Tag: agents

Heading to London Book Fair? Check out the Author HQ theatre and seminars

Leave a comment

image001

The London Book Fair (LBF) takes place this week and if you’re heading along make sure to check out Author HQ, with Kindle Direct Publishing, LBF’s dedicated area for established and aspiring writers. Launched as a result of the increasing interest from the self-publishing community, there’s a great line up of speakers – publishers, writers and agents – taking part in the seminar programme.

Representatives from Little, Brown; HarperCollins; Headline; The Orion Publishing Group; Quercus; Pan Macmillan; The Creative Penn; The Alliance of Independent Authors; The Agency Group; Canelo Digital Publishing; The Society of Authors and The Literary Consultancy, AM Heath and David Higham Associates, and more, will be sharing their secrets and expertise.

Each day bestselling Kindle Direct Publishing authors will be talking about their experiences.  Mel Sherratt, Stephanie Hudson and Keith Houghton will be joined by Mark Dawson on Tuesday; by CJ Lyons on Wednesday and by Rachel Abbott on Thursday.   Seminar topics include:

  • Introduction to Publishing
  • Know Your Rights – Legal and Contracts
  • Writing and Reading in the Digital Era
  • The Principles of Successful Book and Book Cover Design
  • Genre Spotlights
  • Publishers and Agents – how they discover new talent
  • Crowdfunding
  • How to Sell Your Book
  • How I Made It – Living the Dream (authors sharing their experiences of launching their writing careers)
  • What It Takes to Get Readers to Turn the Page
  • The Craft of Writing
  • The Rise of Author Collectives
  • Successful Social Media Strategies
  • Effective PR & Marketing
  • Journalists – What are they looking for?

Back for another year, The Write Stuff, a Dragon’s Den-style panel event, will see ten authors pitch their books to a panel of literary agents on Thursday afternoon in front of an audience in Author HQ, for the chance to win a follow up meeting with an agent.

The London Book Fair (14-16 April) has moved to its new venue for 2015 – Olympia, West London.  All Author HQ events are free-to-attend with the purchase of a three-day LBF pass and seminar places are allocated on a first come, first served, basis. Hop on over to www.londonbookfair.co.uk for more information on booking, and for further information on the seminar line up, check out www.londonbookfair.co.uk/authors.

Event Alert: London Book Fair’s Author HQ: Events for Aspiring Authors

Leave a comment
London Book Fair Logo

London Book Fair Logo

This week London Book Fair takes over Earls Court, London. Author HQ has been set up for established and aspiring authors and I hear that they’ve loads of things on offer at this year’s Fair. Sponsored by Kindle Direct Publishing, LBF are hosting a three day seminar programme from Tuesday 8th – Thursday 10th April, with speakers including publishers, authors and agents, all ready to share their advice and experience on how to get published.

Each day of seminars start with an Introduction to Publishing, where four experts will present a whistle-stop tour of publishing in 45 minutes – and a quick fire publishing industry overview, with an editor, literary agent and bookseller talking about their specific areas of expertise. There will also be a daily slot by independent bestselling authors who will discuss using Kindle Direct Publishing and CreateSpace to fuel readership growth.

There’s also the chance of having a free professional photo shoot at Author HQ (sponsored by Kobo Writing Life) and you can book your slot online at https://vrcoordinator.wufoo.eu/forms/book-your-professional-photo-shoot-lbf/

Attendees are  invited to come along and support ten authors taking part in The Write Stuff, a Dragon’s Den-style panel event which will see them pitch their books to a panel of four literary agents. And, after each busy day, there’s the chance to have a drink and network with other authors and publishing professionals.

For more info, and to check out the full Author HQ programme hop on over to: http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/authors

 

Event Alert: Get Writing! conference – Saturday 29th March 2014

Leave a comment

Get Writing

If you’re writing a crime novel (or any genre of novel, in fact) then the annual Get Writing! conference organised by Verulam Writers Circle is well worth a visit. Taking place this year on Saturday 29th March at the University of Hertfordshire at their de Havilland Campus, there’s a jam-packed schedule aimed at everyone with an interest in writing.

The day is packed with talks, panels and practical workshops on all aspects of the creative process from idea to publication.

There’s also the chance to fast-pitch to agents and editors, or have a longer facetime session with them to discuss your work.

Workshops of special interest to aspiring crime writers are:

M R Hall (best selling crime thriller writer of many books including The Coroner, The Flight) and William Ryan (critically acclaimed author of the Captain Korolev crime series including The Holy Thief, and most recently The Twelfth Department) will be running a workshop on Constructing Character and Plot. [I attended a workshop run by them at Goldsboro Books last year – it was fantastic: practical, thought-provoking and lots of fun!]

Screenwriter and thriller writer Max Kinnings (author of fast-paced thrillers Baptism and, in 2014, Sacrifice) is running a workshop on How Studying Screenwriting can make you a Better Novelist, showing how he uses the script development model to shape a novel.

Also, there’s The Crime Panel with M R Hall, William Ryan, Max Kinnings, and fabulous thriller writer Emlyn Rees (author of action packed thrillers including Hunted, and dark psychological thrillers including That Summer He Died). And the Get Writing organisers are going to let me chair the panel!

To find out more about what promises to be a fantastic event hop on over to the Get Writing website …

Website: http://getwritingday.verulamwriterscircle.org.uk/