Indie Author Fringe

Three professional editors join Ricardo Fayet in discussing the most common writing mistakes authors make in their first drafts and how not to make them. From craft topics — plot, characterization, point of view, dialogue, structure, voice — to grammatical mistake, the focus is on helping authors approach their work with more clarity and keep them from stumbling on common pitfalls.

Storyteller is a new literary prize recognising newly published work in the English language across any genre. During this session Darren Hardy, Head of KDP UK, and some of the judges of the Storyteller Prize give guidance on how to make the most of programmes like KDP Select, how to print your books through KDP Print and how to to get your book noticed and put yourself in the running for this valuable award.

Draft2Digital and Kobo can both help you take your book to international markets but they work in very different ways. Mark Lefebvre and Kevin Tumlinson explain the difference between an aggregator and a retailer and how important it is to go wide.

A positioning study establishes your creative intentions for your book, who you readers are, what books and authors are comparable, right down to details of book spec and price. It will also give you a working synopsis, category and keyword strings and more. Kathy Meis says such advance positioning is "foundational for success" and brings you step by step through setting up a positioning study for your own book.

For fiction writers pursuing a long-term career, the strategic use of short stories is proving to be a valuable tool for discoverability, honing craft, and bringing joy to the writing life. But what is the key to a successful short story? Tim Lewis interviews bestselling author James Scott Bell to reveal that key and show you how to use it to create memorable stories in any genre. James will also advise on the ways short fiction can be part of your fiction marketing plan.

An audio session from the London Book Fair Author HQ. Joanna Penn focuses on how to think about each book as a potential for multiple streams of income, as you write and produce it. Gabriel tells how to track what is working and what's not, so as to choose publishing options that take most advantage of expanding global opportunities for your book(s). And Adam explains how developing a business mindset enabled him to become one of the biggest-selling self-published novelists in the world.

The best way to get your novel right is to first know how to avoid getting it wrong. In this 60-minute session, award-winning fantasy author K.M. Weiland shares the top five mistakes authors make in creating their story worlds and building their plots.

Joseph Alexander was a guitar teacher who published a "How-To", and then another. To date he has sold more than a million books. Joseph shares how he has used organic and direct promotion, together with email automation, to now make over $1200 a day from his guitar guides. This session covers the early stages of planning a book, through the writing process and building a mailing list, and the importance of strong branding and visibility.

“I can’t find the right ones.” “They don’t respond in time.” “They don’t give me anything useful.” “They are too nice.” “They broke my heart.” Belinda Pollard has been a developmental editor for many years, and sees beta readers as the quiet superheroes of today’s publishing. Drawing from her experience of assembling an outstanding team, she outlines the challenges of finding and managing beta readers. You, too, can have a great team on your side. A practical session full of tips you can start using straight away.

As an author, you need to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward. Your opening chapters need to work the hardest, as they have to convince the reader to invest their time and money on the rest of your book. Whether they are just flicking through a few pages in a book store or have downloaded the first chapter for free on Kindle, it needs to leave them hooked and wanting more.