November, National Novel-Writing Month

On November 13^th 2019, two Lancashire libraries will help to celebrate National Novel-Writing Month by playing host to a couple of short talks for local reading groups, aspiring writers and anyone else with an appreciation for the written word.

I mention this mainly because I'll be one of the speakers.

The first will take place at 1pm at HeyshamLibrary. The second will be held at the Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library in Preston, starting at approximately 5:15pm. The presentations will last about an hour, with time afterwards for a Q&A.

The other speakers will be Robert Wingfield, founder of the INCA Project, and AndyChapman, author of a number of comedy novels and, most recently, a horror entitled Shelley Town RPG.

The intention is not to deliver a series of book promotions; it's to give the audience an insight into the challenges and opportunities facing the independent novelist. Fundamentally, it's about understanding your options for finding an audience for your work.

In my case, I'll be reviewing the research, connections, coincidences and pitches that let me to find  a publisher in the shape of Mirror World. I'll also be talking about the value of peer-feedback, and why my latest novel, Shelf Life, would have been a very different beast without the benefit of constructive criticism from an online group of fellow writers.

Robert Wingfield has years of experience of self-publishing and, through the Incas, of helping other authors to turn their manuscripts into highly polished books in both printed and electronic forms. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of online platforms such as Kindle Direct Publishing, of print-on-demand services and which manuscript templates work best for the self-published author. He'll be bringing examples to show the results one can expect.

Andy Chapman has published several comedies including the highly rated The Accidental Scoundrel. He'll be sharing his thoughts on the creative writing process and his latest self-imposed challenge to write a novel within some ludicrously short timescale. (I think he mentioned 90 days? Mad, I tell you...) A couple of years ago, Andy explored the audio-book route to publication and developed an approach that proved both successful and rewarding. So he'll also be talking about all the challenges involved in that, from working with voice-over artists to the business of production, marketing and sales.

If you're in the neighbourhood, please feel free to call in.