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Wednesday 18 January 2017

My dream book conference

Eventbrite invited me to take part in this project, and it sounded like so much fun that I couldn't wait to get on board. If you haven't heard of Eventbrite, they're the largest self-service ticketing platform in the world that helps people find and plan events.
The project that I was invited to participate in was planning my dream book conference.

There are so many different authors and genres that it took me a very long time to decide what I would even want my conference to focus on, let alone who I'd invite! But after much deliberation, I decided that if I was going to host a book conference, I would host...

The majority of the most anticipated young adult books being published this year are from UK authors, so the UKYA scene deserves to have a light brightly shone upon it. 

For moderators, I'd definitely have to pick Lucy and Rachel, the hosts of #UKYAchat and #SundayYA respectively. I always join in with both of their chats on Twitter and never find myself bored, because they ask the most insightful questions.

Now, for the authors:
  • Sara Barnard
    'Beautiful Broken Things' was one of my favourite debuts of all time, but I'm now calling Sara's second novel, 'A Quiet Kind of Thunder', my favourite book of all time. OF ALL TIME. That's a big claim. 
  • Juno Dawson
    I loved 'All of the Above', and I can't wait for 'Margot and Me' to be released next week. Juno is transgender and has been sharing her journey in weekly columns for Glamour magazine, so she's definitely one of the most inspiring UKYA authors around.
  • Lisa Williamson
    'The Art of Being Normal' was another debut that I LOVED. I went along to a panel with Lisa and David Levithan, and I was blown away by the answers she was giving. Lisa's second novel, 'All About Mia', is being released at the beginning of February, and I'm sure there will be just as much to ask her when it's finally out.
  • Holly Bourne
    The Spinster Club trilogy has made feminism cool for the young generation, so inviting her along to participate in this conference would convert the entire room!
  • Sarah Crossan
    Sarah beat off stiff competition last year to win the YA Book Prize for her free verse story 'One'. She's releasing a new novel soon, along with...
  • Brian Conaghan
    , who recently won the Costa Children's Book Award, so it would be amazing to have both of these brilliant minds at the same event. 
I could go on, but I don't think you could fit many more authors in - particularly because I'd want all of them to talk for hours, which could make the conference overrun a little bit!

If you're thinking of planning an event, check out Eventbrite's conference management page. They've been used to organise TED talks in the past, so you can guarantee that they'll get the job done right.

If you were going to organise your dream book conference, what topic would you pick and who would you invite?

2 comments:

  1. That is an amazing panel, I would totally go to that! I wrote one about time-travel/historical fiction authors :)

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    Replies
    1. Ooh, I need to learn more about both of those things! :P

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