Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

Bookings now open for LBF’s Agent One-to-One programme

News for release, 2 March 2018:    The London Book Fair (LBF), the UK’s biggest gathering of international publishers and agents, has announced bookings are now open for its Agent One-to-One programme, which will take place in LBF’s Author HQ – the area of the Fair dedicated to writers and aspiring writers.

The Agent One-to-One programme offers Author HQ attendees the opportunity to meet with a leading literary agent, who will be on hand to offer advice on the publishing process and provide feedback on authors’ pitches and ideas.

Participating agents this year include representatives from AM Heath, Darley Anderson, David Higham Associates, DKW Literary Agency, MBA, Peters Fraser & Dunlop, Sheil Land Associates and Susanna Lea Associates.  Between them, the agents’ areas of interest cover everything from children’s publishing, middle grade and YA, to SF and fantasy, as well as literary fiction, commercial fiction, historical fiction and crime thrillers.  Narrative non-fiction and memoir are also covered.

Meetings are by appointment only, and need to be booked in advance of the Fair.

How to book:

• Tickets cost £25 and appointments can be booked by visiting: http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/agents

Asif Sardar, previous participant in LBF’s Agent One-to-One programme said: “It was a pleasure to meet up with a professional agent who was interested in my work and offered insightful opinions.  Highly recommended for anyone looking to step out from the secret garden of isolated authoring into the daunting world of commercial publishing.”

Author HQ, one of the most popular features of the Fair, will have plenty on offer for both established and aspiring writers, including a three-day seminar programme with industry experts and authors taking to the stage to share their expertise and experience.  All Author HQ events are free-to-attend with the purchase of a three-day pass, required to access The London Book Fair.

www.londonbookfair.co.uk

THE LONDON BOOK FAIR (LBF)

The London Book Fair (LBF) is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. Taking place every spring in the world’s premier publishing and cultural capital, it is a unique opportunity to explore, understand and capitalise on the innovations shaping the publishing world of the future. LBF brings you direct access to customers, content and emerging markets. LBF 2018, the 47th Fair, will take place from 10 – 12 April 2018, Olympia London. LBF’s London Book and Screen Week will run for the third year, with the book fair as the pivotal three-day event within a seven-day programme. For further information, please visit: www.londonbookfair.co.uk.

One of my favorite authors (OUTLANDER) shares this animation

This is very cool!

Take a 360 tour of Penguin Random House’s distribution center in Crawfordsvile, Indiana, from the books’ point of view.

Official trailer!

Dear readers,

A while back I used this space to tell you about my glaucoma issues. Today I have more news, not related to the glaucoma but related to my eyes.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that when I used the computer it was slightly blurry. If I used my reading glasses, it helped a bit, as did using the zoom. Then I went on holiday vacation and stuck to my iPad, which was better. A few days ago when I woke up, I couldn’t tell what time it was on the clock next to my bed. I chalked it up to being sleepy. That night, when I was going to bed, I happened to glance across the room at a photo collage hanging on the wall and it looked dark. I covered my left eye, and it was completely black, I couldn’t even tell that it was a collage. When I covered my right eye, it looked completely normal.

When I woke up on Thursday, I figured I’d give it a day to see if it cleared up. It didn’t. I kept playing with my eyes, covering first the left, then the right and figured out that the center of my vision in the right eye was blurry, the surrounding area was fine. When I read on my iPad with the left eye covered, there were blank spots on the page, entire words missing. So Friday morning, I called my eye specialist at Bascom Palmer. A few conversations later, with triage and the glaucoma specialist on call, I was told to come in. Several hours later, after a painless test where my eyes were dilated and pictures were taken of the inside of my eye, I was told that I have a stage 4 macular hole in my right eye.

normal macular

macular hole

This is a link to the National Institute of Health page on this condition. There is no preventative and now I have a 15% chance of getting the same condition in my left eye. The cure is surgery. I am meeting with a retina specialist on Friday to see if I’m even a good candidate for the surgery. And when I say cure, unfortunately it doesn’t guarantee my vision will be corrected, only that the hole may be filled.

I will be slowing down the blog as reading is difficult for me right now, and typing on a computer even harder. I can read on my Kindle but not really using print books, which is a very weird feeling for me.

I would like to ask you, my readers, to help me out if you can. Please use the comment section to share your good reads; you can be as succinct or detailed as you like. I will be using social media for updates as needed.

Finally, all good thoughts and prayers are welcome! Thank you.

Wishing all my readers and your families the happiest of holidays from sunny South Florida.

May 2018 be filled with laughter, love, and good reads!

Follow along as Ms. Linda reads the ultimate Dr. Seuss Christmas classic — no holiday season is complete without the Grinch, Max, Cindy-Lou, and all the residents of Who-ville! Find the book here