A May round-up

Tasha Bailey delivering the keynote at Togetherfest

The week before last was Boldwood Books’s fifth birthday / summer party at Fulham Palace in West London.  It was a fantastic celebration of the company’s successes over the past five years, with many of their authors in attendance (including our own Emma Burstall).  There were special orange Boldwood-inspired cocktails, a string trio exuding Bridgerton-esque style, and rousing speeches about the vision for Boldwood’s future.

In other happenings, Tasha Bailey delivered the keynote at Together Fest at the Truman Brewery and Elly was part of a panel for the Guild of Food Writers ‘How to Hook an Agent’ event.  The President of the Guild, Orlando Murrin, chaired a lively discussion around how food writers should set about pitching their book ideas and whether representation is necessary.  It was an animated conversation with fellow agents Emma Bal (Madeleine Milburn Associates), Ben Clark (The Soho Agency) and Emily Sweet (Aevitas) though the organisers may have been hoping for a little more controversy.  As it was, the four agents were all in agreement that key elements for a strong submission are: the quality of the writing / voice, an understanding of the market, a route to the readership (through a platform of some kind – online, in print, teaching etc), an authentic reason to write the book.

The Daily Telegraph was the first to review Mishal Husain’s memoir BROKEN THREADS last weekend and gave it five stars, describing it as ‘a superb family history, teeming with historical colour and details that both fascinate and shock’.  The book was then serialised in the Sunday Times last weekend.

Louise Minchin is back on the road with the release of the paperback of FEARLESS.