I have a particular reason to be looking forward to this year’s Cardiff Book Festival, as I’m running a masterclass – An Introduction to Blogging on Saturday 8th September. I launched this blog back in 2016, and never imagined that it would lead to publication (not only non-fiction but poetry too) as well as the production of a book – How to Start a Book Blog: A Step by Step Guide – which contains all the advice I collected during my initial research, as well as some lessons learned along the way.
Of course, it’s impossible to distil 69 pages into an hour’s session, so I’ll be focusing on the key points, such as how to pick a theme for your blog, navigating the complexities of search engine optimisation, and what ‘blog hosting’ is all about. This session will be the perfect introduction for anyone interested in setting up a blog of their own, or creating a ‘writer’s website’. Buy tickets for the event here.
I’ve also got plans to run a longer, more in-depth course, later in the year, so keep an eye out for that if this is something you’re interested in…
And there are plenty of other exciting events taking place during the Cardiff Book Festival, including a ‘Character Mask’ workshop with novel writer Holly Müller, and a masterclass on getting published with Hazel Cushion from Accent Press. There are poetry readings, events for children, debates and discussions, and this year it’s all taking place at a brand new venue – the Jury’s Inn Hotel. There’s even a comic making workshop with Huw Aaron, who designed my fabulous bookworm logo!
Cardiff Book Festival takes place from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th September. Visit their website for more details.
