MINUTES after celebrating the success of Jokha Alharti's Celestial Bodies at the Man Booker International Prize, the founder of the small Scottish publishing house behind it success was pressing send on a very important email.

That email was giving the green light to a sizeable new print run of Ms Alharti's acclaimed novel, translated from the Arabic by Professor Marilyn Booth.

The success at the annual award for international fiction the beginning of what could be a transformation for Sandstone Press, currently based in Dingwall, Ross-shire.

Already a deal has been done for the Alharthi's book, which confronts Oman history of slavery through the story of three sisters, to be published in India.

Now Sandstone Press is likely to make deals with English-language publishers in the US, Canada and Australia, with the acclaimed novel reaching sizeable new audiences.

The writer's success could not only transform her career, but also the fortunes of Sandstone Press, which was established in the Highlands seventeen years ago.

READ MORE: Jokha Alharthi wins Man Booker International Prize

The victory was significant, too, for Arabic fiction, with Alharti - who studied Arabic poetry at Edinburgh University - being the first Arabic-language writer to claim the prize.

On winning the prize, the she thanked Sandstone Press for publishing it in English, and said: "I am thrilled that a window has been opened to the rich Arabic culture.

"Oman inspired me but I think international readers can relate to the human values in the book - freedom and love."

Robert Davidson, the founder and managing director of Sandstone, is preparing for the company to move to another plane of success.

Already the company is to move from its office in Dingwall to new premises in Inverness, a move planned before the Man Booker International Prize.

"We will lose our view of the cows and the Strath, but instead there is a little stream" he said, speaking to The Herald after leaving ITN studios and rushing to fly back to Scotland.

"The book it will mean there will be a guaranteed rise in its readership, and for the author, it means she gets the recognition that she deserves, and a level of recognition that most authors can only dream of.

"She has a serene composure, but she if was was ever short of confidence, this will give her that."

READ MORE: The Herald's review of Celestial Bodies

Sandstone Press was founded by Davidson, with editorial director Moira Forsyth, in 2002, but it only began publishing fiction in 2010.

It won the Saltire Publisher of the Year in 2014, and Jane Roger’s The Testament of Jessie Lamb (2011) and Eve Harris’s The Marrying of Chani Kaufman (2013) were both shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Mr Davidson said that he had a suspicion that Ms Alharti's book was going to win the prize, "but I had to tell myself that if other books were on the short list, they could have won it too."

He added: "This gives us international recognition, more income and there are bids coming in for publishing rights.

"I think its an important point, that we show you can be a publisher outside the cities [of London and Edinburgh].

"These days, it is not a problem of communication, the issue is in the mind of the decision makers: can it a company be run from there? [Dingwall] Of course it can."

Ms Alharthi is the author of two previous collections of short fiction, a children’s book, and three novels in Arabic.

She completed a PhD in Classical Arabic Poetry in Edinburgh, and teaches at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat.

At the award ceremony in London, both the writer and translator were praised for their work and the prize money has been divided between them.

Historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes presented the prize at a ceremony at the Roundhouse in London.

She said of the winning book: “Its delicate artistry draws us into a richly imagined community – opening out to tackle profound questions of time and mortality and disturbing aspects of our shared history.

“The style is a metaphor for the subject, subtly resisting cliches of race, slavery and gender.

"The translation is precise and lyrical, weaving in the cadences of both poetry and everyday speech.

"Celestial Bodies evokes the forces that constrain us and those that set us free."

READ MORE: 'A sweepig, heavenly read' - Rosemary Goring's review

Luke Ellis, chief executive of Man Group, added: “As one of the first literary awards to celebrate the work of international authors and, in recent years, to celebrate fiction in translation, the Man Booker International Prize plays an invaluable role in encouraging a diversity of voice in fiction worldwide.”

Mr Davidson added: "The Man Booker International Prize is a wonder!

"As translated fiction does, when it is fully achieved, it bridges the gaps between cultures and individuals and promotes empathy and understanding between peoples.

"With the current return and rise of fascism these qualities are of prime value in our country and the wider world today.

"All of us at Sandstone Press are incredibly proud to be publishers of Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi and her gifted translator, Marilyn Booth."

Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, said: "Loved this book. Congratulations to author, Jokha Alharthi and translator, Marilyn Booth - and, of course, to its Scottish publisher."