Keynote Speaker

Amina Shah

she/her | @aminatshah

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Amina Shah is the National Librarian and Chief Executive of the National Library of Scotland. She has 25 years’ experience in a wide range of executive and non-exec roles in the cultural sector in Scotland.

Something to Scout About

Often seen as mysterious and niche roles in the industry, agents and scouts are fundamental players in the publishing game – keeping their fingers on the pulse of the book world, sourcing the next smash hits, and championing the work of their amazing authors. Join us as we dive into a day-in-the-life of literary agents and scouts, getting to the bottom of what they do and how they do it.

Chair

Jenny Brown

she/her | @agentjenny

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Jenny Brown established Jenny Brown Associates in 2002. She was previously Head of Literature at the Scottish Arts Council, presenter of book programmes for Scottish Television, and founder Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival (of which she is now a Board member). She is also a former Committee member of the Association of Authors’ Agents and was shortlisted in 2014 and 2020 for Agent of the Year Award. She is former Chair of the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival (2011–21). She was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2021.

Speaker

Jane Southern

she/her | @janesscout

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After publishing experience in rights, illustrated books, and sales, Jane found her true calling as a literary scout. She has a degree in French & Italian but she reports on the British market, spending her time talking to agents and editors, reading unpublished manuscripts and passing information about them to her clients in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Brazil, and Ukraine. 

Speaker

Gyamfia Osei

she/her | @gyamfia_o

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Gyamfia began her career in publishing working as a Bookseller at Waterstones, before joining Caskie Mushens as Literary Assistant to Juliet Mushens and Robert Caskie. She returned to the U.K. after living in Amsterdam for two years, where she managed international sales for The Pepin Press and held the role of Editor for Plural Magazine. Gyamfia is now an agent at The Good Literary Agency, acquiring across all genres and markets with a particular interest in commercial fiction.

Speaker

Ros Ramsay

she/her | @rosr

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​Ros began scouting in June 1996 after working as a translation rights agent at Andrew Nurnberg Associates and Rogers Coleridge and White Ltd. She is Managing Director of RR Scouting Ltd.

Hame Sweet Hame

Though Scotland is only wee, its global impact and wealth of talent are difficult to ignore. Take a deep dive into Scotland’s thriving publishing scene and learn about the industry’s dynamic ecosystem: from indie presses to larger companies and everything in between. (Whilst exploring the publishing landscape of Scotland, our panel will discuss publishing in native Scottish languages, academic publications, magazines, and start-ups.)

Chair

Fine Mayer

she/her | @finemayer

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​Fine Mayer [Fee-na] is a product manager for Twinkl Educational Publishing. She is originally from the north of Germany and now lives in Glasgow to practise her (improving!) Scottish Gaelic skills. She usually works with a pet bird on her shoulder and an oat latte next to her.

Speaker

Nicola Ramsey

she/her | @NicolaRamsey1

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Nicola Ramsey is Chief Executive Officer at Edinburgh University Press, Scotland’s largest academic publisher and only University Press. Prior to this role, Nicola was Head of Editorial (Books) at EUP and Publisher for their acclaimed Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies list. Here she commissioned numerous successful and ground-breaking books in the field, spanning history, religion, politics, art, language and literature. She has worked at EUP for over 25 years, since graduating from the University of Stirling with an MPhil in Publishing Studies.

Speaker

Jamie Norman

he/him | @Normantweets

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Jamie Norman is Campaigns Executive at Canongate, where he works across the adult fiction and non-fiction list. He has worked with authors including Louise Welsh, Ian Rankin, Salena Godden, Alan Parks and Chitra Ramaswamy. In 2021 he won the Book Marketing Society Award for Innovation (Q1) and the Saltire Society Emerging Publisher of the Year Award.

Speaker

Eilidh MacLennan

she/her | @Eilidh_MacL

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Eilidh is the Sales and Marketing Co-ordinator for Luath Press. Outside of work, she is passionate about queer fiction, graphic novels and libraries. She's a graduate of the Edinburgh Napier Publishing Msc and did a Media BA Hons at Robert Gordon University.

Speaker

John Anderson

he/him | @JohnEdAnderson

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John Anderson is the first non-Scottish Editor of Beano. Originally from Jarrow, he came to Dundee to study animation… and never left. He started work on Beano in 2004, and after spells on The Dandy and BeanoMAX, returned to Beano full time in 2010, becoming editor in 2016.