THE HERALD
'One of our more stylish independent publishers' COUNTRY LIFE
'Two Ravens Press are prepared to take risks and as a result are one of the most interesting publishers around' SCOTT PACK, THE FRIDAY PROJECT
'The most talked-about publisher in Scotland' PUBLISHING NEWS
'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,
'Northings' Magazine
WELCOME ...
... to Two Ravens Press, an independent publisher of contemporary British and international literature based on a working croft on the Atlantic edge of the Outer Hebrides. Two Ravens Press is run by two writers with a passion for language and for books that are non-formulaic and that take risks. Our books have been highly commended in, longlisted for, shortlisted for, or have won a number of major literary awards, including the Forward Prize, international IMPAC award, the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year, The Saltire Society Book of the Year and First Book of the Year, the Saltire Society Homecomings Award, the McKitterick Prize, the Edge Hill Short Story Prize, and the inaugural Robin Jenkins Literary Award.
Two Ravens Press came into existence in November 2006 and since then has gone on to publish an impressive list of contemporary literary fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Our focus always has been on work that was challenging, innovative, and full of new ideas. Five years on, in November 2011, we have refocused the company to take into account what we have learnt about publishing, about the power of some books and the impotence of others, and to reflect world events which have seen the dominant narratives of western culture begin to dissolve and lose their relevance. We plan now to publish books that face head-on the new certainty that ‘business as usual’, as a society, is not going to hack it. We're looking for books that are wilder. Books which reflect the fact that the division of the world into the human versus the natural was always a dangerous fiction. Books that explore ways of living and being human outside the paradigm of growth-addicted consumerism. If we have to put a label on it, we’re looking for ‘ecoliterature’. But really we’re looking for something much broader than that. We’re looking for books that are capable of challenging and unpicking the status quo, of shifting the worldview of their readers away from the creed of 'Progress is Growth is Consumption'.
In the past five years we've also learnt a lot of skills which allow us to produce fine books, pleasing to read in print or as ebooks, on a limited budget. No company froth and frills – just strong words, well presented. We’ve learnt the hard way that the traditional model of publishing – in which you have to print and attempt to sell huge quantities of every title basically in order to pay the wages of distributors, warehouse staff, wholesalers, retailers etc – often doesn't make sense, either from an environmental or an economic point of view. And so in future, flexibility is the cornerstone of our business. We'll choose the book production model that best fits each new book and its audience, using a variety of traditional book printers, print-on-demand, and e-book technology as appropriate. We’ll select the best distribution and sales models in the same way. We'll aim to continue forming close partnerships with our authors from the beginning, to ensure that everyone's expectations are realistic and that each book reaches the widest appropriate audience.
Please read the ‘About Us’ and 'Submissions' sections of this website for more detail on who we are, how we operate, and more information on the kind of books we are interested in publishing and the ways in which we’re interested in publishing them.
TWO RAVENS PRESS BESTSELLERS
A WILDER VEIN
Linda Cracknell (ed), Robert Macfarlane (Foreword)
Available now at
£2 off cover price: £8.99
Also available as an e-book from this site, priced £4.50, or as a Kindle e-book from Amazon
- Featured on BBC Radio 4's Excess Baggage
- Recommended by The Independent as a 'best book
for Christmas'
VANESSA & VIRGINIA
Susan Sellers
Available now at
£2 off cover price: £6.99
Also available as an e-book from this site, priced at £3.50
- Featured in the 'Not the TV Book Group' project
- New York Times 'Editor's Choice', May 2010
THE EXISTENTIAL DETECTIVE
Alice Thompson
Available
now at
£2 off cover price: £7.99
A Sunday Telegraph Book of the Year 2010
BLAZING PADDLESBrian Wilson
Available
now at
£2.40 off cover price: £9.59
Featured on BBC Radio 4 – A Book At Bedtime