The weekend of November 14-15 is a busy one for us. For those of you in the Midlands, our author Carl Stanley is reading at the Polari Literary Salon event in Birmingham (you can read more about that by clicking here). At the same time, we’ll be making our way north to Manchester to take part in the very wonderful Louder Than Words festival in the splendid George Hotel in the city centre.
We were lucky enough to be asked along to LTW last year, and when they offered us the opportunity to be part of what they’re offering this year as well, we bit their metaphorical hand off. Once again, we’ll have an Ignite stall with copies of all our books at specially discounted festival prices. You’ll find signed copies of our best-seller City Baby, of course, as well as the outrageous, funny, moving and uplifting memoir Kiss & Make Up. We’ll have poetry by Steve Pottinger, and some very special offers on our other stock. The stall will be up and running from Saturday morning through till Sunday afternoon, and we don’t doubt you’ll find something there that takes your fancy.
On top of that, we’ll be taking part in a panel about independent publishing. Look forward to us explaining how we fell into it, the highs and the lows of trying to make it pay, the blood, sweat, and tears involved, and our plans for the future. Or, as LTW put it: ‘This is…a distinctive opportunity to hear and engage in conversation with a range of Independent publishers, to hear first-hand the drivers behind their work, the motivations and ambitions that underpin their approach and how their business activities fit into the literary landscape more generally.’ Wow. Either way, it’ll be on the Saturday evening at 5.30pm, and it’ll be well worth catching.
Ignite’s involvement doesn’t stop there. Once again, poet Steve Pottinger will be performing in the Post Room. You’ll catch him at 2pm and 5pm on the Saturday, and again at 2pm on the Sunday. It’s poetry for people who think they don’t like poetry, and it’s rather bloody good.
For anyone who cares about writing, and writing about music in particular, LTW is a festival which should have been inked in your diary long ago. It’s unique. In a good way. If you haven’t got tickets yet, you can get your mitts on them here, and we strongly suggest that you do. We’re looking forward to going along, catching up with old friends, meeting people who run other small presses and sharing our hard-gained wisdom and our experiences, and having a bit of a laugh. If you’re there, pop by and say hallo. We’re always up for a natter and a chinwag.
