Max: This weekend just gone, I went to my very first FantasyCon in the beautiful city of York. Ellen, in our media department, practically grew up there: her father is a horror writer, she an enormous fan. Of course, she was there as well.

I’m fairly new to this convention malarkey. I’m a fantasy enthusiast – I edit the British Fantasy Society’s Journal in my spare time, and read a whole bunch of it. It’s my ‘home’ genre. I’m always nervous when I go to cons, despite them being the catalyst for making some great friends. What if I don’t know anybody? What if I irritate people? Why the hell am I there if I'm just a fan? Turns out, of course, that people are generally lovely and supportive, and I shouldn't have panicked – but sometimes that’s just natural.

Getting on the wrong train to York started the weekend poorly though. A long trip means booking in advance – and paying attention to the details should be key. Alas, I got on the 8:00 instead of the 8:11 from King’s Cross on Saturday morning, and now my bank balance is £95 lighter. I stepped off the train, across the road to the hotel, and straight into an 11am panel I was moderating on ‘The Reign of the Geek.’ Donna Scott, Jacey Bedford, Alasdair Stuart, Kim Lakin-Smith and Joanne Harris chatted playground bullying, Big Bang Theory & Dr. Who, the internet and geek as an identity. I love moderating – as above, I worry that I have nothing to contribute if I’m on a panel, but I can ask questions with the best of them. It’s a pleasure when a panel kicks off, and you as the moderator can sit back and watch great minds discuss and argue and make great points.

Ellen: I always approach being on panels with the attitude ‘I have some experience and opinions to contribute, and everyone probably (hopefully) wants to hear them’. Whether or not this is true is largely irrelevant as they’re all trapped in a room with me and so are forced to listen. Also, if you get stuck, you can always tell a joke. People love jokes.

Ellen interviewing media Guest of Honour, Toby Whithouse

This year, I was on a panel called ‘From Page to Screen’, on the subject of the differences between books and film, and making pitches saleable. My fellow panellists were Tony Venables (moderator), Toby Whithouse, Joanne Harris, Maura McHugh and Sean Hogan. We all had a slightly different perspective to bring to the table; Maura’s experience of comics writing as well as prose and scripts alongside my own dealmaking-and-commerciality-based input, with Joanne’s recounting of the feature film adaptation of her novel ‘Chocolat’, Sean Hogan’s writer/director background and Toby Whithouse’s views as a TV showrunner – it was a heady brew!

As well as being on a panel with Toby Whithouse, I also interviewed him as the Media Guest of Honour. We covered an array of subjects, from his days as an actor treading the boards alongside Gene Wilder, to his writing for Doctor Who and creating Being Human. He’s a gregarious and fascinating man, and it was great fun chatting with him. One of our clients, Debbie O’Malley, wrote an episode of his upcoming Cold War spy thriller ‘The Game’ (which will be on BBC One later this year).

There was a broad range of topics on the panel schedule, with a good gender balance and an eclectic mix of speakers drawn from diverse industries including publishing, film, television and fandom. Click here to see the full list.

Max: Of course, the most important part of conventions is the social side. FantasyCon had Karaoke on Friday, which I’m really sad I missed, and a really, really cheesy disco on Saturday night. Before this was a special edition of the Super Relaxed Fantasy Club, a great initiative from authors Jen Williams and Den Patrick in creating an informal space for fantasy fans to chat and drink and listen to readings. I nearly missed this, though, after the most hilarious curry of all time. The curry house had naans so large they came with their own metal tree to hang from, glasses of wine for less than £2 and a window seat onto all Saturday night York has to offer (spoiler: drunken antics of the highest order, complete with through-window interaction), as well as a … relaxed ... attitude to supplying me with food and said cheap wine. Thanks to Jen and Lucy Hounsom for joining me in that madhouse!

Ellen: I did not miss the karaoke, which was hosted by Solaris and Abaddon: in fact, I may have deafened the room with an extremely loud rendition of ‘Highway to Hell’ . If the rumours are to be believed (link for the brave). A great time was had by all who attended, as fans, editors, publishers and writers alike took to the microphone and had a laugh together. Nothing breaks the ice like it! A highlight was Rob Shearman (writer of Doctor Who) with his excellent performance of ‘Crazy little thing called love’. Thankfully, 'The Skyscraper Throne' trilogy writer Tom Pollock’s casual threat of singing ‘The Thong Song’ went unfulfilled, although I’m sure his performance would have been nuanced and entrancing.

Other excellent entertainment included Paul Cornell’s ‘Just a Minute’ panel game, following a literary theme, with writer panellists Kate Elliott, Stephen Gallagher, Frances Hardinge and Gollancz publishing director Gillian Redfearn. In case you hadn’t guessed, one of those is my father (I’ll let you guess which). He went on to win the game by being pedantic and garrulous, thereby upholding the Gallagher tradition wonderfully.

Max: A relatively chilled Sunday started with the BFS AGM, which was interesting in an AGM kind of way, and then the British Fantasy Awards. It was lovely to watch friends win awards, and to support the genre you love. A pub dinner with friends old and new, and then a trip home – on the correct train! – completed a knackering, but really rather lovely, weekend. Here’s to next year!

Ellen: It was wonderful to participate in another excellent FantasyCon, and to catch up with old friends and make new ones. I can’t possibly name-check everyone, so I won’t begin to try. As ever, the Fantasy crowd was warm and welcoming, and included events for first-time convention attendees to help ease them into the social side of fandom. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and look forward to the next one. If you’re a Fantasy, horror or sci-fi fan (the convention caters to many genre branches where there is some fan crossover, not just fantasy), I can’t recommend it highly enough.

On a sombre note, the memorial gathering for the late author Joel Lane was touching and heartfelt, with readings from many of his closest friends and the sharing of happy memories. A much-loved man who is greatly missed. Just after the convention, we also heard of the passing of Graham Joyce, another cherished stalwart of the BFS and FantasyCon community. Our thoughts are with his family.

Ever wondered what screenwriters’ agents do all day? Ellen Gallagher is here to satisfy your curiosity.

A caveat from Ellen: this isn't the way every day pans out, or even a complete picture of everything that goes on in the Media Department, not by a long stretch. No two days are quite the same in the world of agents, that’s partly why I enjoy my job so much!

8.30am – Begin checking emails on the way to work. I don't want to miss anything, and am utterly obsessed with organising my emails into folders. I work across a number of clients and projects, and I want to make sure that any emails that have come in are filed correctly so they can be dealt with promptly. Organisation is King in the Land of the Agents!

9.25am – Arrive at the office. Make a giant pot of coffee; it's always wise to endear oneself to one’s colleagues by providing caffeine-based sustenance. Similarly, cake is highly popular and should be procured and shared as frequently as possible.

9.30am – Right, it's email-handling time. I respond to as much as I immediately can, and put the rest in a ‘to do’ folder to be worked on throughout the day. Emails range from rights enquiries or contract negotiation to new client scripts and treatments, and everything in between.

10am – I have a lovely phone chat with a client, and we cook up some ideas about what to do next with his work. I end the call excited to read the script he’s going to send me.

10.30am – Now we enter the Invoicing Zone. I keep track of invoices and payments to ensure that clients get paid when they should. Our finance manager Sian is an invaluable ally, as she is a font of fiscal fortitude.

11am – I spend an intense half hour arranging meetings; some for our department, and some on behalf of our clients. I am the master of the diary, no meeting shall escape my iron calendar. I have a pleasant jokey exchange with a producer’s assistant about the awesome efficiency with which we just arranged that last meeting.

11.30am – I roll up my sleeves to delve into some contract drafting. There are always deals to be done, and putting together a contract which protects the writer’s interests is a vital part of the agent’s job. Contract language may sound a bit like it was invented by aliens who had learned English from reading the instructions on a shampoo bottle, but it’s the best wording to make a document as legally watertight as possible.

1.30pm – Lunch! I head to the kitchen and assemble a sort of mad salad which mostly consists of whole tomatoes. I really like tomatoes at the moment.

2.30pm – I peruse the ‘to do’ email folder again. Some of the emails in here require research or looking back over existing documents to respond properly, so I do lots of that. It’s essential to be thorough to make sure nothing gets missed, especially when rights are involved.

3pm – A client has written a fab script, I've read it and told her I love it. There’s a producer whom I think would love it too; I get in touch with them and they're keen to read it, so I send it across.

3.05pm – Ooh, an email has gone round saying somebody has returned from an overseas book fair and has brought some sort of food back for everyone. A mildly twisted ankle is sustained in the customary BFLA stampede for the kitchen.

3.10pm – The post has come in – we distribute contracts, financial statements and other documentation that needs handling on behalf of our clients. Lots of filing and record-keeping ensues. Organisation, once again, is the buzzword!

3.30pm – Time for a meeting. A producer has come in to tell us what they're looking for, and to hear about our clients and what they're up to. Cups of tea are enthusiastically quaffed.

4.30pm – I put some scripts on my eReader to look at this evening. I must prioritise existing clients’ work, but also I check out as many new submissions as I can from writers seeking representation.

4.45pm – I try to tie up as many loose ends as possible toward the end of the day. This includes logging script submissions (where we have sent clients’ work for consideration) and doing any last-minute email responding to keep the decks as clear as possible for the next day. I also use this time to read up on as much industry news as possible, in publications such as Broadcast, Screen International and online sources. It’s important to be aware of trends and developments in film and television so that information can be used to benefit our clients.

Around 5.30pm – I head out of the office with my eReader stocked up with scripts. There might also be a screening or play read-through in the evening that I’ve been invited to by a submitter or film school, but if not I'll go home to read and eat dinner. Another action-packed day of agenting awaits me tomorrow, bring it on!