Publishing Scotland is a

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. Through collabor ...

for the

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

industry in Scotland. It was established in 1973 as the Scottish General Publishers Association with the support of the

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

. It was subsequently known as the Scottish Publishers Association (SPA), with a membership primarily comprising book and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

publishers,

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

libraries and

public bodies A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

. In April 2007, name Publishing Scotland was adopted, and the group's remit was extended to support individuals and companies working within the publishing industry, such as freelance editors, illustrators, and printing firms. On behalf of its members, Publishing Scotland attends

trade fair A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific Industry (economics), industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest Product (business), products and se ...

s throughout Europe; co-ordinates

bookshop Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

and

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

promotions, and other

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

initiatives; runs training courses and

seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some part ...

s; and implements joint research projects and surveys with organisations such as

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( ; ) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the execut ...

and

VisitScotland VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board (), is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and ...

. Publishing Scotland is also involved in the annual

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place during two weeks in August every year in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. Described as ''The largest festival of its kind in the world'', the festival hosts ...

. It runs a website showcasing Scottish-interest books, booksfromscotland.com. It is the majority owner of BookSource, a warehousing and worldwide

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

service for trade publishers, charities and other commercial enterprises. The SPA formerly compiled a list of best-selling Scottish books, which was criticised in 2005 when a book was included in the top ten, despite not selling any copies.

References

External links

Official websiteProfile of the Scottish Publishers Association
on the Scottish Arts Council archive website {{books Organizations established in 1973 1973 establishments in Scotland Arts and media trade groups Mass media in Scotland Organisations based in Edinburgh Arts organisations based in Scotland Publishing in the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links