Linen Press

Lynn Michell

At the moment Linen Press is a one woman band. I run this small publishing house myself with support and invaluable help from a few wonderful women writers as well as the copy editors, type-setters and graphics designers whom I employ for each project. I am passionate about prose and about helping women writers.

My literary dog Homer works hard as a paperweight on the slush pile and takes me for walks when I need a break from reading and writing.

I have worked with writers in Edinburgh for nine years, both in weekly groups and mentoring on a one-to-one basis. Impressed by the high standard of writing by previously unpublished writers, I naively set off and produced Wild On Her Blue Days - an eclectic collection of original prose and poetry - an experience which proved a huge learning curve (there are typos galore) but I was bitten by the publishing bug.

The next project came about when 92 year old Marjorie Wilson came to one of my classes, and I was humbled and amazed by her rare, lyrical voice. Childhood's Hill, a memoir about growing up in Edinburgh at the turn of the century was published in 2007 to considerable acclaim and for a couple of weeks beat Ian Rankin in South Bridge Blackwells Best Sellers. Sadly Marjorie died, aged 97, in late 2009. In the hospice, on her bedside table, were a photo of her cat Tufty and a copy of Childhood's Hill. We will miss her so much but her book lives on.

I am a writer myself with 13 published books including a writing scheme for schools and I know only too well the hopes, aspirations and disappointments felt by women trying to get their writing published. Over the past few years I have moved sideways into fiction and am currently sending out to agents and publishers the synopses of my own two novels. And yes, I have some standard rejection letters already.

You can see what I have written and published here: view Lynn's publications and awards.