Alumni Views: Kirstin Lamb – Project Manager of Detective McLevy’s Casebook (first edition)

Welcome to this new interview section entitled Alumni Views. This section will tell you about individuals connected with #NapierBigRead starting with Kirstin Lamb. Kirstin is currently the PR and Rights Manager at Barrington Stoke, and an alum of the MSc Publishing course at Edinburgh Napier University. During her time at Edinburgh Napier, she was part of the team that brought Detective McLevy’s Casebook to life.

What was your role in creating the first edition of Detective McLevy’s Casebook?

I was the Project Manager.

Why did you choose to publish Detective McLevy’s Casebook for your university project?

It was actually a blend of two proposed projects – each student created a publication plan for a different Scottish book complete with marketing and promo plans. Then the group voted on the title to work on and we took the marketing ideas from another similar title proposal to round out the project.

What was the best part of the process?

Holding the finished copy in my hands was incredible – after all that work, we had our very own book! Then we launched at the inaugural Bloody Scotland festival in Stirling, where we had organised our own author panel discussion and handed out free copies to attendees – that was pretty special, and a wonderful conclusion to the project.

What was the biggest challenge you faced?

We were running con-current projects at the time – it was exciting to publish two paperback books and an e-book simultaneously for the real-world publishing experience, but it definitely stretched our limits at times. We then hosted two separate launches in the summer. Fortunately, our collective nerve held out!

How useful was working on this project in terms of your future career?

Working on a real-life publishing project was invaluable. It gave all the students an insight into the departmental structure and collaborative nature of publishing, and specifically for myself, it really cemented that I was keen to work in a small publishing house, as I love following a title’s journey through and having input at different stages.

What message would you pass on to new readers of Detective McLevy’s Casebook?

I hope that new settlers in Edinburgh will enjoy exploring this snippet of the city’s varied past, and that all readers will relish the opportunity to dip in and out of this collection. The Napier Big Read is a brilliant initiative and I hope every student takes a moment to enjoy some reading for pleasure!

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