Pentlands Book Festival: 6 Nov – 3 Dec 2025

Contact

You can send us a message using the form below. We will also use this page for our Open Call when it is running:

• The Open Call for 2025 is CLOSED due to the overwhelming number of applicants. Thank you for your interest!
• The Open Call for 2026 will run in January. At that time, please follow the procedure below in order to apply.

To help you decide if the Pentlands Book Festival is a good fit for you, please review the following:

• The Festival runs in the villages of Colinton, Juniper Green, Currie, and Balerno, in the southwest of Edinburgh.
• We focus on writers resident in Scotland, preferably within commuting distance. 
• Our audiences tend to be interested in crime/noir, history, and walking/exploring. They also enjoy poetry, current affairs, local debut authors, and writers for a younger audience. We’re very open to other genres. We’ve engaged musicians and artists. We use local venues like public libraries, clubs (with bars), cafes, and pubs. Venue capacities range from 35 to 120.
• A key principle is not to charge for entry.  We, therefore, rely on grants and donations at the door.  The Scottish Book Trust (SBT) has been helpful in giving us grants. We sometimes obtain other funds. We have to walk a tight line while appreciating that appearances are part of how a writer makes a living.  We, therefore, need to know whether you would require a fee for an appearance.  If so, please advise whether you are in the SBT Live Literature directory. 
• We always give writers the opportunity to sell their books, and we would always cover expenses.   
• PBF runs around the time of Book Week Scotland (BWS) in November. Most events occur during that week. Some events also take place in the weeks before and after BWS.
• Events typically take place in the early evening. They last about an hour. There is perhaps a talk with readings for 35-45 minutes. Then there is 15-20 minutes of Q&A, followed by a book signing. But again we are open-minded on format if you have an interesting other idea.
• If you are still interested in appearing at PBF and we are open for applications, please send a brief pitch. Include a link to your website and/or social media. If applicable, add your SBT LL directory entry.