Porty Books pre-sells over three thousand copies of Florence Given’s Women Living Deliciously

The Portobello Bookshop in Edinburgh has pre-sold over three thousand copies of Florence Given’s Women Living Deliciously (Brazen), which was published in hardback on 8th October.

The author has dedicated multiple days to signing and personalising copies of her new book at the bookshop, which has worked closely with Given and her publisher Brazen, an imprint of Octopus. Personalised copies of the book are available to order from The Portobello Bookshop until 14th October.

"It’s been a really brilliant campaign and Florence choosing to direct her readers to an indie bookshop to get their signed and dedicated copies has been a real boon for our shop," said Jack Clark, director of The Portobello Bookshop. "We’ve worked with publisher Brazen before, selling over 1000 copies of Fern Brady’s recent book, Strong Female Character, and they’re a pleasure to collaborate with."

Romilly Morgan, the founder and publishing director of Brazen, added: "Getting to know and work closely with Porty Books has been one of the greatest pleasures of Brazen’s three-year lifespan. It goes to show a small but ambitious imprint teamed with an independent, extraordinary bookshop can change how and why people buy books."

The booksellers have become experts at signed and dedicated pre-order offerings, having sold over 2700 copies of Len Pennie’s poyums (Canongate) earlier this year, as well as books by authors V E Schwab and Max Porter in the past.

The bookshop developed a new website during the pandemic and offers over five million titles online, as well as a range of signed and dedicated editions.

"We’ve added extra offices and team members to help us deliver as many books as possible to book lovers not just in the UK but around the world, allowing readers far and wide to receive unique signed editions from their favourite writers," Clark noted, adding that authors’ support "has been invaluable in helping the business flourish".