Self Publishing for Beginners (Recorded)
In a saturated market, where rejection and even ghosting from agents and publishers are an occupational hazard for authors, self-publishing can be a way to take ownership of your writing life. Whether you want to make a lucrative career out of writing or simply reach the point where at last you hold a copy of your book in your hands, indie publishing might be the breakthrough solution you need. However, knowing how to get started can be daunting.
In this two-hour tutorial, Anna Davidson guides you through the basic steps to publishing your first book. Hybrid publishers, partnership publishers, Amazon KDP, ‘going wide’, POD, ISBNs – she’ll demystify the jargon so that you know what your options are for ebooks and paperbacks, and what to avoid. Anna will also talk you through the key publishing stages from completed draft manuscript onwards.
This is a recording of a live event. You will be sent a link to view the recording on VIMEO as well as the handout from the session.
Anna Davidson
Writer, Editor & Managing EditorAnna Davidson has worked in book publishing for almost thirty years as a writer, editor and managing editor.
Emma Haynes
Head of Events & CompetitionsEmma is responsible for BPA’s bespoke programme of literary events and retreats as well as managing the First Novel Award and submissions
Assistance to writers on low incomes and/or from communities under represented in publishing
We are offering a free place on each of our online tutorials and Q & A sessions for UK based writers on low incomes and/or from under represented communities in publishing.
Writers may apply for a free place on one of the sessions by contacting BPA with a short bio and a summary of their writing career to date.
Please click here to Contact BPA with your application and in the case of writers on low incomes, proof of financial eligibility such as: Jobseeker’s Allowance; Disability Benefit; Income Support; Working Tax Credit; Child Tax Credit; Proof of being a full-time student; Housing benefit; Proof of being a full-time carer.
All details will be kept confidential. Decisions on who receives the free places rest with the BPA team not the tutors.
Other online events you maybe interested in
Structure with Emma Darwin – RECORDING
Worrying about plot, structure and storytelling isn’t only for writers who’ve been told they have a saggy middle. Some writers can’t get writing at all until they’ve got everything worked out; some writers can’t think about structure till they have a whole first draft...
Character with Emma Darwin – RECORDING
Everyone says that character is the foundation of storytelling, but what does that mean? How do you develop convincing, lifelike characters while still using them to power your plot? And what if your story-idea hasn’t arrived with characters at all? In this practical...
Voice & Prose with Emma Darwin – March 27
Thursday, March 27, 20256:00 – 8:00 pm GMTVoice is the element which all agents and editors say they are looking for in a manuscript – but that’s by no means the only reason to work hard on the word-by-word text and textures of your novel: in the end, the words on the...
Q & A with agents – April 1
Tuesday April 1, 2025 6:00 – 7:30 pm BSTGet the inside track on submitting to agents. Our agent judges for the First Novel Award answer your questions live. Hellie and Suzy will outline what they are looking for as well as giving you lots of tips and do's and don'ts...
Pitch Perfect with Emma Darwin – April 24
Thursday April 24, 6:00 – 8:00 pm BSTIt’s not only agents and editors who judge a book by the first page: in an industry driven by ‘Look Inside the Book’, the opening of a novel or memoir is one of the keys which draws a reader in irresistibly – or lets them wander...
Psychic Distance Masterclass – May 29
Thursday May 29, 6:00 – 8:30 pm BSTPsychic Distance: the fiction writer’s secret sauce. Over the years Emma has found that learning to work with psychic distance – often called narrative distance or emotional distance – is the game-changer for her students. In this...
Hooks, Openings & Pitches – Recording of a live event
It’s not only agents and editors who judge a book by the first page: readers do too. In an industry driven by pitches, hooks, blurbs and the first paragraph of Look Inside the Book, writers need to get to grips with how a potential reader would first encounter their...