Writing.ie - Guest Blogs

I have never been a huge fan of online Poetry Mags as some seem to have no editorial filtering whatsoever but recently there has been a spate of new mags or old mags going online with some poems worth reading.

What do The Pixies and Nirvana have to do with writing fiction? Dynamics.

On National Flash Fiction Day here more about events and competitions in the form

So far here on Self-Printed: Self-Publishing Stories, we've heard from self-publishers who are either in the midst of their adventures or looking back over the first six months or a year of them. But what does it feel like to be just starting out on the long road of self-publication? Today author Claire Ridgway is going to tell us just that, as well highlighting the importance of having an existing platform before you start out. Over to you, Claire...

The Galway based literary group have announced the call for submissions for their '2012 New Writer of the Year' competition

Although Writers’ Week doesn’t start until May 30th, for me, the hooley has already begun. Last Monday, with the help of the lovely festival team, I launched the official festival blog. It’s been a busy week, with interviews flying out and guest posts streaming in, and already, I can feel the excitement building.

1st Round of Crime Scene Reader's Book Club Reviews Are In - !!!!!! 

THE CHOSEN by ARLENE HUNT gets the thumbs up!

Where once the only soap operas available were Emmerdale and Coronation Street aired just twice weekly, these days soaps represent a huge slice of the television market with some producing up to five episodes every week, all year round.  To keep pace with demand, episodes are scripted by teams of writers and as a result many new ones get their first break by writing for one.

After spending three days in London recently, at the much-talked about London Book Fair, I’ve had several conversations trying to explain to friends and family what it was all about. ‘No, it’s not like a big bookshop.’ ‘No, it’s not like a wedding fair.’ So, I thought I would share the distilled version of these conversations with your good selves.

So, what is it?

In its own words, London Book Fair (or LBF as it is known to its friends) is ‘the global market place and leading business-2-business exhibition for rights negotiation and the sales and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. With over 400 seminars and events, 1,500 international exhibiting companies and 24,500 publishing professionals, The London Book Fair encompasses the broad spectrum of the publishing industry.’

In my words, London Book Fair is a gigantic publishing industry event which takes up the whole of Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The venue is so huge you literally need a map and grid references to navigate your way around the place. Here is where the foreign rights deals are done; where agents meet with publishers and pitch their client’s books to secure those much sought-after publication deals in different territories. But it is also a conference, with a multitude of seminars and workshops taking place under the umbrella of ‘Love Learning’. These covered everything from self-publishing to translation to illustrating children’s books and cookery demonstrations in Cook Book Corner. There was also a particular focus on the Chinese publishing industry this year.

Who should go?

Essentially, anyone can go. Although the event is really geared around the 'industry professionals' and - unlike a literary festival - isn’t really designed for authors, there is certainly plenty of interest. The dedicated author lounge held a number of interesting and relevant workshops and the author of the day interviews, held at the English PEN Café, were also fascinating. I went along to the extremely popular Caitlin Moran interview on the second day (and came away laughing at the men who had turned scarlet at her no-holds-barred views on feminism!).

Who was there?

It was a complete mixture, and made for a fascinating few days.  Officially, the exhibitors included Publishers, Literary Agents, Content Providers, Digital Solutions, Wholesalers, Distributors, Online Service providers, Non-Book Product Suppliers, Services Providers for Publishers, Service Suppliers for Booksellers, Book Packagers and Remainder and Promotional Dealers. Phew! So, basically, everyone and anyone connected with books!

On a personal level, I found it lovely to meet a few Twitter friends in real life (there was an organised ‘tweet-up’ at the fair on the Tuesday evening) and to also meet other authors, both traditionally and self-published. I met with publicists who I work with on the book review side and was also invited along to the launch, at the fair, of a new novel ‘The Light Between Oceans’ by M.L.Stedman. Having had a sneak preview of the book, it was lovely – and incredibly inspiring - to meet the author herself and chat to her about the book. I will be writing a full feature about this next week. The Alliance of Independent Authors also had a very well-supported, and very interesting launch event at the Fair.

Was it worth it?

For the admission fee for the three days of around £30, yes, absolutely (plus, I also tied the trip into visiting friends and doing some research for my new book). As someone who loves books and everything book-related, it was quite something to see the sheer scale of this event with my own eyes. To see the client area with so many meetings taking place, to speak to other authors, and to simply feel the sheer buzz and vibrancy about the place, was well worth it. I came away full of inspiration and a renewed determination to, well, carry on writing. I will quite probably go again – particularly if I can integrate other meetings while in London. For anyone who wants to know what all the fuss is about, it’s certainly worth going once.

Maybe, one day, I will have a book of my own displayed on one of the publisher's, rather fancy stands. *sighs dreamily*

To read more about London Book Fair visit http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/Home/

I have Twitter to thank for my introduction to American writer Mary Robinette Kowal’s February letter writing challenge. This has a certain irony as my social media use has edged my letter writing into a smaller and smaller corner of my social interaction. Even my old pen friend in Lancashire now tends to receive more Facebook messages than proper letters. My only regular snail mail contacts are my parents and that is only because they choose not to have internet access.

The Sunday Times’ Culture section did me up a kipper over the weekend, giving over two-thirds of a page to a review of ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL by Kristoffer Mullin, and plugging said review on the Contents page with the line, ‘Declan Burke’s genre-busting thriller about blowing up a hospital is a blast

WARNING: My first guest will take you to the seedier side of town--down a dank, murky alley--a place I didn't know I had the guts to go. (gulp)

And If I Never See You Again, I just want you to know that her most recent novel-- err, the name escapes me now— was Short Listed as one of the Best Irish Newcomers in the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2010!!

What a rush! So here's what went down...