Pics of the Fair!!!

I had an absolutely amazing day yesterday at the LONDON BOOK FAIR - it was such a buzz. 

I learned lots of stuff, I had some wonderful conversations, and I totally enjoyed the Opening Ceremony within which Donal Ryan was announced as the Irish Winner of the European Prize for Literature. 

Sometimes though, pictures speak louder than words, so here's a flavour....

Novel Fair - CLOSING DATE 24th OCTOBER 2014!!

See below short YouTube clip of what the Novel Fair is all about!!!

Click on picture to view!!

About 
Following the great interest and success of the Novel Fair the past three years, we are happy to announce the launch of the 2015 Novel Fair.

The Novel Fair is an initiative by the Irish Writers’ Centre launched in 2011. It aims to introduce up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents, giving novelists the opportunity to bypass the slush pile, pitch their ideas and place their synopsis and sample chapters directly into the hands of publishers and agents.
The 2014 Fair was attended by representatives from: Curtis Brown, Diane Banks Literary Agency, Hachette Ireland, Jonathan Williams Literary Agency, Liberties Press, Lilliput Press, Lisa Richards Agency, Marianne Gunne O’Connor Literary Agency, New Island, O’Brien Press, Penguin Ireland, Poolbeg Press, The Book Bureau and Transworld Ireland.

The Prizes
Twelve shortlisted entrants will be anonymously selected by a judging panel to take part in the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair on 21 February, 2015. Each writer will have a stand at the Fair where they will present the synopsis of their novel, the finished novel itself and biographical material. Top Irish publishers and agents will be invited to the Irish Writers’ Centre to meet these writers in person. To fully prepare them for the day, the winners also receive a place on a seminar on ‘How to Pitch Your Novel’, two weeks in advance of the Fair (7 February, 2015).
This year we are extending the prize to those who make the longlist. Twenty-four applicants who are longlisted and who do not proceed to make the shortlist of twelve will have their work evaluated and critiqued by the judging panel.

Entry Details
The entry fee is €45 (€40 for members) and can be paid by PayPal, cheque, postal order, credit or debit card or cash (paid in person) at the Irish Writers’ Centre.
The closing date for entries is 24 October, 2014.
There is no limitation on style, genre, or target market, the only requirement being that the writer has not published a novel before.
To enter, you will need to send a synopsis and up to 10,000 words of a novel.
Before you submit your work, you should familiarise yourself with the Terms and Conditions overleaf. If you meet all the conditions you should send us two copies of your sample work along with three copies of a synopsis and an entry form which is available www.writerscentre.ie/novelfair. 

Best of luck!

SEE LINK TO ENTER HERE

Chilling, mesmerising. Gets under your skin and stays with you...

RELEASE DATE AUGUST 1ST

PEOPLE SAY THAT THE TRUTH

CAN SET YOU FREE. BUT WHAT IF THE TRUTH IS

NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO HEAR?

Thirty-five years ago Adrian Hamilton drowned. At the time his death was

reported as a tragic accident but the exact circumstances remained a mystery.

Now his daughter Clodagh, trying to come to terms with her past, visits

a hypnotherapist who unleashes disturbing childhood memories of her father's

death. And as Clodagh delves deeper into her subconscious, memories of

another tragedy come to light - the death of her baby sister.

Meanwhile criminal psychologist Dr Kate Pearson is called in to help in the

investigation of a murder after a body is found in a Dublin canal. When Kate

digs beneath the surface of the killing, she discovers a sinister connection 

to the Hamilton family.

What terrible events took place in the Hamilton house all those years ago?

And what connect them to the recent murder?

Time is running out for Clodagh and Kate.

And the killer has already chosen his next victim...

Publishing Day @ IWC

Saturday July 7th: 11am - 4.30pm

The Irish Writers' Centre is hosting an information day on publishing. The day will feature talks from industry experts and will offer the opportunity to pose questions to the speakers. The day will feature talks with: Novelist, Arlene Hunt Editorial Director with Hachette Ireland, Ciara Doorley Publicity Director of Penguin Ireland, Cliona Lewis Literary Agent with Walsh Communications, Emma Walsh CEO of ePub Direct, Gareth Cuddy The day will start at 11.00am and run until 4.30pm. Tickets are €60 (€50 for Members) and can be booked by paying online or calling the Centre. Ciara Doorley - Editorial Director, Hachette Ireland Through the course of her talk Ciara will explain key aspects of her job like the acquisition and editing process. She will also provide information that may be of use to writers sending work out to publishers such as: how to submit material to publishers, current trends and they type of books Hachette are looking for at the moment. Ciara Doorley is Editorial Director at Hachette Ireland, the Irish publishing division of Hachette UK --- parent company of Orion, Little, Brown, Hodder & Stoughton, Headline, John Murray, Octopus, HachetteIndia and Australia and sister company to Hachette Book Group USA. Ciara has worked at Hachette Ireland since 2007 and is responsible for commissioning and publishing a host of bestselling fiction authors including Ciara Geraghty, Fiona O’Brien, Roisin Meaney, Martina Reilly and Christy Kenneally, as well as bestselling non-fiction titles including the acclaimed Vanishing Ireland series. Gareth Cuddy - CEO of ePub Direct Gareth will provide an overview of the eBook industry, discussing everything from formats and retailers through to examples of highly successful self-published eBook authors. A questions and answers session will allow all those attending to quiz Gareth on all things eBooks. Gareth Cuddy is the CEO of Europe's leading eBook Company, ePubDirect. Based in Cork, the company creates and distributes eBooks to over a thousand on-line retailers and over 25,000 libraries. Cliona Lewis - Publicity Director, Penguin Ireland Cliona Lewis will discuss all aspects of publicity in a changing media landscape. She will talk about the importance of media strategy from the outset of a book’s life, when it is being acquired by the publisher; how to identify and target the correct media for an author’s audience; the key role of social media; planning and implementing a publicity campaign; managing the media, and, crucially, author care. Her talk will cover publicity for both fiction and non-fiction titles. Cliona Lewis is the Publicity Director for the Penguin Group in Ireland. As well as devising publicity campaigns for the Penguin Ireland imprint, she works on key titles for the Penguin UK group across all its imprints including Viking, Hamish Hamilton, Michael Joseph and Allen Lane. Prior to joining Penguin in 2005, she worked as Publicity Manager for Gill & Macmillan for five years. She also worked in the UK, selling foreign rights for Templar Publishing and Andromeda Oxford Ltd. Emma Walsh - Publishing Consultant and Literary Agent Publishing & Literary Consultant Emma Walsh will be exploring how to approach the publishing industry from a commercial perspective. Emma’s talk will encompass: The best way to approach an agent and/or publisher Ways to develop and refine your work Building a profile in your field How to maximize your chances of getting closer to publication Understanding the commercial market The business side of book publishing – what you need to know The pros and cons of self-publishing vs traditional publishing. This session will be an informal session and attendees will be invited to ask questions throughout to steer the talk so that they get the most out of the session. Emma Walsh has over 14 years’ experience in the book & publishing industry in Ireland. She has worked in almost every facet of the Irish Publishing Industry developing a broad foundation of knowledge that is sought after from a diverse range of clients in the book and publishing arena. Emma has worked with a range of clients from large corporations to individual fledgling authors and from established publishing houses to developing new imprints. Emma has agented three top ten Irish titles and regularly reviews books on television, radio and in newspapers. Arlene Hunt, Author Crime Writer Arlene Hunt will discuss striking out alone as an author, and her experiences developing her own publishing house, Portnoy Publishing. Arlene Hunt is the author of seven crime fiction novels, five of which feature the popular QuicK Investigation duo, John Quigley and Sarah Kenny. She is also the co-owner of Portnoy Publishing. She lived in Barcelona for five years and now resides in Dublin. Her books have been translated into three languages and her current novel – a stand alone set in the US – entitled The Chosen, was voted as TV3's Book of the Month for November 2011. An earlier novel, Undertow (2008), was short listed for best crime novel at The Irish Book Awards. Arlene has also contributed to many anthologies, including, Down These Green Streets, Requiems for the Departed and Console. Irish Writers' Centre, 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. Tel: +353 1 8721302 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +353 1 8721302 end_of_the_skype_highlighting Email: info@writerscentre.ie

Official Press Release!

PRESS RELEASE
HACHETTE BOOKS IRELAND

New voice in Irish crime writing

Hachette Books Ireland acquires new psychological crime author Louise Phillips in a two book deal struck between Ciara Doorley, Editorial Director, Hachette Books Ireland and Ger Nichol of The Book Bureau for Irish and UK Commonwealth rights.

Red Ribbons, the first book in the deal, centres round the abduction and murder of a twelve-year old school girl and the main character Julie Pearson, criminal psychologist who is drafted in by the police to help them find the killer.

Ciara Doorley of Hachette Ireland says of Louise. ‘With overtones of Sophie Hannah and Tana French, Louise is a supremely talented writer. She subconsciously creates parallels between her characters, and this really challenges the reader. Her writing is tense, atmospheric and we’re really excited to be launching a new voice in Irish crime.’

Red Ribbons is told from three perspectives: the main character Julie; Ellie Brady, an inmate of St Michael’s Mental Institute (convicted of killing her own daughter fifteen years earlier); and the killer.

RED RIBBONS ---- The ‘bad man’ is everywhere . . . can you see him?

Hachette Books Ireland will publish Louise’s first book Red Ribbons in Trade Paperback September 2012 and her second novel The Doll’s House will be published in 2013.

Author Biography

RED RIBBONS, is Louise Phillip’s debut novel.  Born in Dublin, she began writing in 2006, when her youngest son turned thirteen. Since then, Louise has won the Jonathan Swift Award with her story Last Kiss. She was a winner in the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice Platform, short-listed for the Molly Keane Memorial Award, Bridport UK, and long-listed twice for RTE Guide/Penguin short story competition.  Louise has been published as part of many anthologies, including County Lines from New Island, and various literary journals.  From an early age, Louise has been an avid reader, and always held the dream that one day she would write a novel. Red Ribbons is the culmination of that dream.

Dreams Can Come True - BIG NEWS!!!

Hi everyone,

Firstly, before I tell you all the news, I want just to say that even though I'm writing this post, I still can't quite believe it myself!

Regular visitors to this blog will know about my Novel Madness/ Writing Journey, some might even remember a post I wrote a while back under the 'When You Were Small' label, all about little girl dreams.  If you did, then you will know that my dream was to one day write a book, see it sitting on a shelf in a book shop looking all interesting, and obviously with my name on it.  Well folks that dream is just about to be turned into a reality. 

I am over the moon to let you know that I have been given a 2 book deal with Hachette Publishing.  I will be working with their lovely editor, Ciara Doorley, and my debut novel 'Red Ribbons', will be in book shops from October 2012 - yes I know - hard to believe, but it's true, honestly, it is really happening.

I can't express how excited and delighted I am with the news, I'm feeling a little lost for words at the moment (not like me!), but I just wanted to send out a very big thank you to everyone who has followed me either here on the blog or @LouiseMPhillips on Twitter, and here's hoping that in 2012, many more dreams will come true. x