Having decided to submit an entry for the Independent Bookseller of the Year Award, we have been shortlisted for Scotland/Northern England region... so far so good!  We shall hear who the regional winners are during the second week in April.  The award is one of the British Book Industry Awards (aka "The Nibbies") which will take place on 17th May.

Great news!  "The Brownsbank Anthology" is now published and in stock.  It is an anthology of writing by visitors frae aa the airts, inspired by time spent at Brownsbank Cottage. Price £7.99.   This was a project started by Tom Bryan, the previous writer-in-residence and brought to fruition by Carl MacDougall, the current Brownsbank fellow.  It is an inspiring collection and a nicely produced book.  

Please see our events page for details of our competition to celebrate World Book Day.  The £1 WBD tokens will be issued as usual, and all children eligible for the token can also enter our competition.

Good news!  As we don't have to sell newspapers, we can report some good news... 

Happy to say that Atkinson-Pryce had a good run before Christmas with better figures than ever before (that's the till, not necessarily the staff...)  Many thanks to all of you who supported us and plowtered through the snow to find presents for friends and family. 

Atkinson-Pryce Books and Biggar Little Festival handed over £1,357.00 to SNIP - Special Needs Information Point., a charity chosen by Ian Rankin to benefit from his appearance in Biggar during the Biggar Little Festival.  This was the total raised from sale of tickets for "An Evening with Ian Rankin" at the Corn Exchange on 22nd October.  Rankin was interviewed by local author David Bishop in front of a packed house, and the evening was pleasantly informal with jokes about the glamour of Biggar squeezed in between an award ceremony in London and a trans-Atlantic trip.

The allocation of half the tickets for "An Evening with Ian Rankin" on 22nd October, sold out here in under 10 minutes...  The Box Office sold the rest within a few hours.  Our apologies to the many folk who are disappointed.  We are holding a waiting list for returns here at the shop.  It is already a long one.  Mr Rankin obviously has a large local fan club...

Tickets for "An Evening with Ian Rankin" go on sale here at the bookshop on Saturday 26th September at 9.30 am, and at the Festival Box Office at 10 am.  We expect this event to sell out extremely quickly, so don't hang around if you want tickets.  Limited to 4 tickets per person.

Band of Gold

Following the find of a medieval gold and sapphire ring in Lamington last month, Atkinson-Pryce have decided to hold a short story competition.  The theme is to be the story of the ring.  What happened to it seven hundred years ago and how long has it lain in the ground undiscovered?  It has been identified as a bishop's consecration ring and is on display at Biggar Museum.

The entries will be judged by the Brownsbank Fellow and local writer-in-residence, Carl MacDougall, and local archeologist Tam Ward.

There are two categories: under 16 and 16 & over.   Your story must be no more than 1500 words long.   Entries must be handed in to the bookshop by Thursday 5th November (remember).  Winners will be announced on Monday 30th November. 

A selection of stories will be read at Atkinson-Pryce on Thursday 3rd December.

Independent Booksellers Week was a succes for the shop.  With visits from 3 authors, a children's party and the girls' night in, we were all exhausted but enthusiastic.  The shop is continuing to thrive, and the extra publicity from our events can only help to raise our profile.  With thanks to our regulars - and others! - for coming along and helping make it so enjoyable.