The Power of a Good Book

Another wonderful story from the Tamar Valley Writer’s Festival about the increased opportunities for authors and readers to communicate with each other and the enrichment to both that can follow.

When Hobart-based children’s author Lian Tanner received a message on her website from a 16-year-old girl, she was thrilled to read she was a fan of her Keepers trilogy, but what she learned as she read the letter was the impact of her books on this teenage reader.

The young woman had spent most of her life in foster care and the characters in The Keepers resonated with her strongly.

This reader told Tanner that on her worst days she felt as if she were in chains. And when she felt really bad she would lock herself away in her room and read the Keepers books, which would make her feel better.

Tanner told this story at the recent Tamar Valley Writers Festival, held at Grindelwald, and explained how the distance between readers and authors had lessened in the age of social media and heightened online connectivity.

“My Keepers trilogy is about children who are kept in chains. I thought [this story] is the best thing that I have ever heard,” Tanner said.

Readers have more access to authors than ever before and, as a result, have a louder voice. Writers’ festivals, like the one Tanner was speaking at, book launches and social media have all contributed to the level of interaction we now enjoy with authors.

“Children expect to be able to talk to the author,” Tanner said.

“Children could always write to the author, and sometimes you’d get an answer and sometimes not, but now they can email or talk to them on Instagram, or talk to them on all sorts of platforms, and that is delightful.

“It’s great for the kids, but it is also absolutely delightful for the author,” she said.

Not only does this change in the way we interact with authors create a better relationship for both parties, but it also enhances word of mouth, which is one of the best ways for an author to sell books.

This word of mouth comes from the readers themselves, but also the booksellers, who know their customers so well. A good bookseller will know what to recommend when a customer is uncertain - or wants to try something new.

“What sells books is what the booksellers call hand selling - when you go into a book shop and they know you and say ‘you will love this’, or you go into a shop and say ‘what have you got for my 12-year-old child?’ and they say ‘try this’, or one of your friends says, ‘I just read this fantastic book...’,” Tanner said.

“There is nothing like word of mouth for selling a book.”

Which book do you continually recommend?

Johanna Baker-Dowdell

Johanna is a journalist and author of the book Business & Baby on Board.

Blog: http://johannabd.com/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JohannaBakerDowdell

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohannaBD

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Words by the Riverside: Some thoughts on The Tamar Valley Writers Festival

Lyndon Riggall shares a smattering of some of the smorgasbord of delights at this year’s festival. I too was fortunate to be in the audience of these sessions and also witnessed the masterful leadership of the panel discussions that Lyndon chaired – he certainly made the panelists dig deep into their inspirational centres to share amazing personal stories, anecdotes and insights.

I can’t believe my luck. I am sitting here in a Swiss village that shares its name with the dark wizard from the Harry Potter series, talking to three of the country’s most exciting speculative fiction writers. The best part? I haven’t had to fly anywhere—all I had to do was follow the twisting waters of the kanamaluka in my car. Great writers have somehow washed up on the shore.

Born in Beaconsfield in 2012 as The Festival of Golden Words and now re-branded and residing at the Aspect Tamar Valley Resort in Grindelwald, the Tamar Valley Writers Festival is a biennial event; reminding us in the Spring thaw that a Summer of reading awaits. It is a delight for me to catch up with friends old and new and to be part of two panels with astonishingly lovely writers across several sessions: Steve Biddulph, George Ivanoff, Amie Kaufman, Jodi McAlister and Paul Collins. 

Aside from my own discussions, the festival features everything from Julian Burnside moderating an increasingly heated discussion of euthanasia, to workshops with the likes of Deltora Quest illustrator Marc McBride, and even a “life writing” class (think “life drawing” but with words).

The Tamar Valley has come alive with a celebration of the act of rearranging the alphabet into pleasing and surprising configurations, and my sincerest delight is that every writer that I speak to appears unquestionably generous, humble, and kind. Yes, there is talk that Grindelwald would be an inspiring setting for a Midsomer Murders episode (and that the evening’s “Shank Night” will surely see this macabre fantasy fulfilled), but in general I can’t believe that these writers could kill anyone other than our favourite characters. They are pleased to be here, and we are pleased to have them. My schedule gradually expands, as every session becomes unmissable, and in a few cases a flip of the coin becomes the only rational response to the fact that I can’t attend two sessions at once.

Amongst the celebration there is some solemnity. The festival features a phenomenon modelled after PEN International, known as “The Empty Chair.” This chair—sitting at each speaking venue—symbolises a writer who cannot be at the festival, either because they have been killed, imprisoned, or are missing. This year’s empty chair is dedicated to Behrouz Boochani, the Iranian journalist currently trapped on Manus Island, whose book No Friend But The Mountains was composed by text message. Boochani’s chair is a reminder of the great privilege of writing, reading, and sharing a love of words. A Festival such as this reminds us why these things matter—because they open us to new worlds and ideas. May we never take it for granted.

Lyndon Riggall is a teacher intern and writer who is currently working on a children’s novel set in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. You can find him on Twitter @lyndonriggall.

Like a duck paddling…behind the scenes at Tamar Valley Writers Festival

This week Nella gives us the long view of an event like the Tamar Valley Writers Festival, from early planning to a mere 10 sleeps away – don’t forget to check out the program link!

  
At Writers’ Festivals, attendees meet beloved authors, hear stimulating exchanges of ideas, learn new skills/information to support their own writing craft, and participate in the social opportunities to meet and engage with knowledgeable and passionate authors and readers.

For school students, meeting authors and illustrators at the Festival is an experience which will remain with them, providing them with an incentive for reading. When students learn directly from the creator, the “inside stories” and the ideas behind books, the struggles and joys of the writing and publication process, they are often encouraged to try writing themselves.

How does such a program come together?  In the case of TVWF, a small committee of volunteers was meeting regularly. Discussions started in September 2016 and intense work commenced in April 2017.  

Since then, we have been busy/frantic with grant submissions, sponsor proposals, marketing plans, developing costings (and unfortunately charging entry fees for adults’ sessions) and, most interestingly for me, selecting guests and who will be moderating and organising Masterclasses.  Masterclass highlights for me are: Jodi McAlister’s The gifts of truth, the treasure of secrets: writing an engaging family history, Amie Kaufman’s Story Ignition, and one described as the Uber for publishing, Democratic Publishing.

Some publishers contacted TVWF offering newly-published authors or those who are in the early stages of their writing careers.  A small team speed-read works from these new authors. We also compiled a list of authors of books we enjoyed reading and started the long, slow process of inviting authors, and choosing moderators we felt would promote the authors, and not hog the limelight for themselves.

Selecting guests for the children’s and young adult program offered additional challenges.  With so few teacher-librarians in schools, we believe part of our function is to introduce students to new authors, to ensure representation of developing trends in children’s and young adult writing, and to ensure teachers would find our guest writers of sufficient calibre to make a trip to Grindelwald worthwhile for their students.  A tall order for any Festival committee.

And how is it going? The program has been out for a while https://tamarvalleywritersfestival.com.au/the-festival/program-tickets/. The Amie Kaufman and Grade 8+ workshop sessions on the Friday are booked out; the middle and Grade 8 + Meet the author sessions have vacancies.  By the time you read this blog, there will be about 10 sleeps till 2018 Tamar Valley Writers Festival.  I’d love to see you there.

George Ivanoff

Paul Collins

Amie Kaufman

Jackie Kerin

Jodi McAlister

Kyle Mewburn

Marc McBride

Andrew Plant

Lian Tanner

Nella Pickup

TVWF Program Committee, retired librarian – but definitely not a retired reader.