SEVEN local authors will be hoping their dreams of publication will take a step nearer reality when they meet the “Lady in the Van” at Frome Writers’ Collective’s (FWC) Small Publishers’ Fair on July 7th.
The seven, all FWC members, will be meeting acclaimed literary agent, Kate Barker, for 30-minute one-to-one sessions in a vintage-style VW camper van. They have already sent her synopses and extracts from their novels, and will be able to discuss these with her and learn whether she sees their work having a future in the nation’s bookshops.
FWC’s Debs Dowling said that bringing Kate Barker to the fair was a major step forward in the development of the fair as it gave FWC members the opportunity to have their manuscripts read by an expert in the fiction market who will be able to give objective professional advice on the way ahead.
“Kate has over 15 years’ publishing experience, ten of which were spent at Penguin Books where she commissioned a broad range of fiction and non-fiction for the Viking list. She is now actively building her own client list and is particularly looking for compelling fiction, so fingers are crossed that the work of one – or perhaps even more – of the seven FWC members she will be meeting at the fair will capture her professional imagination.
“Having Kate join us this year underlines the increasing importance of this event and adds to the town’s already very healthy literary reputation.”
The Small Publishers’ Fair, being staged on the first Saturday of Frome Festival, will be opened by FWC patron Barry Cunningham OBE, whose Frome-based Chicken House Books, is a hugely respected publisher of children’s books which together with the Times newspaper runs the prestigious ‘Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition’.
Once again, all stands for the fair were sold out four weeks ahead. The event will bring together a variety of exhibitors offering a wide range of services and support to fledgling writers, as well as featuring a wealth of books and number of specialist publishers who will have publications from their catalogue on sale.
FWC will have its own stand at the fair as will Silver Crow Books, the collective’s unique pre-publication service, while a group of FWC members who have successfully completed the often-daunting road to publication will have copies of their books available to buy.
Debs added, “The fair is only in its third year but it has already become a ‘must visit’ entry in Festival-goers’ diaries. The Silk Mill’s doors will be open between 10.00am and 4.00pm, entry is free and if you love books, then you’ll love the fair.”
