The school holidays got off to a lovely start with a relaxing ten days in Minorca. Coming home to the rain wasn’t so wonderful but I’ve been too busy to worry about the weather. This weekend I spent a packed two days at the Melting Pot in Edinburgh, attending a Marketing for Writers Lab run by Scottish Book Trust. It was an amazing opportunity and I would highly recommend it to other writers.

On the Saturday, Danny Scott and Nicola Balkind patiently explained ways in which we could  make better use of social media, particularly Twitter. Helen Croney helped us to create  effective press releases, preferably with puns! Herald arts correspondent Phil Miller and freelance editor and reviewer Katy Guest gave us lots of suggestions on ways authors can get themselves and their work a mention in newspapers by writing listicles, agenda pieces and features. Phil and Katy also gave us handy tips on how to stay on the right side of journalists. To complete an incredibly busy and productive day Sarah Barrie and Lynsey May talked to us about whether our websites and/or blogs are fit for purpose, up to date, clear and easy to navigate.

Sunday was another amazing day. After useful feedback on our press releases from Helen, we had television interview training with journalist and presenter Rachael Fulton. She showed us clips of two interviews featuring JK Rowling, one early in her writing career and the other more recent. The differences in the author’s confidence and body language during the second interview were incredibly revealing.  Rachael filmed short practice interviews with each participant. I was nervous about this part of the Lab but Rachael was so kind and encouraging that it was a really positive and valuable experience. During our  individual feedback she said I used some excellent soundbites (who knew?) but I sometimes dropped my volume, as if I lacked belief in what I was saying.

Next, Jennifer Williams, programme manager at the Scottish Poetry Library, and book festival programmer Bob McDevitt gave us an interesting introduction to literary programming, festivals and events, as well as a list of dos and don’ts for participants. Their main message was that authors should be positive, punctual and polite. Then writer and director Adrian Mead gave us some inspirational advice on the importance of having a career plan. We also learned some very useful tips from Adrian about how to start conversations (and how to finish them without causing offence) at social events.

Thank you so much to everyone at Scottish Book Trust for enabling me to take part in the Lab. Lynsey Rogers and Caitrin Armstrong were such welcoming hosts and it was lovely to meet the other nine authors: Gil, Tracey, Peter, Millie, Alan, Adam, David, Jane and Caro. I had a tiring, but fantastic weekend and cannot recommend it enough to authors at any stage in their careers.