Panel 3 – The Writers’ Journey

Niamh Campbell, Author and Sunday Times Best Short Story Winner 2020,  the richest prize for a single short story in the English language. Niamh will speak on Cultivating a Sense of Self Belief. Her debut novel This Happy from Weidenfeld and Nicolson is out now.  

Rikard Sommer, Norwegian thriller author, will talk about developments in Nordic fiction.

Peter Hildick-Smith will give us tips on “Judging a Book by Its Title”. We live in a meme economy. Today’s consumers are offered thousands of media choices weekly – and effortlessly make browsing, even buying decisions in seconds based on little more than a phrase and image. Book buyers are no different – the latest research confirms a book’s title and cover presentation are the meme or message that can determine its browsing and sales fate. Peter Hildick-Smith, founder of book audience research firm Codex-Group, presents the latest results on how U.S. book buyers choose the books they buy and read, and how authors and their publishers can more effectively win their interest.

Conor Kostick will show us the way to “Sustaining an immersive, consistent voice“. In this session, Conor looks at a fundamental issue: the voice of your narration. Drawing on his years of experience as a tutor at the Irish Writers Centre, a judge of literary competitions and commissioning editor, he will highlight the most common pitfalls that can marr even the best of stories and in particular, explore how and when to use an omniscient voice.

M.G. Crisci will try to convince us “There is No Such Thing as Writer’s Block!“, showing us how to use true stories and events to build a critically-acclaimed library of books you can be proud of.

Alexandra Sokoloff, thriller author & screenwriter will talk about how to write your best book or script using the Three-Act, Eight-Sequence screenplay structure and other visual and storytelling tricks from film writing.

Peter Miller, the ‘Literary Lion’, literary agent and President and CEO of Florida-based Global Lion Intellectual Property Management (formerly PMA Literary & Film Management Inc. of New York). will talk about “How to Sell Your Book to a U.S. Literary Agent.”

Ivan O’Brien, Publisher at O’Brien Press. O’Brien Press is Ireland’s leading independent publishing house with over 1000 books published, many of which have gone on to international success. Ivan will talk about “How to Get An Irish Publisher to Publish Your Book”.

Andréa Fehsenfeld will talk about “Adaptation 101. Does your novel have the potential for TV?” Andréa is an award-winning TV Producer and writer with experience developing and delivering over 200 projects for Fortune 500 companies, major networks and global advertising agencies.

Binnur Karaevli will talk about “The challenges of adapting books to TV and Film: From Page to Screen“. Binnur will discuss the importance of preserving the “spirit” of the source material as opposed to literal adaption and the steps involved in the adaptation process. Binnur is a writer, producer and director who has produced series for Netflix among others. 

Matt Knight, intellectual property lawyer, fiction writer, and author, will talk about copyright, one of most important legal concepts a writer should understand. It protects creative works from exploitation by others without permission or fair compensation. This tutorial covers twelve basic facts about copyright law to help writers understand this form of intellectual property and the protection it provides.

Panel 4 – Preparing For Our Readers

Michael Russell will talk about the creation of the particular ‘world’ that is the distinguishing feature of every piece of fiction: “Brave New Worlds”. In fiction we interrogate character, plot and theme at length, though few great writers share contemporary ideas about these things. Storytelling styles change. What’s constant, is the creation of unique ‘worlds’ readers can explore. It’s the heart of every story. There are no rules about how to do it, so how does it work? Michael is a Sunday Times bestselling author with an extensive background in television drama in Britain and Ireland, including The Bill, Heartbeat, Midsomer Murders and A Touch of Frost. 

Steven James, award-winning novelist, will give a talk about Status: How to Create Three-Dimensional Characters. Multi-dimensionality for all characters (including antagonists and protagonists) depends on varying their status. Characterization is brought out by showing how a character acts in relationship to other characters. Learn how to understand the dance of submission / prominence that every relationship has and how situational, positional and relational status affect every character in your novel.

Catherine Kullmann, Irish historical fiction author, will describe how to bring the past to life so that our readers make the leap with us, and how she uses research in the process.

Heather Richardson, writer and lecturer,  will talk about Teaching Creative Writing Online. Heather Richardson draws on the Open University’s expertise in teaching Creative Writing online, and considers the benefits for teachers and learners in a post-COVID world.”

Anne Janzer, award-winning author, will talk about Intentional Incubation. You know how great ideas hit you when you’re walking or showering? That’s the incubation effect. We’ll talk about how to get more of it in your writing process.

Dr. Nita Mishra is a development practitioner, researcher and lecturer on international development at University College Cork. Nita will speak about Diversity and Inclusion in Poetry.

Wendy H. Jones, author of police procedurals, humorous & YA mysteries & children's books & a book marketing podcaster & President of the Scottish Association of Writers, will speak about How to get started in Writing Books that Children and Teenagers will Love.