Guernsey Society of Authors is a small group of authors, comprising of both members and non-members who meet in Writer’s Block, the independent bookshop situated in the Commercial Arcade in St. Peter Port, Guernsey. The meeting is kindly hosted by the proprietor of the shop, local writer Kelvin Whelan. We are a branch of The Society of Authors (SoA). I have been a full member myself for fourteen years and I find the free advice and support they give me invaluable. Based in London, the Society gives regular talks and advice sessions in the UK, and often online.
In our meetings we share our experience of the publishing world, from how to face ‘writer’s block’ and get through it, to submissions, publishing, dealing with the heartache of rejection slips, finding an agent, details of copyright, editing, etc. We are mostly published or soon to be published authors, and one or two of us are just starting out. Several of us are members of the SoA (Society of Authors) but not all. We welcome new and aspiring writers to join us as we all started out once with a passion for writing, and a dream of becoming published.
As any new writer knows who is hoping to see their words published, the road to success is a rocky one – whether you write fiction or non-fiction, poetry or prose, the ‘Way In’ might be signposted, and invitations for submissions tempting, but how achievable is it to wake up one morning and realise you are a published writer and can hold your own book in your hand? So if you have a manuscript in the drawer which you almost chucked in the bin years ago, or if you are half way through a novel and never manage to finish it, we are here to encourage you. If you’re a freelance writer, when you send off an article to a magazine we can share your anticipation, and your excitement if an acceptance email pops into your inbox, or conversely we will understand your disappointment because there are, as in many areas of writing, numerous failures. We’ve all been there and when you’re on your own without people to talk to who understand the passion we authors have, it’s hard.
Membership to our group is free, but if you would like to join The Society of Authors in the future, being a member of our local group gives you entitlement to 20% discount on the membership fee. For more details on what the SoA is all about, please visit their website: https://societyofauthors.org/
When Radio Guernsey producer spotted our poster in the local bookshop Writers Block – he phoned me to ask more about it. To my delight he invited me to talk about our new local group on BBC Radio Guernsey Steph Watkins morning show. It was really great! You should be able to listen to some of it here:
Theresa Le Flem 