State of Independents

opinions free from chains

Overcoming Authors’ Reticence. Or, How to Make Bookshops Love You and Your Book

A couple of weeks ago I was deeply honoured to be asked to join a panel at the Society of Authors in Scotland to discuss ways in which authors could promote themselves and how it was nothing to be frightened of.  Unlike my fellow panel members the wonderful Peggy Hughes from the Scottish Poetry Library [...]

About Us

Welcome to State of Independents. I'm Vanessa Robertson. I live in Edinburgh and my husband and I own a bookshop and tiny publishing house. This is where I write about the book trade as I see it and I'm not always as diplomatic as I should be... We write about what's going on in our businesses over at The Fidra Blog

What we do

Who we are

  • Links