Image copyright Publishing Scotland Image caption The app is aimed at getting people to discover old favourites and new Scottish authors

Book-lovers can discover if they are near a classic scene from Scottish literature with a new app which uses GPS location.

The free Bookspotting application works on smartphones and tablets, linking books and authors to dates, themes and locations around the country.

This is the place to discover the connection between Jules Verne and Oban Marion Sinclair, Publishing Scotland

It has been developed by Publishing Scotland and tech firm Spot Specific, with help from Creative Scotland.

The app draws on data about 3,500 books and aims to help people find new works.

Included are a range of titles with a strong connection to a place, a landscape, an island or city in Scotland - across fiction, children's, history, humour, Gaelic, Scots and travel.

The GPS technology is designed to work even when a phone or tablet is not online.

It is hoped the app will get people reading Scottish books, find new audiences for Scottish writers and support cultural tourism.

Marion Sinclair, Publishing Scotland's chief executive, said: "Publishers are increasingly coming up with new ideas to promote their titles digitally as the reading habit shifts more and more online and on to portable devices.

"This new app offers a guide to some of the more iconic places in Scotland and their literary connections.

"This is the place to discover the connection between Jules Verne and Oban, or between Mary Shelley and Dundee, and a guide to the independent bookshop that's nearest to you."