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Takeaway from the Online London Book Fair’s Writer’s Summit 2021

June 14, 2021 No Comments

Had the awesome opportunity to attend last week’s Writer’s Summit at the online London Book Fair. Here are some pearls of wisdom I picked up while there…

My only regret about the Writer’s Summit at the online London Book Fair last week is that I couldn’t attend the whole day. Well… that, and that it wasn’t in person. But what I did get to see and listen to was brilliantly informative. Shout-out to my old friend Hannah Brewer, the Conferences Manager, for giving me the nudge to go along.

There’s more detail in the video above, but the basic gist of the two presentations I attended is below.

YOUR BOOK, YOUR CHOICE

A panel consisting of industry players. More specifically, YA writer Abiola Bello; literary agent Catherine Summerhayes; Kimberley Young from HarperCollins; Ben Hughes from IngramSpark; and Alison Jones, Director of Practical Inspiration Publishing. Between them, they shared some of the respective pros and cons of traditional and self-publishing.

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING

PRO: Literary agent steers you through the process. Including, but not limited to marketing, publicity, and selling adaptation rights.

PRO: You can potentially reach more readers.

CON: Success largely comes down to luck.

SELF-PUBLISHING

PRO: Speed to market.

PRO: Authors can springboard to traditional publishing later.

CON: Harder to hit higher sales figures.

CON: Greater degree of investment. If not in the book’s publication, then in the marketing and publicity.

I would also add another point the pro list: you retain total creative freedom. Publishing companies may ask you to alter your work quite drastically. Just like Nina Manning told me when I interviewed her back in 2019.

HOW TO SMASH YOUR BOOK PITCH

This is the second presentation at The Writer’s Summit I attended that morning. With literary agent Liza deBlock at the head of proceedings. And in this 30-minute masterclass, she gave a foolproof formula for the perfect Elevator Pitch.

According to Liza, it need only be one or two sentences, and should contain these three elements only. (1) Character, (2) Setting, (3) Conflict.

Then with the Submission Letter, the second part of her class, you also include the work’s title, genre, total word count, plus any comparative works.

Because I had to leave, I missed out on a feedback opportunity for the Elevator Pitch for You Can Hear Chopin from the Attic. All the same, I have left the proposed version as an example below:

Heinrich Oeunhausen is the manager of a luxury hotel in Berlin. With war raging around him, he must also conceal his sick wife from his Nazi clientele.

Want to know more? Why not let me know in the comments? For more author news and views, my Facebook and Instagram pages are here.

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Written by: Dale Hurst

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The Berylford Scandals (1. Lust & Liberty, 2. Sin & Secrecy) 📚
Podcaster | The Dale Hurst Writing Show🎙️

Dale Hurst | Author
Not everyone's experiences in independent publishi Not everyone's experiences in independent publishing are positive, sadly. 
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I spoke with fellow author @thehsmatthews – who wrote these lovely books – about her recent gripes with Amazon KDP and what she recommends for other writers who find themselves in the same position (God forbid...)
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The full interview is on my website (link in comments 👇👇👇)
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#indieauthor #indieauthorsofinstagram #authornetwork #authorscommunity #authorsofinstagram #writingcommunity #writersofinsta #writernetwork #amazonkdp #indiepublishing
I love creating characters. It's the greatest joy I love creating characters. It's the greatest joy of storytelling, I think. But to make sure they all don't end up as one-dimensional cardboard cutouts in the story, I create comprehensive profiles for all my principal players. Some of the things to include in such profiles are discussed in the latest post on my website (#linkinbio) ✍️✏️🖊️📝📖📚📘📙
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#writingcommunity #writersofinsta #writernetwork #writingwisdom #authornetwork #amwritingmystery #amwritinghistoricalfiction #charactercreation #characterprofile #creativewriting
Another very popular episode and one of my persona Another very popular episode and one of my personal favourites, featuring filmmaker Jamie Webb of @jkw.media talking about true crime documentary and drama and the trials and creative processes behind both. Here's a snippet. You'll have to listen to the whole thing to hear the flipside 😉🔍🎥🩸📝🎙️
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Find it on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music 🎙️
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#podcastersofinstagram #podcast #podcastsofinstagram #podcastaddict #writernetwork #writingpodcast #writingwisdom #thedalehurstwritingshow #amwritingtruecrime #truecrimeaddict #truecrimecommunity #documentary #filmmaker #drama #writingcommunity #authorsofinstagram #filmmakinglife
One of my favourite characters to write. Love her One of my favourite characters to write. Love her or hate her, there's no denying Mrs Urmstone is devoted to Lady Vyrrington and won't hear a word said against her. This quote from Lust & Liberty pretty much sums that up 📖📘📚
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#amreadingmystery
#amwritingmystery #amreadinghistoricalfiction #theberylfordscandals #lustandliberty #summerreading #summerreads2023 #bookquotes #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #igbooks #histfic #historicalfiction
5 whole years ago, I published my debut novel, Lus 5 whole years ago, I published my debut novel, Lust & Liberty 😱🤯🎉 letting loose all the scandals in Berylford and the dramas of its people. 
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Everyone's support and responses to the story have been overwhelming and I'm continually grateful 🥰
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(If you haven't read it yet, add to your summer reading list and grab a copy on Amazon now 😘📚📖)
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📸 Patrick Cermak
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#summerreading #summerreads2023 #theberylfordscandals #lustandliberty #bookiversary #publication #anniversary #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #igbooks #readingcommunity #readingtime #regencyromance #amreadingmystery #amreadinghistoricalfiction
How can we as authors continue to think outside th How can we as authors continue to think outside the box with female characters in the sci-fi genre? Fellow Star Wars enthusiast, writer and cosplayer @aimocreative joined me on the podcast with some of her thoughts. Full episode on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music as always 📚📖🎙️📝✍️
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#podcastersofinstagram #podcast #podcastsofinstagram #podcastaddict #writingpodcast #thedalehurstwritingshow #writingwisdom #amwritingscifi #amwritingsciencefiction #writingcommunity #authornetwork #authorsofinstagram #authorscommunity
Enjoy these covers while you can... They might be Enjoy these covers while you can... They might be changing soon... In light of the recent announcements from Amazon that they'll be hiking up their printing prices, we need to do some down-sizing. More news to come! Both books are still available from Amazon as always (#linkinbio) 📖📘📚📙 
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📸 @jkw.media 
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#bookstagram #booksofinstagram #igbooks #theberylfordscandals #lustandliberty #amreading #amreadingromance #amreadingmystery #amreadingcrime #amreadinghistoricalfiction #historicalfiction #histfic #mysterynovel #crimefiction
Spoilers ahead if you haven't read Lust & Liberty Spoilers ahead if you haven't read Lust & Liberty but are planning to.
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In this new blog post, I reveal the reason behind killing off a fan favourite... a decision that more than one reader has called for me to change 😆
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Link to the new post is in the comments ⬇️⬇️⬇️
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#theberylfordscandals #lustandliberty #writingwisdom #writingcommunity #authorsofinstagram #authornetwork #writersofinsta #amwritingmystery #amwritinghistoricalfiction #creativewriting #spoileralert🚨
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