Love Stories etc... Festival 2024
- Paola Santana
- Apr 30
- 2 min read
Updated: May 28
In 2024, romance readers and writers attended the first ever Love Stories etc... Festival in Manchester. If you're a romance lover, live in the northern parts of the UK, and didn't attend this event... You missed out.
QUICK FACTS:
Organiser: Manchester Central Library, HarperNorth and Simon & Schuster UK
Location: Manchester, UK
Price: ££
Value for money: £££££
Open to: UK and International readers and writers
DETAILS
Organised and hosted by Manchester Central Library, HarperNorth and Simon & Schuster UK, the festival took place on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th July. There were two types of tickets available - standard (£30) and V.I.P. (£40).
V.I.P. ticket holders joined the event on Friday evening for a cosy meet-and-greet with guest authors, publishers, and literary agents at the Waterstones Arndale Centre bookshop. And all ticket holders had access to a full day event on Saturday, which included author interviews, signings, a goody bag, sweets, a bookshop with the featured releases on sale, and even free books from Quick Reads. Yes! FREE books.
For budding authors like me, Love Stories etc... also offered a series of industry workshops with helpful advice on how to speak to and work with publishers and agents.
WHO ATTENDED
It's no secret that Romance Fiction as a genre is dominated by us lovely ladies. But it was great to also see male and LGBTQIA+ writers and readers all come together under the same roof up North.
Yes... Events of this calibre and niche don't normally happen north of London. So I was beside myself when I realized the tribe was congregating north of the border. And of course, I had to check it out for myself - like a bee attracted to lush flowers*. Pun 100% intended**.
* I know! My humour is more akin to dad jokes than clever banter.
** For those not familiar, Manchester city's symbol is a bee.
There were seven themed author interviews, involving twenty-one romance authors. And five industry workshops involving eight industry professionals from Simon & Schuster UK, HarperNorth, Penguin Random House, Jenny Brown Literary Agents, and the Romantic Novelist Association.
Not to mention the beautiful and amazing readers and wider community. I can honestly say that I've never met a group of people that is so friendly, welcoming and willing to share and support each other as the Romance Lovers.
WILL I ATTEND AGAIN?
Absolutely! I had the pleasure of chatting to fellow readers, authors, publishers and literary agents on my doorstep. An invaluable opportunity for an aspiring author like me. I was so excited and absorbed by it all, I barely took any pictures!
So yes, if the event happens again next year, I will be there with bells ringing. And so should you, if you love romance books or are an aspiring author, and are based in the northern regions of the UK.
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