- Independent Creators
- Self Publishers
- Small Presses
- Non-Trad Publishers
Help us make space
for Scotland's
and more!
Help us make space
for Scotland's
Independent Creators,
Self Publishers,
Small Presses,
Non-Trad Publishers
and more!
Events
| What? | Where? | When? | About |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sequential Scotland | Glasgow | 8 Aug 2026 | Sequential Scotland is a comic convention in Glasgow spotlighting Scotland's amazing comic creators and micro-publishers, featuring talks, workshops, and art and cosplay competitions. Learn more about Sequential Scotland here. |
| TAGS Festival | Edinburgh | 17 Oct 2026 | TAGS Fest returns for its 4th year! Browse work from independent comic and TTRPG creators, play games in the Board Game Zone, and listen to all sorts of talks from creators across Scotland. Learn more about TAGS Fest here. |
| CCIC Scotland Roundtable | Online | 9 Sept 2026 | A digital roundtable hosted by the Comics Cultural Impact Collective and SPS, supported by CHIP Collective, for Scotland's comic creators to discuss their needs as a community. Sign-up link coming soon. |
We are still in the early stages of our organisation. We will be planning more events in the future, so keep up to date with SPS by following our social media and joining our newsletter.
Resources
The Small Press Scotland Library
The Small Press Scotland Library is our curated listing of resources, events, locations, organisations, awards, traders, and publishers that are relevant to anyone working in small press in Scotland, whether that's comics, tabletop games, zines, prose, poetry, or other non-traditional publishing.If you would like to add an entry to the library, please fill out this form. We hope that this library will continue to grow as more community members contribute what they know. Please note that we are primarily interested in locations and organisations that are focused on Scotland and not the UK as a whole, but some UK-wide or international events, resources, or funding may be of interest to the Scottish small press community. Ultimately our team will judge whether your entry will be added to the library.
SPS event reports
We value transparency. At the end of each event, we anonymously survey our exhibitors and combine their responses with data we gathered on the day. We also plan to release yearly reports about our activities as a company. You can read our findings in these public reports. We plan to continue reporting on the success of our events as we continue to grow.
TAGS Festival
Sequential Scotland
Reports pending.
Small Press Scotland CIC
Reports pending.
About Us
Who are we?
Small Press Scotland CIC is a non-profit organisation dedicated to uplifting Scotland’s small press scene. Our goals are to put on events that prioritise independent and self-published creators, and to host workshops and professional development sessions to educate and connect small press creators across Scotland.Read our FAQ to find out more about the kind of company SPS is.
Shrinking opportunities
Scotland is home to a thriving creative industry that is enjoyed by audiences worldwide. Many of Scotland's stand-out creators took the first steps of their careers at a local level: attending writing groups, tabling at art fairs, or learning in workshops.As a consequence of a decade of chronic underfunding, and under the strain of the pandemic, many of these local spaces disappeared. Non-traditional forms of publishing, like comics, graphic novels, roleplaying games, and zines, have seen their first stepping stones vanish beneath a tide of spiralling costs.Now more than ever, Scotland needs robust support for its independent, first-time, and small press artists.
Team
As creators ourselves, we want to do our part to support the community that helped us flourish.
Brian Tyrrell
Director
Brian is a neuroqueer writer, graphic designer and artist living in Edinburgh. They run the multi-award winning Stout Stoat Press and publish roleplaying games and books. You can find their personal practice on Brian's portfolio.They co-founded TAGS Festival in 2022.
Eve Greenwood
Director
Eve is a trans comic jack-of-all-trades living in Edinburgh. They run the multi- award-nominated Quindrie Press, publishing comics and graphic novels of all kinds. You can find their personal work on Eve's website.They co-founded TAGS Festival in 2022.
Faye Stacey
Director
Faye is a non-binary comic artist, freelance illustrator, and graphic designer based in Glasgow. You can read their works, including their comics Sub Terra and Ignatz-nominated Find a Seat, on Faye's website.They founded Sequential Scotland in 2024.
Our logo and site assets were designed by Spire Greenwood.
Policies
FAQ
What is a CIC?
Small Press Scotland is a registered CIC (Community Interest Company), which means that all profits made by the company must be reinvested into the community it is benefiting: for us, that’s Scotland’s small press community. If SPS ever closes down, any remaining funds must go to another CIC doing similar work.
What counts as "small press"?
For the purposes of our company, we define “small press” as independent, freelance, or self-employed creators, or small businesses with limited annual output, creating work such as comics and graphic novels, roleplaying and board games, zines and informal literature, sequential visual narratives, and traditional formats like prose, poetry, and plays.While our market events (like TAGS Fest) may focus on only some of these forms of small press, we are aiming for our professional development days to apply to a wide range of creators and creative practices.
Has TAGS Fest changed hands or been sold?
TAGS Fest has neither changed hands nor been sold. Eve and Brian were the original founders in 2022 and were running the event as individuals. Now, along with Faye, they have formed SPS and are continuing to run TAGS Fest under this new company.
Is Sequential Scotland part of SPS?
For 2025, Sequential Scotland will be run independently by Faye due to the terms of their Creative Scotland funding. As of 2026, it will continue to be run by Faye along with Eve and Brian under SPS.
What does becoming a CIC mean materially for TAGS Fest and future events?
As a CIC, we will be able to apply for funding that was inaccessible to us previously as individuals/sole traders, meaning that we can make TAGS Fest and our future events sustainable to run.For TAGS Fest 2023 and 2024, Eve and Brian put substantial unpaid time and personal resources into making the events a success and were only reimbursed through sales we made at the events. However, in order to make TAGS Fest the event we want it to be, we can’t split our attention between our own sales and the on-the-day responsibilities of organisers. Applying for funding to pay for our time means that we can invest our energy into putting on a great event.These new funding opportunities also open the door to some of our long term goals, such as inviting guest tablers and speakers, digital access to our panels and talks, and more advertising and promotion.Finally, there is a level of clarity and safety that comes with running a registered company, such as what assets belong to the company, and how they should be handled.
What does this not mean for TAGS and future events?
Most importantly for us, this move to organising events under a registered company does not mean that our goal as organisers is to make a profit. One of our aims as an organisation is to keep our events accessible for both the creators and the public, and this means striving to keep table and ticket costs low. As a CIC, we are required to invest any profit back into our community and to file reports with HMRC to prove that we’re doing just that.Transparency is important to us so, just like for TAGS Fest 2023 and 2024, we will continue to release financial reports for all our events to show exhibitors and the public where the money is going.We will also not be instantly sky-rocketing the scope of our events; we plan to expand steadily and aim for sustainability over growth, so for now we will be focusing on TAGS Fest and Sequential Scotland rather than introducing any new market events.
When will the first professional development day take place?
We are still in the early stages of our organisation, and forming a CIC doesn't actually give us more time in the day to get things done!We do not currently have any professional development days planned. Keep up to date with SPS by following our social media, and joining our newsletter.
Friendly Spaces Policy
This is a general policy written to outline the standards Small Press Scotland holds all visitors, exhibitors, participants and staff to at our public events, such as our festivals, and our workshop and networking days. More specific versions of this policy may be tailored as needed, but this policy will be our default standard.
1.0 Policy overview
We want our events to create spaces where creators of all backgrounds can share their work, and all of their fans can show their appreciation. Anyone exhibiting at or visiting our events agrees to follow the guidelines below. This policy will be arbitrated by the Small Press Scotland team on a common sense basis. Please help us to maintain our friendly spaces — if you believe this policy has been broken by anyone, please inform a member of our staff or a steward.
1.1 Breaking this policy
You will be asked to leave our events if you ignore warnings about breaches in these following guidelines. Furthermore, egregious examples of or repeatedly breaching these guidelines may result in us banning you from our events in the future.
2.0 Conduct
All attendees of our events will be expected to treat one another with respect. This includes:
Respecting the stewards and staff. Be polite to Small Press Scotland staff and stewards, and the staff or assistants of the event’s venue.
Refraining from using offensive, hostile or intimidating language. This includes but is not limited to homophobic, transphobic, or racist language.
Being considerate and careful of your surroundings. Don't misuse, damage or misappropriate others’ property.
Not engaging in 'hard sales' or 'haggling' tactics.
Keeping spaces clean and tidy. Don't drop litter, and don't block walkways or fire exits with boxes or banners.
Being mindful of the space you occupy. Do not inhibit the access of others. For example, do not build table displays that hang over another exhibitor's space; don’t block access to an exhibitor's table by forming a queue across them; do not linger in main doorways, blocking footfall traffic.
Being respectful of the venue. Do not create any lasting marks at the venue.
3.0 Photography, videography, recording and content generation at our events
Images in which people can be identified are a form of personal data. In UK law, filming and photography for personal, non-commercial, non-broadcasting use is permitted in public spaces. Small Press Scotland operates our events in private venues. Therefore, as an organisation we are allowed to determine who can or cannot record at our events. We ask all attendees to follow these guidelines to help maintain a collective sense of safety and dignity.
3.1 Consent in recording media
You must obtain the express consent of all subjects prior to taking any photographs or recording video or audio (a.k.a “media”) at our events.
Consent must be an enthusiastic yes. Uncertain or hesitant responses should be treated as “no”. If you do not have consent, you must not record media of that subject.
Consent must be informed. You must tell all subjects what you intend to use the recorded media for (e.g. a personal instagram, a public podcast, etc.)
Consent can be withdrawn at any time. If a subject asks you to stop, you must do so without question.
Subjects can request you delete media. At any time a subject can request that you delete media you have recorded of them, and you must do so immediately.
Reports of nonconsensual recording will be taken seriously by Small Press Scotland, and anyone engaging in this behaviour will be asked to immediately leave the event.
3.2 Secret or undisclosed recording devices.
You may not bring any form of hidden, disguised or undisclosed photography or recording devices to our events, even if it is not in operation. It is at the discretion of Small Press Scotland staff and stewards what counts as a secret device, but they can include:
Meta AI Glasses (also known as “pervert glasses”)
Spy cameras (also known as “nanny cameras”)
Covert listening devices (also known as “hidden microphones”)
Anyone seen to be wearing, carrying or operating these devices will be asked to leave our event. Due to the implicit breach of trust and dignity created by these devices, no warnings will be given around this policy.Use of such devices with disclosure may be permitted, if sought in advance, and measures are taken to re-disclose them. For example, an attendee wearing Meta AI Glasses may be allowed to attend if they wear a badge disclosing that they are wearing a recording device and that they may be recording at any time.
3.3 Small Press Scotland Photography
Small Press Scotland plans to take photos and record videos during the running of our events. These photos and videos will be used by Small Press Scotland to promote future events, and to illustrate the work we do for our community. Such content may be used in press releases, printed publicity, and published on our website. They will be stored securely, and we will delete them after they are no longer needed for publicity purposes. We may also share these photos with relevant partners at our discretion, such as with organisations collaborating with us at that specific event, or with venues we work with.As general policy, while photos and videos may be taken where children are present, this media will not be shared or published without first obscuring and anonymising them.Notices that photography will be taking place will be present on our event websites, when purchasing tickets, and displayed physically at main entrances, and throughout our events.If you see a member of the Small Press Team taking a photo or video, you can always request to be left out. If you were unaware that you were the subject of a photo or video that has since been made public, or have concerns about a photo or video of you that has been taken, please email us at [email protected] with the subject line “Photography Objection at [Event] on [Date the event took place]”. You can request to see all images of yourself, and for us to delete them. As a community interest company with limited resources, we will aim to reply to these requests within 28 working days, though we may prioritise actions (such as removing photos from public spaces) over replying.
4.0 Work themes
Applicable to market-style events.When displaying works for exhibition or for sale, we expect exhibitors to follow these guidelines:
Works that promote discrimination (including but not limited to sexuality, race, gender, religion or age) are banned and can not be displayed or sold at our events.
Works featuring AI-generated content (e.g. art, words, etc) are banned and can not be displayed or sold at our events.
NSFW or 18+ material can not be openly displayed. This material can be kept out of sight or out of reach of younger attendees with only non-explicit samples on display. Adequate age rating warnings should be available.
Trigger warnings should be disclosed on the covers of works or at the start of presentations when appropriate.
5.0 Masking and illness
Applicable where we believe a general masking effort is necessary for the safeguarding of community members.Contagious illnesses like Covid-19 are an ongoing problem. Throughout all arts communities you will find friends and peers who are disabled and/or immuno-compromised. For their benefit and safeguarding we firmly request that you wear a mask when attending, if you are able to.We will have disposable masks available for free throughout our events, and in offshoot zones and workshop spaces. You are of course welcome and encouraged to bring your own mask, as it may be more comfortable!We will have signage throughout our events asking attendees to wear masks. Our events operate under Scottish Government Covid regulations. If you are or suspect you are sick with a contagious airborne illness (flu, cold, COVID-19, etc) we kindly ask that you please be considerate of your fellow community members and consider not attending the event, to reduce the chances of spreading illnesses.
Instagram Links
We're planning the programmes for our first Professional Development days, and we want to make sure we're targeting vital gaps in knowledge among Scotland's small press creators. Help us by filling out our short survey!