Dear Editor,
On Saturday, October 21st at Lansdown Hall, Stroud held it’s first independent author book fair with 22 authors from around the country.
I wanted to support my fellow independent authors. The authors were introducing their literature from genres including romance, contemporary fiction, children’s fiction, sci fi, fantasy and historical to new and old readers.
Independent publishing is a growing concept, and has moved a long way from the early idea of ‘vanity publishing’ when anyone could buy their way to having a book published. Today, independent authors employ professionals such as editors, sensitivity checkers and book cover artists to ensure their books are as good, or often even better than, those selected by the big publishing houses.”
Many independent authors choose the route because it gives them control over their writing – they own all of the rights to their books, have control over future development of storylines, and can manage their own creative and promotional work. Additionally, it is harder today than ever before for new and emerging authors to attract the attention of the big publishing houses, making the independent route attractive.
These events are great for independent authors to network with each other as well as introduce themselves to new readers. Everyone who visited the event left with at least one new book to add to their shelves. Both readers and writers are keen for another event so watch this space.
Fanny Garstang
