The Annual Conference of Verulam Writers’ Circle, St Albans

Featuring an array of influential and creative people in the UK publishing business, offering talks, workshops, seminars and a lot of networking. Returning for their 4th year are our hugely popular 3 and 5 minute pitches direct to leading agents and editors. But this year there is more: for a small extra fee you will be able to book a 10 minute face time appointment during Get Writing 2012.

- Guests include writers, editors and publishers’ representatives such as: Adrian Chamberlain, Donna Condon, Helen Corner, Philippa Pride, Michael Rowley, Toby Frost and the BFS’s own Lee Harris

- A vast range of workshops, from non-fiction writing with David Lindo to fantasy writing with Suzanne McLeod and M.D. Lachlan

- Get Writing Cup Short Story Competition with a prize of critique from Cornerstones Literary Consultancy, a cup and £50, plus the chance to have the story published on the National Short Story Week website

When: Saturday February 11th 2012
Venue: De Havilland Campus of the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Cost: £55

Visit the website HERE

Sussex-based independent publisher Myriad Editions’ inaugural First Graphic Novel prize will be awarded on 21 January 2012 from a shortlist of unpublished graphic novels chosen by judges including Ian Rankin, cartoonist Steve Bell, graphic novelist Bryan Talbot and Myriad creative director Corinne Pearlman. The winning title will be published by Myriad in 2013.

Myriad are also launching a series of events to champion first novels, past and present, teaming up with Sussex University to host talks and discussions featuring authors including Nicholas Royle and Ian Rankin. The First Fictions Festival will start on 20 January 2012 at the University’s Falmer campus, near Brighton. Other events will take place throughout the year around Brighton and the south-east, including debates, interviews and speed-dates for new writers to meet agents and editors.

See full details HERE

The Discover Festival is a new event for 2012 which takes place over the weekend of 18 – 20 May at Snibston Discovery Museum, Coalville, Leicestershire. It offers a weekend filled with panels, workshops, readings, Q+As and much more, in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror.

First guests announced are Peter F. Hamilton, Graham Masterton, Mark Chadbourn, Gav Thorpe, Kim Lakin-Smith, Fred Warrington and Gavin Smith, so it’s all shaping up to be a great event!

Full details HERE

Early bird tickets have just gone on sale for the Alt.Fiction festival of SF, fantasy and horror, taking place on 14 & 15 April 2012 at the Phoenix in Leicester.

The festival, run by Writing East Midlands, provides an opportunity for writers to hear from their favourite authors, find out more about the world of publishing and learn more about the writing process, while networking with agents, publishers and other writers.

Guest of Honour for the festival, now in its sixth year, will be multi-award winning science fiction author, Ken McLeod. Ken’s most recent novel is The Restoration Game.

The event will take a fresh approach to genre writing, bringing a strong multimedia feel to the event, highlighting writing for screen and games as well as novels.

There will also be a strong emphasis on guiding new writers entering the writing business, as well as other new opportunities such as open mic flash fiction, and a literary tour of Leicester by bike, courtesy of Leicester Cycle City.

You can buy your early bird weekend tickets now for just £30 HERE

Gollancz, the science fiction, fantasy and horror imprint of Orion Publishing, is auctioning off the perfect Christmas present for budding genre novelists – the chance to have your work reviewed by the world renowned publisher and help a worthy cause at the same time.

It’s one of a number of lots up for bidding on eBay to raise money for Orion’s chosen charity, The Samaritans, with 100% of the proceeds going to the cause. The winning bidder gets 10,000 words of their novel or story reviewed and edited by Gollancz Editorial Director Gillian Redfearn, editor for bestselling authors such as Joe Abercrombie. You can also bid to have new Gollancz editor Marcus Gipps review 15,000 words of your story.

If you or a loved one is a fantasy fan, there’s a unique and exciting chance to name a character in a future novel by Brandon Sanderson, the bestselling author of The Way of Kings and The Alloy of Law. There’s also an exclusive bundle of signed and limited edition promotional materials from Brandon.

Advice on how to promote your book from Gollancz Senior Marketing Executive Jennifer McMenemy, who has masterminded campaigns for many of Gollancz’s biggest names including Alastair Reynolds and Charlaine Harris, is also up for bidding, along with lunch in London with members of the Gollancz publishing team, with the opportunity to seek some advice.

Other auctions include signed books, lunch with an author and the chance to get a copy of every single arc proof produced by Gollancz in 2012. Gollancz proof editions, usually reserved for booksellers and media, are often hotly sought after by fans and collectors.

For the full list of items to bid on to help this worthy cause, please go HERE or search for seller id orionbooksforcharity on eBay.

Cornerstones Literary Consultancy have kindly offered a discount to BFS members. They will give 10% discount on all bookings for critique until the end of January 2012.

To take advantage of this offer, visit the Cornerstones website and quote your BFS membership number when placing your order. Of course, if you’re not already a BFS member – then this is all the more reason to join!

Horror For Good is a horror anthology for charity, with 100% of the proceeds going to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.

Submissions of previously unpublished horror stories are invited by 15 December 2011. Read the full submission guidelines HERE

Two workshops on writing science fiction will take place in Islington, one on 25 March 2012 (10-6pm) and one on 29 April 2012 (10am-6pm)

“What makes science fiction tick? Where do they get their ideas from? And how do they make it all seem so real? Androids and aliens, time travel and alternate worlds, cyber punk and steam punk, utopias, dystopias and post-apocalypses … not to mention space opera.

In this intensive one-day masterclass, bestselling science fiction author David Wingrove will teach you the basic skills as applied to literature’s most colourful genre, addressing such questions as: What are the rules? Where are the markets in this age of e-books and internet magazines?

Bring your imagination and come and learn with one of the experts in the field.”

One-day workshop
25th March 2012
29th April 2012
10am-6pm
£90

TUTOR: David Wingrove
£90 per workshop (lunch included)

To contact us or to book:
Email: londonwritersworkshop [at] hotmail [dot] co [dot] uk
Phone: 020 7609 1839

Details at the London Writers Workshop website

Screaming Dreams and Noose & Gibbet are proud to announce a joint project, simply called The Year. It will be published in 2013 and be edited by Johnny Mains and Steve Upham. This will be an anthology which will showcase the very best writings in Crime, Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy. Fifty-two stories, one for each week of the year…

This project is now open for submissions and while we are mainly focused on new, original fiction, there will be three classic reprints from each genre from different periods in that particular field’s history.

As the budget for the publishers will be rather taxing, payment will be £10 and a copy of the finished book. Stories will have to be no more than 3,000 words in length. If you’re a horror writer but have always wanted to write a crime tale, give it a shot – if you’re a die-hard sci-fi scribe, why not jump into the land of orcs and magic talismans. What will NOT get into the book are mash-ups, emotive vampires and sadly there will be no room at the inn for zombies. Try and stay away from the drunk, emotionally scarred detective and steampunk shenanigans. TV and film related spin off stories will also be a no-go.

The deadline will be 1 July 2012 – this will give you enough time to think of a story, write it and send it in. In the subject box put your name, title of the story and its genre. You will be notified whether you are in the book by 1 September 2012. No multiple submissions allowed and the date for all authors to sign off their individual stories will be 1 February 2013 with the book being published at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton 31 October – 3 November 2013. Due to prohibitive postage costs in sending out contributor copies, story submissions will only be accepted from authors residing in the UK. Payment and contributor copies will be sent out the week of Monday 13 November 2013 unless authors are in attendance at the convention.

All submissions and enquiries to theyearanthology [at] gmail [dot] com

For full details see the dedicated website

Alt.Fiction and Nottingham City Library present a Graphic Novel Workshop with artist Neil Roberts
12th November 2011 1:00 – 4:00pm at Nottingham Central Library
Cost £3

If you’re interested in graphic novels, this afternoon event will give you the chance to find out how comic books come to life, get tips on how to draw and storyboard your ideas, and have a go at working on your own storyboard!

The session will be run by Neil Roberts, an acclaimed artist who has worked on comics including Judge Dredd, Sinister Dexter and The Sarah Jane Adventures plus a host of computer games and book covers.

Suitable for ages 13+.

Tickets are available from the Ground Floor Helpdesk, Nottingham Central Library, 0115 915 2825

Full details of the event can be found HERE