Literary Awards Fee Row Leads to Boycott
Andrew Murray Scott (Scots Independent, August 2025)
Scotland’s cultural excellence and diversity is promoted by, among others, the Saltire Society which runs our prestigious National Book Awards in seven categories for books and three categories for publishing.
But this year two publishers have boycotted the awards following the introduction for the first time of modest charges for submission of titles.
For smaller publishers, the fee to enter a title is £25, for larger publishers with turnover over £500,000 pa., it is £75, though if a book is shortlisted, an additional fee of £500 is levied.
The list of Saltire Award winners since 1937 (Neil Gunn’s Highland River), is a veritable who’s who of Scottish culture. Without the Saltire Society and their small staff team of three part-timers, some of our distinctively Scottish literary culture might never have been published – or written.
In a circular distributed widely, Hugh Andrew, Managing Director of Birlinn claimed: ‘Scottish and smaller publishers are disproportionately penalised by the bigger pockets of London corporates,’ so ‘for Scotland’s national book awards to make decisions based on the affordability of an entrance fee is not acceptable.’
Pending ‘a round table discussion as to the future of the awards and the reasons for the charges’ Birlinn decided not to submit books for the 2025 awards.
Saltire Society Director Mairi Kidd said: ‘It is standard in the book industry to levy fees for submissions and contributions to promotion of shortlisted titles (in some instances also for winners).
‘Our Book Awards programme is among the widest ranging with attendant costs – the 2026 budget is in six figures. We invest significantly in it and are grateful for sponsorship and funding support from third parties also.
‘In introducing charging, we reviewed the broader landscape, drew on our data, discussed with sector colleagues, and benchmarked against comparable awards in Scotland and elsewhere. We have striven to set fees at a reasonable rate and additionally have adopted a tiered charging structure with reduced pricing for small and micro publishers.’
Other prestigious book awards include the Bloody Scotland awards for crime fiction, which charges £40 + VAT per title, and £500 + VAT additionally for each longlisted title, the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction has no entry charge but levies £1000 + VAT for each shortlisted title although the James Tait Black awards run by Edinburgh University do not charge fees at present.
Hopefully a resolution that safeguards the future of these prestigious awards can be found very soon. ‘We are always open to engaging with potential submitting publishers to find solutions in the event of issues,’ Mairi Kidd added. ‘Submissions for this year’s prizes have closed and… numbers are as expected and we have not observed any change in proportions submitted from Scottish publishers and those based elsewhere.’
In the interests of disclosure, I have had half a dozen books published by Birlinn and its imprints and as a member of the Saltire Society, set up a branch in Dundee in the 1990s that survived for around four years. A substantive reply from the Culture Secretary has not yet been received.