On Wednesday 19th April from 5:00-6:00, I’ll be on this panel giving advice on what authors should do across various digital platforms to best represent themselves.
Byte the Book’s Justine Solomons will chair this discussion and she’ll be joined by Bookswarm’s Simon Appleby, Marketing Mentor and Confidence and Mindset Coach Kelly Weekes and Writer and me! The discussion will be followed by drinks and a facilitated networking. You’ll find more details here.
I’m part of a panel for the online London Book Fair looking at how technology has changed things for publishing and bookselling in the past year. I’ll be giving the perspective of a writer, and I’ll be joined by Simon Appleby, director of Bookswarm, Hermione Ireland, MD of The Académie du Vin Library, and the panel is chaired by Justine Solomons of Byte the Book. We’ll be looking at how Zoom has changed meeting culture, our favourite apps, selling direct to readers, and the future of publishing.
I’ll be at the London Book Fair for all three days, so let me know if you want to catch up. I’ll be on stage for the following events…
Wednesday 11th March
12.45pm – 13.30pm, Author HQ
I’ll be moderating this panel of crime fiction authors and publishing experts as they discuss the themes that drive their plotlines, how to keep readers engaged through the twists and turns of a crime story and how they reach those ‘whodunnit’ moments. Caro Ramsey, Mark Edwards, and Leye Adenle.
Thursday 12th March
1:45pm – 2:45pm, Fireside Chats @ The Podcast Theatre
Join the Bestseller Experiment podcast, live at The London Book Fair, in conversation with Abigail Dean, debut author of Girl A (published by HarperCollins in January 2021), which was bought in a nine-way auction for a six-figure sum. This live episode of the Bestseller Experiment – the podcast that examines the ins and outs of how to write a bestselling novel – will explore Abigail Dean’s journey from page to publication.
We had the fantastic thriller writer Isabel Ashdownon the Bestseller Experiment podcast this week. Isabel is the author of bestselling thrillers Little Sister and Beautiful Liars, and she walked away from a successful career to focus on her writing and it all stepped up a gear when she entered a competition in a newspaper. I was also joined by stand-in co-host Sam Eades who is always good fun and does a mean jigsaw… You can listen to the podcast here.
Like many science fiction and fantasy authors out there, I found myself sighing in despair at this comment from Liz Thomson in the Bookseller. I am beyond proud to have been published by Gollancz, and I realise that this kind snobbery exists, but you expect better from Liz (who’s always been very chatty and friendly whenever I’ve met her) and the Bookseller, a publication that should celebrate all publishing regarding of genre. Sigh…
And a quick update on my fantasy novel The End of Magic– it’s now 80% funded over at Unbound, so it’s not too late to pledge to join the adventure and get your name in the book along with some other cool extras. Click here for more info.
Till next time, happy writing!
Mark
Mark Stay Writes 