Ally Aldridge Contemporary, Editing, Fantasy, My Books, Shifters, Sky Heart, The Soul Heart Series, Writing

Sky Heart needs Beta Readers!

Yes! I’m pleased to announce that I have finished my first edit of Sky Heart and now need Beta Readers.

Click here for the Beta Readers Sign Up Form.

NB:  Sky Heart doesn’t have an official cover yet.  The image used is my Work In Progress cover.
Beta Readers Wanted – Sky Heart

What is a Beta Reader?

You get to read the full story before anyone else, and can help shape the future version with your feedback.

Tell me if you like a character or not. You can say if a scene is too slow or too fast. Suggest what to cut or add to the story. Basically share your thoughts to help me improve it.

This version has only been edited by me. It will have mistakes. It won’t be as polished as a final version that has been professionally edited.

What type of story is Sky Heart?

Sky Heart is book 2 in The Soul Heart series but has a new main character, Keily.

You can read Sky Heart (book 2) even if you haven’t read Ocean Heart (book 1). It is a complete story, however, it will have some spoilers for book 1 as it assumes you’ve already read it. In addition, it is part of a series so although the main issue is resolved in the story, there are things that will be unresolved as they are dealt with later in the series.

July 2021: Ocean Heart is FREE in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale

Sky Heart is a YA Contemporary Fantasy. Here is the blurb:

Beta Books

I want to try out a site called Beta Books.

This site enables me to easily share Sky Heart with my Betas. It will also organises any feedback to make it more manageable for me.

Readers can share their feedback as inline comments, at the end of a chapter, and I can even ask readers questions about specific things.

If you want to help me but prefer not to use Beta Books that’s fine. Please still sign up using my Google Form and I’ll consider another option for you.

Sign up

If you’ve read this far, thank you. I’m so pleased you’re interested. Please fill in my Google Form so I can send you details on how to access Sky Heart.

Google Form: Sky Heart Beta Readers sign up

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My Process – How to Publish a Book

About Ocean Heart

[kofi]

The following links are affiliate…

July 2021 – Ocean Heart is free on Smashwords in the Summer/Winter Sale

Ally Aldridge Personal

MerMay Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered my MerMay Giveaway for a chance to win a book token.

Entry was free and open to all. My newsletter subscribers got an extra entry.

I decided to use Miniwebtool.com random name picker, to choose from the entries from both Instagram and webform (link was in the newsletter ).

The giveaway is now closed and the winner has been notified.

The Book Token wasn’t the only thing I gave away during May!

Free eBook

To celebrate Ocean Heart now being available on Google Play, I made it free to all for the first week of May. In addition, to thank my followers on Ko-Fi, I provided them a link that enabled them to get Ocean Heart for free for the entire month of May.

Thank you to everyone that took advantage of my MerMay book deal and treated themselves to a free copy of Ocean Heart. Happy reading and if you have time, please write a review. Reviews are super important to authors as it helps our books get discovered. ?

More Freebies

In April, I tried out the shop feature on Ko-Fi by offering a free digital Book Tracker. I made this product free and it’s still Free! Go download it now.

You can also buy Ocean Heart from my Ko-Fi shop and there’s an option to purchase a signed copy.

Charity donations

For MerMay I did an ocean themed spread on Instagram. It made me want to do something to support a cause that helps the sea and/or marine life.

Choosing a charity to donate to was harder than I thought. There are so many amazing charities out there.

I decided to use Miniwebtool.com random name picker again. This time I used it to select a charity from my shortlist. It picked Blue Marine Foundation

By working together, we can turn the tide on overfishing and the destruction of biodiversity. By supporting BLUE, you can help to create marine reserves around the world.

Blue Marine Foundation

Don’t miss out…

The best way to make sure you don’t miss out on any future freebies or Giveaways is by:

? Subscribe to my newsletter

? Follow me on Instagram

? Follow me on Kofi

[kofi]

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About Ocean Heart

Fund your creativity

15 Top Bookstagrammers

Ocean Heart on Google Play

Ally Aldridge Books

15 Top Bookstagramers

There are so many amazing bookstagramers. It was hard to choose only 15, but I wanted my list to reflect the wide variety of accounts.

Each of these accounts bring something different but are united by a shared passion for books and reading. I’m hoping this list will be an inspirational starting point for anyone interested in starting a bookstagram account.

I hope you enjoy this list and I’d love to hear your recommendations too.

RainbowRogueReads by Sophie Critchley

Sophie takes stunning photos of her books like any bookstagrammer but what makes her account stand out is her incredible talent with makeup. Sophie creates makeup looks with a similar style/theme of her read. I think the account was previously called GoBookYourself.

View this post on Instagram

Lately I've been seeing the 'book covers as outfits' challenge everywhere on bookstagram (an idea that I first saw on @emmmabooks YouTube). And I thought to myself, I really want to give that a try but I just don't have that many things which would work, because I mostly only own black clothing. ? BUUUUUT what I do have is makeup, so I'm giving this a go with a little spin on it. ? My first attempt is book one of The Wolves of Mercy falls, the series that made me fall in love with Maggie Steifvater's writing, because this cover is just so pretty to me. ☺️ . . . #bookcoverchallenge #bookcovers #shiver #booksandmakeup #wolvesofmercyfalls #maggiesteifvater #bookdragon #bookcollector #yabookstagram #bookpic #bookishlove #bookishlife #readingcommunity #igreads #yafiction #readersofinstagram #bibliophile #bookaddict #bookworm #bookpost #bookstagrammersunite #bookstagramfeature #morebookslessalgorithm #bookstagramcommunity #ilovetoread #yafantasy #fantasybooks #paranormalromance #yareads #booknerd

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Spoopyhol by Spoops

If you love books and makeup, check out Spoops, She also includes the ”making of” in her posts which I love – it’s like magic seeing an artist at work.

View this post on Instagram

I bought this book so long ago and I still haven’t gotten round to reading it yet ? it’s a big ol’ book of short stories about Cthulhu! There’s so many different authors in here I think it’s mega cool!! . How’s everyone’s October going?! I’ve somehow managed to read 8 books so far this month? none of them have been over 500 pages so that’s how I’ve managed it? . . Day 12: RELEASE THE KRAKEN! #spoopween2020 . . . . . #bookstagram#bookstagrammer#booklover#booknerd#bookblogger#bookworm#bookaddict#bookish#bookishfeatures#instabook#igreads#booksofinstagram#reader#reading#bibliophile#bookporn#bookaholic#booknerdigans#bookcollection#lovereading#lovebooks#bookstagramcommunity#booklife#booklove#mybookfeatures#halloweenmakeup#lovecraft#spoopyholmakeup

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Elizabeth Sagan and James Trevino

I’m guessing this pair are a couple as they have a similar style and often appear in each others posts. The things they do with books is just wow!

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Where do you usually search for book recs? ? When it comes to the books I decide to read, I'm doing my best to go through everything that is sent to me, because for the most part, even though I have certain preferences and I'm a mood reader, I can easily pick up anything that falls into my hands and vibe with it. Once in a while there comes a book that I'm super excited for and I want to start as soon as it comes out, like in the case of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Midnight Sun, and now The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (Oct 6), but between those, I like to feel "morally obligated" to read what's sent to me because that motivates me to read more on one hand and I like to support the authors of said books on the other and this way I got to discover some truly amazing gems that now rank among my favourite books ever. So in the next 8 weeks, I am to read (at least) 6 books, and those are: – The Wig, The B*tch and The Meltdown by Jay Manuel – ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort Duriny the Time of COVID-19 – David Tung Can't Have A Girlfriend Until He Gets Into An Ivy League College by David Tung – The Cyborg Tinkerer by Meg LaTorre – Ashen Shadows by Ewe Linka – The Cull by Rachel Glickler ? #bookstagram #bookish #angel #shadowhunters #supernatural #bookangel #cassandraclare #redhead #redheadpower #redheads #bookgirl #angels #bookstagrammer #booksofinstagram #booksbooksbooks #goodreads #epicreads #read #reader #reads #reading #yalovin #bookrecommendations #bookstagramer

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✨INTERNATIONAL BOOK GIVEAWAY✨ ? One lucky winner will get hardcover editions these amazing books: ? THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE by V.E. Schwab ? TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS by Christopher Paolini ? HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy (special omnibus edition including Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman ? SERPENTINE (illustrated edition) by Philip Pullman ? ENOLA HOLMES books 1-3 (including The Case of the Missing Marquess, The Case of the Left-Handed Lady and The Case of the Bizzare Bouquets) by Nancy Springer – paperback* ? GOOSEBUMPS (set including Monster Blood, Why I'm Afraid of Bees, A Night in Terror Tower, The Best from the East and Legend of the Lost Legend – all books in a special retro collector's tin) by R.L. Stine – paperback* ? THE BROKEN EARTH trilogy (including The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky) by N.K. Jemisin – paperback* ? TO ENTER: 1️⃣ LIKE this post 2️⃣ FOLLOW @james_trevino, @elizabeth_sagan, @mybookfeatures, @lulumoonowlbooks 3️⃣ TAG 3 friends below (all in one comment) 4️⃣ DOUBLE YOUR ENTRIES by sharing this post on your Story and mentioning us ? The giveaway ends Sunday, October 25, at 12pm EET (the winner, chosen randomly, will be announced in the following days on our Instagram Story – please do not send us DMs asking for the exact time; we will try to move as fast as we can so just regularly check our Stories). ? We will contact the winner only AFTER the winner is announced on our Stories. Anyone contacting you otherwise or from another account other than our official ones is a fake! ? This contest is in no way affiliated with Instagram or any of the authors or publishers. You have to be over 18 years old to enter or have parental permission. Good luck, guys! . . . #bookgram #bookcommunity #bookgiveaway #wizardingworldofharrypotter #humansofbookstagram #bookstagrammer #lovetoread #bookstagram #harrypotter #currentlyreading #hogwarts #youngadult #potterhead #writerslife #livrosemaislivros #libros #lectura #leitura #shadowhunters #sarahjmaas #calmversation

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Enchanted_Bookshelf with Colin the cat

This bookstagram features stunning hardback editions and a rainbow theme. Not only that, but fluffy Colin the cat features in many pics adding that extra enchanting factor.

Magicbookcorner by Laura D Child

If you want to discover new books to read, check out Laura. She is relentless in her pursuit of discovering hidden gems and actively supports new authors in getting discovered. She’s often one of the first to review the books she reads.

A_Bookish_Lass by Michaela Dieter

Michaelea shows how simple your gram can be. Her feed is mostly the book covers and her star rating. Her gram isn’t about arty book pics but helping her followers discover their next steamy romance. Michaela often reads Betas are ARCs enabling her to be up on the latest releases. She was in fact the first reviewer of Ocean Heart.

Booksshack by Noor

This feed is beautiful, it’s got an artistic aesthetic where every picture is unique but has the same colour tones. Then certain pics have been animated to give a hint of magic.

Bookstagram_Dreamer by Chloe

Chloe’s feed is very clever. It’s not instantly obvious, but she somehow finds objects/props to add to her pics to compliment the book. There are a few instances of her painting her hand, which is different.

BookBookOwl by Jen

This feed uses rainbows and flowers to present pretty bookish pics and start conversations about reads. Look out for the little finishing touches that makes this account stand out.

BewareOfTheReader by Sophie

Sophie is a collector when it comes to books, not just the books but the collectables that go with them. I saw a live unboxing of her getting a limited edition and the excitement was very real.

Nic_Reeves_Writes by Nic

This writer loves books and shoes, and this recent pic really sums up both. She’s a regular #footstackfriday contributor.

The_Book_Worms_Bookshelf by Abby

Abby is a book reviewer and writer. What I love about her feed are the pets that feature in her pics. I especially love her hedgehog. I once wanted a hedgehog but then found out they eat worms – yuck.

Mer.Reads by Mer

This booktuber is new to Instagram (appears to be). I really like her pop-culture vibe to her pics with the outline of her hand holding the books.

Fadedstardxst

This account is so new it started on 1st January 2021. But it already has an impressive feed. It has a rustic, country cottage vibe (like the fairy god mother’s cottage in Cinderella is Dead). I hope this bookstagram sticks around as I love the warmth and magic radiating off these pics.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ4Hn3yhHKu/?igshid=29m1i5o8s3iv

Redfae by Ally Aldridge

If you’re on Instagram, please give me a follow too. Like most authors, I also post about the books I am reading as well as those I am writing. Here’s my first bookstagram of 2021.

[kofi]

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Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Childrens, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, Future, Goal setting, Historical, LGBT, Middle Grade, Personal, Review, Romance, Suspense, Urban, Young Adult

Goodreads 2020 Reads

Something I love about Goodreads is how easy it is to track my progress towards my reading goals. At the end of the year, Goodreads gives stats on my reads.

Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org shop link. NB: This post contains these affiliate links.

2020 Reading Goals

My goal was set at 12 books, thinking I could easily read one a month but I hadn’t taken into account how busy I’d be certain months launching my own book, Ocean Heart. It turned out just 12 books was harder than I thought.

The year has include some books I absolutely loved, and one I hated. I’m pretty good at choosing books I know I will love that I wasn’t surprised that my average rating was high. I just don’t have time to read books I won’t like. ?

Wiccan Romances: Amelia’s Story by Nicola Hebron

This was my first read of 2020. It was a book I’d been eager to buy, but was lucky enough to win a copy from the author on Twitter! Whoop! Whoop! I love fantasy set in the real world so it was a good start to my year.

My last two reads of 2020 were Garden in the Sands by Ellie Mitten and… I rather unusual choice for me… The Substantial Meal by Florence Green. I’ve rated them both on Goodreads but still need to write the review.

Garden in the Sands by Ellie Mitten

I think I preordered this book, but I’m such a slow reader, by the time I got to it, it’d been out a little while. I’m going to write a review very soon but as you can see from my 5 star rating, I LOVED THIS BOOK!

The Substantial Sandwich by Florence Green

I can’t remember how Florence & I got talking, but I was a bit glum I wasn’t going to make my pathetic reading goal of just 12 books. I was beating myself up. Then Florence cheered my up by sending me his recent release, an erotic satire using innuendos and puns about the Covid restrictions. It was a quick short read and succeeded at cheering me up. Review coming soon.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas is the most popular book I read. I’m not surprised as I saw it all over Instagram. I actually bought my copy in summer 2019 at YALC.

Another YALC buy was Sea Witch by Sarah Henning. It’s a historical fantasy/fairytale retelling of The Little Mermaid. I really loved the book, and hope to read book 2 in the series this year.

A book that should be more popular is Sorceress of Truth by J D Groom. It’s contemporary fantasy and has everything I love in a book. The MC was relatable, but all the side characters were well developed. With a modern day sorceress, fairies and vampires, what’s not to love?

2021 Reading Goal

To alleviate pressure, I’ve lowered my reading goal to 10 fiction books. I know, some people can read that amount in a month. But, I read for pleasure. And, I have to be in the right mood. If I’m too tired or engrossed in my own writing, I just can’t get into the book.

I also have a few resource books I need to read and review. I didn’t review any last year despite reading some. So, you can look forward to that. These are separate from my reading goal.

[kofi]

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2020 Book Reviews

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Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Review

8 Reasons it’s good for YOU to write reviews

People often talk about why writing reviews are so important to authors but what about for you the reader. Here we go:

Your Reading History

If you read a lot, you can forget what you’ve read. You don’t want to waste time reading a book you didn’t enjoy, twice.

But on the flip side, wouldn’t it be awesome to rediscover the books you did love. You don’t want to forget those gems.

Reading Goals

If you enjoy a challenge, set yourself a reading goal. Celebrate your wins doing something you love.

If you discover your not getting time to read, it could help you identify that your life is too hectic and you don’t get to relax. Or maybe your energy is focussed elsewhere, which is fine. You can reduce your goal.

Favourite author

It helps you not forget the name of that author whose voice you loved. Now, you can discover more of their books.

You can follow authors you like on sites like Goodreads, Book Bub and Amazon. This will help keep you notified of new releases.

Better Recommendations

Over time your tastes may change but seeing what you enjoyed helps identify what you love. In turn, this will help you discover more fabulous books.

If you post your review to sites like Good Reads or Amazon, then algorithms will learn what you want and recommend what to buy/read next. This can save you time in finding your next great read.

Others will read your reviews, see what you like and be able to make intelligent recommendations.

Reading Buddies

You may connect with people with similar tastes, get reading buddies, and/or develop a book club. Reading can become a social activity, and thanks to the internet, you can buddy a reader anywhere in the world.

By talking about the books you read, you become someone people trust for recommendations. Imagine being an influencer for the books you love, someone others take notice of? If you’re good at reviews, this could be you.

Self Development – Reading

There’s more to reading than getting from page 1 to the end. When you write a review you reflect on what you read.

What was it about? How did it make you feel? Did you learn from the story?

Reflecting on what you read is a skill you are taught at school to deepen your reading but is often lost when you no longer have a teacher invested in your reading.

Self Development – Writing

When you write a review, you’ll think about what was done well and how you can use those techniques in your own work. Being a reader helps you deliver more of what readers want.

You will also be exposed to new words or phrases, expanding your vocabulary. You will visit places, meet new people, and explore plots that will inspire new ideas.

Free Books For Honest Reviews

Authors look for people that read their genre. If they are giving their book away for free, they want it to be to someone that will appreciate and love their book. If you apply to be a reviewer, your history as a reviewer could be checked.

The reason is, if you love their genre, their book is off to a good start already in your hands. If you have a following that enjoy your reviews on this genre, then you’ll be helping the right eager readers discover it.

When authors can see what you like, it helps them know if their book is right for you. Someone that enjoys gritty serious crime novels is unlikely to enjoy a sweet high school romance.

We’re all beautifully unique. It’s okay if YA Contemporary Fantasy isn’t for you, but I’m hoping those that do will love and review OCEAN HEART.

Have you preordered Ocean Heart?

If you buy a copy of Ocean Heart between 1 Oct and 1 Dec, you can enter my preorder giveaway. Visit my Giveaway Page for more details.

Where can you find my reviews?

Let me know the positives you’ve experienced from writing book reviews, and check out my reviews.

Goodreads
Litsy
BookBub
Amazon Author
Book Review Page

[kofi]

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Books

Ocean Heart

Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Contemporary, Fantasy, Fiction, My Books, The Soul Heart Series, Young Adult

Preorder Giveaway

I want to thank everyone that has bought Ocean Heart between 1 Oct to 30 Nov by inviting them to enter my first ever giveaway.

Entries must be received by 1 Dec at 8pm GMT, as the winner will be announced during the Live release party on YouTube.

To enter, click here to fill in the Google Form & submit.

Giveaway

To qualify for the giveaway you must meet one of the following requirements:

  • Preorder Ocean Heart paperback between 1 Oct & 30 Nov (or)
  • Bought Ocean Heart eBook between 1 Oct & 30 Nov

The Prize

There are two prizes. One for UK entries, and the other for international entries.

Entry

To enter, please fill in the form. I need your name so I can announce the winner, your address to send your prize, and email to request proof of purchase if you win (can be a simple screen shot).

To enter, click here to fill in the Google Form & submit.

If you win you don’t have to share your prize on Social Media, but if you do, please tag me. I’d love to know you received it and are happy. ?

For more full details including terms and conditions , please visit my Giveaway page.

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Giveaway

Ocean Heart

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Now you can PreOrder Ocean Heart!

Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Chapter Book, Childrens, Contemporary, Dark Comedy, Fantasy, Future, Goals, High, Horror, LGBT, Middle Grade, Paranormal romance, Picture Book, Resource, Romance, Second Chance, Urban, Young Adult

Find your Summer Reads in the latest WIW Brochure

This June the latest World Indie Warriors Brochure was released.

Indie Books

The brochure is packed full of indie books, their blurbs, where to buy and how to connect with the authors. But, thats not all…

Indie Services

There is a directory of service providers. These are small indie business offering services that support the indie community. It’s a great resource to discover cover designers, book formatters, editors, coaches and marketing.

Indie Products

The brochure also showcases indie businesses that make and sell their own products. This enables you to discover unique and custom items that can’t be bought in mainstream shops.

Articles

The brochure is full of useful information from start to finish. There are tips for readers and an interview with a book blogger. There is an interview with the author who won a book cover contest. And you can discover what World Indie Warriors is all about.

It’s FREE to download

If you’ve read this far, you probably want to know how to get your hands on it.

Just visit their website and download it.

How to get included in the next edition?

The brochure is to showcase World Indie Warrior members. To join you just need to follow them on Facebook or Instagram – they are working on a forum.

They do lots of different activities to support the indie community. For example, this month, they are doing CampNaNo on Instagram and have a goal tracker on Facebook. Being part of a team is a great way to stay motivated towards achieving whatever creative goal you set.

If you check their blog you’ll find details on how to get your content included in the next edition.

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WIW Brochure December 2019

Ally Aldridge Book Genre, Books, Festival, Query, Tips, Writing, Young Adult

Why I love YALC

If you are a fan of YA Literature then you need to check out this book festival. It runs annually in London during the last weekend of July and the book deals are so good you’ll travel home like a pack donkey.

The book deals!

It’s easy to get carried away so here are some tips to help you curb your inner book dragon:

Here is what I bought:

The deal was three for £10 and a free Epic Reads tote. Because I chose a two hardbacks it bumped up to £12 which is still incredible value and I got the last tote!

The book nerd in me is looking forward to my showing off my new bag at my next library visit. I’m going to look epic!

These books from Bloomsbury were three for £10. They’ve been on my wish list for ages as I’ve seen people recommend them on IG. I’ve been warned they are steamy!

It was a total accident that all the books are by authors named Sarah. Did you notice? Do you like any books by a Sarah?

Author Panels

There is something amazing about meeting the mind behind a novel. Lots of the stalls are hosted by authors themselves and are happy to sign a copy of their book if you own a copy. In addition, the festival has panels and talks where the authors talk about their novels.

In addition, there are scheduled events where groups of authors chat to a live audience. Their is often someone asking questions and the talk is on a set subject.

Workshops by Industry experts

Experts from the industry deliver workshops during the festival. These are often run by authors, Literary Agents, Editors or publishers but the list is endless.

I attended a workshop in the Agent Arena by Zoe Plant talking about editing. Editing is one of the aspects that I find incredibly difficult with writing a novel as it is a massive task and I am not confident in my abilities. She had great advice on what to expect but not only was the talk really informative, it was also an opportunity to get to know Zoe too. I had not seen her before and she is truly lovely.

I also attended the Author & Agent talk between Literary Agent Chloe Seager and her non-fiction author Laura Coryton. Laura is a campaigner against Tampon Tax. I had heard about this before and think I signed the petition ages ago. It turns out that Chloe also signed the petition and decided that this would be a great subject for a non-fiction book to empower young adults. Chloe approached Laura to propose the idea and Speak Up! was born. It was fascinating to see how the non-fiction industry works in comparison to fiction novels. It was also extremely valuable to hear about Chloe as an agent as she has been a favourite of mine for a long time now.

Pitch to agents

If you are an author with a completed novel, looking for representation, then this is an awesome event to attend. Here, you get an opportunity to spend five minutes with a potential Literary Agent to sell them your novel. It’s an opportunity to be seen above the slush pile.

It’s not guaranteed that they will be interested. I pitched two years ago and wasn’t confident in myself. We ended up chatting about identifying my books place in the market but I did gain a little bit of experience in pitching, mainly what not to do.

This time, I felt more prepared (although still incredibly nervous) and I pitched to two agents who both asked me to send it to them. I also had a writer friend encouraging me to do it which really helped.

Fellow readers and writers

That leads me on to my next point. The festival is full of fellow readers as you would expect but a lot of readers are also writers. This year, I got to meet one of my online writer friends at YALC. She was so lovely we spent the day together.

Win competitions

The festival is full of competitions eager to get you to sign up and raise awareness. @hellomeitsyou tweeted to say I was their Sunday winner. I had already left so sent them my address so I can receive my prize. When I receive it, I’ll post a pic to IG.

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Winter literary festivals

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post listing literary festivals taking place in the UK throughout the UK that have caught my eye.  To read the full list, please click here.

This post is to remind you of those taking place this Winter.

It looks like December and January are a downtime for book festivals so this list starts and ends with February.

February

Verve Poetry Festival

  • Date: 14-17 February 2019
  • Location:  Birmingham
  • Tickets:  Fee (£4 to £35)

“A four day festival of world class poetry and spoken word, with readings, performances, and workshops taking place in the heart of Birmingham.”

Faversham Literary Festival 

  • Date: 21 to 24 February 2019
  • Location:  Faversham
  • Tickets:  Various

“Our inaugural festival in 2018 was a great success with a line-up including Man Booker-shortlisted author Deborah Levy, journalist Martin Bell, psychogeographer Iain Sinclair and performance poet John Hegley. We featured over thirty events with writers from Kent and further afield, as well as writing workshops, poetry events, and more.

We hope you will join us again in February 2019. We have another exciting programme of events and activities planned for book lovers of all ages and persuasions, featuring author talks, discussions, creative workshops and spoken word events.”

Limerick Literary Festival

  • Date: 22 to 24 February 2019
  • Location:  Limerick
  • Tickets:  TBC

“The Festival, formerly known as Kate O’Brien Weekend, is this year celebrating its 35th edition. The event continues to honour the life and works of the Limerick author, while attracting prominent participants from all over the world. Building on this significant history, the Limerick Literary Festival seeks to promote Limerick nationally as a place of literary excellence and to provide a platform where readers can meet their favourite authors and other readers.”  

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Ally plus text

Ally Aldridge Festival, Goals, Writing

Spring Literary festivals

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post listing literary festivals taking place in the UK throughout the UK that have caught my eye.  To read the full list, please click here.

This post is to remind you of those taking place this Spring.

March

The Aldeburgh Literary Festival

  • Date: 1 March 2018 to 4 March 2018
  • Location:  Aldeburgh
  • Tickets:  Fee:  Various

This festival is made up of events and you buy tickets to participate in events.  Events vary between workshops, speakers and screenings.

If you miss the event, this seaside town is still worth a visit. They have one of the most beautiful traditional bookshops, a lovely beach and chip shops.

DIVA Literary Festival and Awards

  • Date:  15 March 2018 to 17 March 2018
  • Location: Birmingham
  • Tickets:  Register interest

This event promises to deliver a platform for underrepresented women writers such a lesbians.  This is sure to be a positive event that is making a difference to supporting diversity and inclusion.  Supported by DIVA magazine and The Guardian.

Write by the beach 2018

  • Date: 17 March 2018
  • Location:  Brighton
  • Tickets:  Fee (£139)

This event covers talks and workshops and you can book a one-to-one with an agent to pitch your novel.

If you miss the event, you can always attend Brighton’s Beach Hut Academy’s creative writing courses or mentoring provided by experts in the industry.

Eroticon 2018

  • Date: 17 March 2018 to 18 March 2018
  • Location:  London
  • Tickets:  Fee (£60 to £200)

If Erotica is your thing, then there is a convention just for you.  This event is in its 7th year and often sells out.  It has schedule of speakers and events and is a structured event.

This year has a talk on how to blog about sex for the shy writer – aghhh the world of an erotic writer.  One day I may be brave enough to write and share erotic fiction but for now the thought still makes my cheeks turn read (no, not like that!).  I would probably benefit from the ‘confidence’ talk.

Oxford Literary Festival (FT Weekend)

  • Date: 17 March 2018 to 25 March 2018
  • Location:  Oxford
  • Tickets:  Various

You buy tickets for the events you want to attend.  There are a lot of authors attending and giving talks and there are events for children too.  The event is not at one location but across the city so make sure you are able to get from one location to another if you booking multiple events.  Filter the events by the category you are interested in, i.e. Workshops, etc.

April

The London Book Fair 

  • Date: 10 April 2018 to 12 April 2018
  • Location: London
  • Tickets:  Fee (£45 to £100 + VAT)

This event is geared towards those involved in publishing but and has various talks on keeping those in the industry up-to-date with financial, legal and trending themes in the publishing world.  There are plenty of exhibits covering pretty much every type of genre you can think of.

May

The Bath Festival

  • Date: 11 May 2018 to 27 May 2018
  • Location: Bath
  • Tickets:  Fee (Various)

It is their 70th year running!  This 17 day event will bring the streets of Bath alive with music and literature.  Check the ‘What’s On’ page on the website to find events that take your interest.  Each event requires a ticket and the price differs.

Everyone I know who has been to Bath has always returned gushing about how amazing it is.  They are also home to one of the most well known and prestigious writing competitions (Bath Novel Award).