Epigram Sales Conference

On Friday June 6, 2014 Epigram Books held its Annual Sales Conference at the Arts House. At the sales conference, Epigram pitches their forthcoming books to bookstore buyers and the press.

Mr Epigram himself, Edmund Wee, started things kicked things off before he had to dart off for a meeting.

First book off the starting blocks was Girl Overboard by my brilliant long-suffering editor Sheri Tan and illustrated by her husband Fernando Hierro. Now Sheri is not only my editor but the competition as well! :)

Red Dot Award winners AJ Low aka Adan Jimenez and Felicia Low Jimenez discussed their eighth book in the Sherlock Sam series Sherlock Sam and the Cloaked Classmate in MacRitchie.

Jason Eric Lundberg and Patrick Yee discussed their fourth Bo Bo and Cha Cha book: Bo Bo and Cha Cha  Cook Up a Storm.

Multiple-award winner Emily Lim talked about her second book in the Tibby the Tiger Bunny series, Tibby and Duckie.  After which, talked about the Sam, Sebbie and Di-Di-Di books and the latest story, The Lion Dance.

Sam, Sebbie and Di-Di-Di was originally written back in the '90s and after the series was well underway my youngest nephew was born. The publishers at the time did not want to incorporate him into the story, but Epigram has done a great job of introducing him to the stories by including him in the illustrations in Sebbie's First Day of School and A Day with the Duchess. And Xandy will be the central character in the Lion Dance.

We ended the day with muffins, cucumber sandwiches and champagne!

Rough sketches for the Lion Dance

A Meeting with My Agents

Helen, Jay, Andrea and me

With the Singapore Writers Festival in full swing, my agents - see the photo above - took time to have a  morning meeting with me to touch base and discuss the possibilities for my published and unpublished manuscripts. It was great catching up with them again after their trip to the Frankfurt Book Festival. 

Some of my fellow writers have asked me about signing on with a literary agency. Well, let me put it this way, I've been writing for a long time and I only signed with my first agent two years ago and I just signed with the ladies above around two months ago. Yes, I'm very, very lucky to have my agents, but it took me a very long time to find them.

I've got a lot of writing to do between now and the beginning of the year so my agents can pitch my stories to potential publishers. Speaking of potential publishers, Jay, Helen and Andrea have been busy organising the SWF Publishing Symposium, which was amazing. I'm so glad I managed to attend it and I suggest that you attend it next year. 

The buffet lunch

The talks and workshops were amazing and whether your a writer, publisher or an editor, you'll gain new insights into the industry. I ran into fellow authors Adan and Felicia, Emma, Simon, Evelyn, Ovidia, Tiffany (who is also represented by Jacaranda) and we all agreed the sessions were great.

Tomorrow, I'm headed back to the Festival for another day of talks and workshops. Oh, if you've got kids, you might like to bring them down because Adan and Felicia will be conducting a Sherlock Sam Treasure hunt, which the kids will definitely enjoy. In fact, I may even take part in it!