10AM - 5PM (REGISTRATION 9.30AM)

Looking for the inside track on how publishing works and what you need to do to make your submission a success? We’ve lined up expert panels of six top agents, two of London’s literary editors. Plus we’ve got three debut authors talking about how they landed their deals!

AGENTS. Sallyanne Sweeney (MMB Creative), always excited by a distinctive voice, strong storytelling and a fresh premise; Nicola Barr (The Bent Agency) is looking for upmarket, original commercial fiction; Polly Nolan (The Greenhouse Literary Agency) wants picture books, young fiction series, Middle Grade and Young Adult with an arresting voice and emotional pull; Kate Nash (Kate Nash Literary) has reading tastes ranging from romance to thrillers, but always highly commercial; Simon Trewin (Simon Trewin Ltd) represents authors and entrepreneurs in art, culture, digital, literature, and live events; and Ellen Gallagher (Casarotto Ramsey & Associates) is looking for new work for screen. Casarotto Ramsey doesn’t accept open submissions so this is a very special opportunity!

EDITORS. Liz Bankes is an editor with Egmont based in London. Some of the authors Liz works with are: Andy Stanton, Jim Smith, Sarah Driver, Jenny McLachlan, Laura Steven, and Aisha Bushby. Sara O’ Keeffe is the Editorial Director of Corvus, the commercial fiction imprint of Atlantic Books. An avid reader and lover of crime fiction, thrillers, historical fiction and women’s fiction, her authors include Robert Ludlum, Rainbow Rowell, Katherine Webb, Holly Seddon and Minette Walters.

AUTHORS. Discover how three debut authors got their break - three different genres, three totally different authors and three different books! Anne Griffin’s novel When All Is Said debuted at Number One on the Irish bestseller list and remained there for five weeks. Sarah Davis-Goff, author of acclaimed debut Last Ones Left Alive, is a cofounder of the Irish independent publisher Tramp Press and a 2018 Bookseller Rising Star. A new voice in Irish crime fiction, Jane Ryan has written and published many short stories before her debut 47 Seconds.

Programme

10am The Agent Game: Agent panel: our agents discuss what’s hot and what’s not, what they are looking for and how to avoid getting rejected.

11.30am Coffee break

11.45am Agent one-on-one meetings begin 11.45am Main conference: Inside Publishing: Get Yourself Noticed. Find out how to write that killer pitch! Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin discusses covering letters, how to write a synopsis, and gives tips on getting your work noticed.

1pm Lunch break

2pm Inside Editing: Editorial panel Sara O’Keeffe and Neil Belton discuss what they are looking for in a submission, exactly what a break-out novel is, and what not to do when submitting your book!

3.15pm Editorial panel ends/comfort break

3.30pm Writing That Break Out Book: Three debut authors discuss the inspiration for their novels and how they got their break

4.30pm-5pm Final tips & wrap-up

Date With An Agent

For shortlisted candidates only. Shortlisted authors will be notified in advance if they have been selected for an agent date.

11:30am-1.45pm One-on-One Date With An Agent [Six agents are meeting ten people each]

In conjunction with Date With An Agent, The Insiders’ Guide To Publishing is facilitated by literary scout, agent, publishing consultant and bestselling author (writing as Sam Blake) Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin of Writing.ie.