Maria Carter - founder, owner, senior editor, writer, proofreader, publisher
Maria set up a a freelance editor and proofreader in 2000, but has been working in the publishing industry since the 1980s. She worked on academic journals for Taylor & Francis in the 1980s where here high editorial skills were embodied. She continued working for academic publishers until 2000, until moving to a remote area in Scotland where she set up Shoreline BioMedical to apply her well-established knowledge to client work.
Over the years, her clients asked her to provide them with more services, which she gradually took on board through training, resulting in her current ability to help individuals and organizations at any point of the publication process. Naturally she is also an excellent project manager, and has even set up an entire publishing department for an international organization.
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Maria created Swan & Horn (Publishers) over 10 years ago, in response to a request from the NHS to publish a course she had helped them with from first draft to publication. She has been publishing a few carefully selected titles each year since then.
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With such a long career in publishing, thousands of documents and books have passed through Maria's hands. You can read more about her here.
The rest of the team
HUGH CHARRIER CARTER
Hugh is full-time office manager with responsibility for order fulfillment and stock control, and support for bookseller visits, book festivals and launch events. He is a busy songwriter and musician, with an entire career spent in the music industry. Latterly he ran music-therapy classes for adults with additional needs.
ROBIN J. GREEN
Robin joined Swan & Horn as an assistant publisher in 2023, with responsibilities in all aspects of the publishing side of the business, from the technical nuts and bolts of running the company and dealing with authors, to distribution, marketing and promotion. In his spare time he is a writer of creative fiction and a part-time philosopher.
ALEXANDRA E. COMPTON
Alex joined the company in 2024 as editorial publishing assistant. A writer, published poet and spoken-word performer, she is also the CEO of a non-profit charity, Maggie's Beautiful People. She previously worked on the Poor Things online resource of the Alasdair Gray Archive and for the Glasgow Women’s Library. She has an MA in English Literature and is currently studying for a Creative Writing MLitt.
