I’m back from another busy weekend, in London this time. It was my first time attending an event from Jericho Writers, which offers writing conferences and courses in the UK. I went to the weekend-long London Festival of Writing.
If you’ve been to a conference, you know a bit of what to expect: talks, buffet lines, networking. This one stood out because it featured a writing competition and a chance to meet one on one with literary agents.
On Saturday morning, I arrived to this view of the Tower of London flanked by shining modern towers looming over the Thames.
The keynote was delivered by bestselling crime novelist Vaseem Khan, who spoke about the “ingredients” that make a bestseller and shared his journey. He found success after working in India and writing about a setting that was fresh and unique for his audience. He also researched and created videos and a PDF guide about writing cultural diversity in fiction, which may interest some of you.
I met with two literary agents who had reviewed my query package and offered valuable feedback on what’s working well and what to improve. The first evening ended with a gala dinner and a competition called Friday Night Live (but on Saturday), where the finalists read the opening scenes of their novels to the room and attendees voted to choose a winner. Agents gave each finalist brief feedback onstage, and a few of them wanted to see the rest of the manuscript.
I attended sessions on crafting effective opening chapters in fantasy and science fiction, self-editing your novel, writing for children, juggling writing and a day job, and more.
Here’s some of my favorite advice from them.
Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson’s advice on opening chapters included moving from the norm of the world to the change that happens in it, identifying what the character stands to lose or gain (and there are effective stories where a protagonist starts off with little left to lose!), and planning your character’s emotional arc. I picked up a copy of her epic science fantasy novel, The Principle of Moments, and can’t wait to read it!
Holly Seddon’s talk on the writer/day job juggle offered practical tips for managing your time when working in both capacities. She encouraged us to think of ourselves as fitting our job around writing, rather than vice versa. My favorite ideas include finding ways to write in available slots of time (write on your phone, think about your story, etc.), making sure to schedule time for rest, and dividing your word count by available days to give yourself a deadline. Holly and fellow author Gillian McAllister have a fun and insightful podcast called the Honest Authors’ Podcast, which I’d recommend if you’re looking for something new to listen to.
Children’s author Eve Ainsworth offered a warm-hearted talk on writing for young readers. Write what you know, she advised; write what you love; and write what you want to see more of, whether it be a social issue or a niche topic of interest. For children, it’s often characters that grab and hold their attention. Eve sent off her first submission to Penguin at age 7 and it actually went into an acquisition meeting(!), though it took her many more years to find a path to publication. Keep writing, she encouraged us, and keep reading.
Marve Michael Anson, who has a forthcoming epic fantasy trilogy inspired by her Yoruba culture, gave a fantastic workshop on fantasy and science fiction worldbuilding with a long list of questions to think about: your world’s cosmology and metaphysics, ecology and biology, culture, the consequences of any changes you make, and more. We did an exercise using a picture as a springboard for making up a world, and found that our ideas were all different. Keep that in mind if you’re worried about someone “stealing your idea,” or about your concept being derivative.
Marve also gave the closing keynote along with her agent, Kesia Lupo. Hers is the kind of success story that rarely happens but can be inspiring to hear about. She attended several Jericho events over the years and was in the running for some of the awards. After self-publishing a thriller, she found an agent for her fantasy novel and got a 6-figure, 3-book deal!
The payments for these deals are spread out over the years, so it’s not as huge of a pot of money up front as it sounds, but her whole story is epic, with the acquiring editor going from “I love it and will take it to the meeting” to an offer of that scale in 48 hours. Her book is called Firstborn of the Sun and I hope to attend the launch event this fall, which will be a big Yoruba-style party.
I was impressed with my first taste of Jericho Writers’ offerings. They’re practical, business minded, and encouraging. Being published put me in a minority among attendees, but the prevailing feeling was that many others can and will get there. In this challenging industry, it’s wonderful not only to hear that message of “You can do it!” but to see hundreds of people coming together to help and support emerging writers in getting there.
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