Starting Saturday 28th March, and running most Saturdays from 7pm (UK time) to 7.45pm, Short Story (& Poetry) Saturdays feature Morgen and up to five other writers reading out their flash fiction, short stories or poetry (up to 2,000 per person each time). See Short Story (& Poetry) Saturdays for more details. Below is the first episode…
T&T Panel #4: the best and worst aspects of the publishing industry
On Thursday 26th March I talked about the best/worst aspects of publishing. The recording is below.
If you’d like to take part in any of these sessions, do take a look at the Calendar. The Participate page outlines the process of getting involved.
These are free events but we’re raising money for book charities local to the Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire, England) area and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.
NEW! Short Story Saturdays
CALLING SHORT STORY WRITERS
During my author spotlight chat with HJ Furl, we talked about our first love (after our spouses!) that is short stories. HJ was telling me about events he ~ yes, HJ is a man in real life! ~ goes to where he reads out his short stories in front of an audience…
My brain went ping! I thought why not have sessions where short story authors read out their stories on a Zoom panel. How wonderful would that be?
Having already said how busy we are (HJ and myself), he suggested I start them in October. So ~ because I always do everything I’m told ~ they’re starting Saturday 28th March! And run most Saturdays from 7pm (UK time) to 7.45pm.
If you write short stories ~ they don’t have to be (self-)published ~ go to the Participate page for details and/or email Morgen for the information pack.
I’m yet to work out the format but they will consist of a maximum of six authors including myself (Morgen with an ‘e’) reading our stories ~ of no more than 2,000 words ~ then… get feedback? Clap politely? I’d love your suggestions…
- Do you simply want to read your story for audience reaction?
- Would you like feedback from your peers?
- What would you like from these sessions?
See the Short Story Saturdays page for the scheduled dates.
Eric was our guru for the ‘How to Self-Publish’ panel
On Tuesday 24th March the panel below discussed how to self-publish ~ our journey as well as providing tips on how to go from a Word document to the finished product.
I’ve also created a sub-page of ‘Information’ on this site on this topic. I will be adding to it in due course.
- Non-fiction (biographer) author Andrea Woolhead
- Fantasy author Eric Goebelbecker
- Crime/women’s novelist and non-fiction author and Self-Pub Fest founder Morgen with an ‘E’ (host)
The recording is at the end of this page…
If you’d like to take part in any of these sessions, do take a look at the other topics on The T&T Panels page, and there’s also the weekly Monday Mini-fests. The Participate page outlines the process of getting involved.
These are free events but we’re raising money for book charities local to the Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire, England) area and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.
The page for this event is: https://self-pub-fest.co.uk/the-t-and-t-panels/tt3-how-to-self-publish.
The Description and Dialogue panel is on YouTube
On Monday 23rd March 2026 we discussed description vs dialogue including…
- How much should you use of each in your stories (short stories or novels)?
- What purpose do they provide? How are they useful?
- We’ll talk about showing vs telling, peaks and troughs in relation to description and dialogue.
- As a reader, which do you prefer?
The recording is below featuring the following panel…
- Science-fiction, fantasy, cosy mystery, thriller and comedy author David Wake
- Crime/thriller novelist Jill Todd
- Crime/women’s novelist and non-fiction author and Self-Pub Fest founder Morgen with an ‘E’ (host)
- Crime novelist, flash fiction and short story author Nikki Copleston
- Science-fiction/fantasy novelist Phil Oddy
These are free events but we’re raising money for local libraries and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.
Self-Pub Fest is on YoTix!
Having searched on Google for ‘book festival Aylesbury’, I discovered a site called YoTix was leading enquirers to the (official) EventBrite . Thank you!
The EventBrite ticket link is https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/self-publishing-book-festival-aylesbury-tickets-1828267319769.
Please note this is a ticket-only event. Ticket sales close 6pm the evening before, Saturday 25th April.
New pages!
Yes, we have new pages. My brain was whirring at 5.30am this morning so I went on the laptop and created some new pages.
Firstly there’s now a new Calendar page which lists all the upcoming Monday Mini-fests and The T&T Panels in one place, to save you looking at both pages… unless you want more information, then you can click on the relevant date’s link.
As Calendar sub-pages, there are also:
and I’ll be adding the links (and more events) to those when I have time. <laughs>
There’s also now a Links page which lists some (again, still in development) writing groups (including the brilliant New Street Authors), magazines and organisations.
As if that’s not enough (my brain was in overload!) under the Information page, there’s now a sub-page for Writing Competitions & Opportunities.
T&T#2 – The Price of eBooks
Following on from the first T&T panel which took place on Thursday 12th March…
On Thursday 19th March, crime novelist AA Abbott and I discussed the price of eBooks; what we’re prepared to pay for them and the price we should charge for ours.
The recording from this session is below. (If you’d like to share it, the link is https://youtu.be/tl1uKS5b5gg.)
If you’d like to take part in any of these sessions, do take a look at the other topics on The T&T Panels page, and there’s also the weekly Monday Mini-fests. The Participate page outlines the process of getting involved.
These are free events but we’re raising money for book charities local to the Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire, England) area and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.
MMF#6 Plots was an education!
Every Monday up to six self-published authors and/or self-publishing experts discuss a variety of topics ~ see the main Monday Mini-fest for details. These will all be moderated by Morgen so the participants have the opportunity to chat fully. If you would, go to the Participate page for details and/or email Morgen for the information pack.
On Monday 16th March 2026 @ 12pm (UK time), the panel listed below talked about plots: in our writing, the books we read, films we see, and more…:
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- Historical author and plotter Cristina Loggia
- Science-fiction, fantasy, cosy mystery, thriller and comedy author and puzzler David Wake
- Crime/women’s novelist and non-fiction author plantser Morgen with an ‘E’ (host)
The recording from this panel session is below…
These are free events but we’re raising money for local libraries and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.
Our first T&T #1 is a wrap!
Yes, the first T&T panel took place this Thursday 12th March.
We were going to talk about the authors’ writing journeys but we cover that topic in the author spotlights on YouTube so a variation is ‘No man is an island… how life and writing affect each other’ was suggested by Andrea D Woolhead who joined me and Alastair McIver.
The recording from this session is below. If you’d like to take part in future sessions, do take a look at the other topics on The T&T Panels page, and there’s also the weekly Monday Mini-fests. The Participate page outlines the process of getting involved.
These are free events but we’re raising money for book charities local to the Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire, England) area and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.