From Monday 14th March, we will be opening our virtual doors with a week dedicated to demystifying publishing and agenting, and supporting writers seeking representation. With live #AskAgent sessions, Top Tips videos, agent blogs and book giveaways running across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, our goal is to offer insights and transparency: into how book deals work, how to navigate the submission process and find an agent, how an author and agent work together, understanding the publication process, and earning income as an author. All of us (Isobel Dixon, Juliet Pickering, Kate Burke, Samuel Hodder and Sian Ellis-Martin) will be actively involved throughout the week, and we hope to answer as many questions as possible from writers (published or querying) or anyone wanting to get into the industry.
Alongside this, we will be offering three writers feedback on their submission packages with a twenty-minute virtual meeting with Associate Agent Sian Ellis-Martin, in April. More information on how to submit for this opportunity will be revealed during the open week so do check back here.
Kate Burke said: ‘We hope that our first Open Week will be useful, insightful and encouraging to writers, those who are right at the heart of publishing and the world of books. We are all committed to being accessible at Blake Friedmann – and to supporting writers who worry that the publishing industry is inaccessible to them. It’s clear – from social media and the questions our agents hear when they talk at schools, writers’ groups and festivals – that people still have a lot of questions about what agents do and how it all works in terms of money, deals and rights. So, for some time now, we’ve been thinking about how we can help demystify these topics in an honest and engaging way, using our own public platforms. We want to encourage anyone who is writing to submit to us by being transparent about who we are as an agency and as individual agents and hope that our Open Week will spark conversation, give practical guidance and inspire new writing, and that we’ll be able to repeat this week annually in the future.’
Throughout the week of 14th of March, you will find new content posted here and on our social media channels: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to get in touch, please use the hashtag #BFLAOpenWeek . This author-focused endeavour follows our ongoing Carole Blake Open Doors Project, launched in 2017.
All the content and resources provided during this Open Week are free but, if you are able to make a donation, please give to the Red Cross (https://donate.redcross.org.uk/) or the DEC (www.dec.org.uk/) in support of the Ukrainian refugee crisis. Thank you!