Indie authors get their own Fringe Festival after London Book Fair

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The London Book Fair is coming up very soon (April 14-16 at Olympia) and this year it has grown a Fringe.

IndieReCon, which is a packed online programme for indie writers running from April 15-17, is featuring an LBF Indie Author Fringe Festival at Foyles bookshop in Charing Cross Road, London, on Friday, April 17.
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The IndieReCon and Fringe Festival are organised by the Alliance of Independent Authors, which despite having one of those annoying acronyms — ALLi — offers a wide range of help for self-publishing writers.

This year’s IndieReCon line-up really does cover the waterfront. Some of the likely highlights for me include:

What Authors Need To Know: 2015

Smashwords founder Mark Coker and ALLi founder and author Orna Ross, discuss the best ways to publish and sell your books.

Content Marketing 101

Consultant and publishing blogger Jane Friedman sets out smart content strategies for authors.

Writer Beware

If you’re thinking of using a publishing service for your book, then this session with Victoria Strauss should be a must.

Legals To Look Out For

Legal expert Helen Sedwick, who has a great blog, with a live webinar followed by a Twitter Chat

Book Design For Authors: The Basics

Book design guru Joel Friedlander, who also has a great blog, discusses the fundamentals of cover design

How To Sell A Bazillion Books!

HM Ward

At the alarmingly early hour of 7am (British Summer Time) on Thursday, April 16 (that’s 2am in New York or 11pm the previous day in LA), self-publishing superstar HM Ward reveals How To Sell A Bazillion Books! She really has sold a bazillion too, with four million copies flying off the ebook shelves since 2011, but she’s no fan of Kindle Unlimited.

Publishing Platforms: An Introduction to Lightning Source

As well as sponsoring some of the IndieReCon events, Lightning Source is also running a session detailing its print services for authors. I wrote an article recently about how authors can use Lighting Source for their print books which may give you some background.

10 Million Sold And Counting

Barbara Freethy Bella Andre

I do like to learn how authors can sell 10 million copies and this should be interesting, with Barbara Freethy, who was a trad published best-seller before switching to self-publishing her backlist in 2011 with stunning success to become the best-selling KDP author ever; and Bella Andre, who has not only sold four million of her self-published books but also has a seven-figure print-only deal with Harlequin.

There are many other events scheduled and all the online events are free. You can get the full line-up and details about the speakers at the IndieReCon website.

The LBF Indie Author Fringe Fest is an all-day event taking place on Friday, April 17 at Foyles in Charing Cross Road comprising a conference followed by an Indie Author Fair (ALLi Member Showcase).

The conference includes several panel discussions, including The Influence of Self-Publishing On Trade Publishing, and a Top Indie Author Advice Panel.

The day’s events will be live-streamed online. If you want to attend the conference in person, it is free for ALLi members and anyone with a London Book Fair ticket. If you’re not a member of ALLi, you can join for £75 (annual author membership) and get a free ticket to the LBF (usually £35 in advance or £50 on the day) plus free admission to the Fringe Fest. The Indie Author Fair opens at 4.30pm and is free to all.

More details and registration can be found at the IndieReCon website.

London Book Fair 2015 at Olympia

As ever, there is a huge amount going on at the London Book Fair this year, far too much for me to summarise here. You can get details and tickets at the LBF website.

The fair is part of London Book & Screen Week, which also has a massive number of events going on throughout London, which you can read about on their website.

At the LBF, I’ll be particularly interested in visiting the Small Press Zone. This offers a good value package suitable for small publishers or self-publishers to show off their books.

It features a fully fitted entry-level stand for £1,525 (plus VAT at 20%) covering the three days of the show. The deal includes 10 exhibitor badges and 10 visitor badges, worth a total of £700, so it is a reasonable cost.

Take note that this year the fair has moved from Earls Court and is being held at Olympia in Kensington (about a mile away from Earls Court) but the Underground station for Kensington (Olympia) won’t be open during the LBF.

You can either walk or catch a bus from the tube stations at Hammersmith or Kensington High Street, or there is an Overground rail connection to Kensington (Olympia) from Shepherd’s Bush or West Brompton tube stations.

London taxis and Uber cabs are, of course, also available.