Article by David Robinson, Books Editor for The Scotsman
TODAY, award-winning Edinburgh-based writer Keith Gray launches his latest novel, Ostrich Boys. Like any writer, he is aiming for as wide a readership as possible, from children aged around 11 or 12 to adults.To his dismay, his publishers have insisted that the cover exclude most of these readers with just one word. "Teens", it proclaims in print - not even on a removable sticker.
"Would those queues for Harry Potter have been so long if the books had had a 'Teens' sticker?" he asks. "Younger readers wouldn't have bothered with it and neither would most of the grown-ups.
"The whole age-banding thing is a nonsense, and I'm very pleased JK Rowling is supporting the campaign against it."
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