It is common at the World Horror Convention to have Pitch Sessions, usually involving two or three editors or agents. In keeping with our avowed intent to run a groundbreaking professional event, World Horror Convention 2010 in Brighton is doing things a bit differently.
Welcome to PITCH BLACK.
For the first time at such an event, authors and anthology editors will have the opportunity to come together with representatives from the international publishing industry and literary agents to sell and buy genre book rights in both the English language and translation. If you have a sure-fire project that you believe could be a commercial success, then you will be able to bring it to PITCH BLACK, Europe's first-ever Genre Rights Fair, where you will be able to pitch new ideas or sell English and foreign-language rights, as well as audio and e-book rights for existing works. Imagine a mini-Frankfurt or London International Book Fair dedicated to horror publishing (and not just horror—because the literature of the fantastic covers fantasy, science fiction and dark crime as well).
Among those publishers and agents participating** in the event are:
• Abbadon Books/Solaris Books (Jennifer Anne Hill, UK)
• Ash-Tree Press (Barbara and Christopher Roden, Canada)
• Atomic Fez Publishing (Ian Alexander Martin, Canada)
• Vasilis Babouris (Greece)
• ChiZine Publications (Sandra Kasturi and Brett Alexander Savory, Canada)
• Corsair (James Gurbutt, UK)
• Dorian Literary Agency (Dorothy Lumley, UK)
• Gollancz/Orion (Jo Fletcher, UK)
• Jemma Press (Lefteris Stavrianos, Greece)
• Little, Brown (Donna Condon, UK)
• Night Shade Books (Jeremy Lassen, USA)
• PS Publishing (Peter and Nicky Crowther, UK)
• Sheil Land Associates (Ian Drury, UK)
• Snowbooks (Emma Barnes, UK)
• Zeno Agency Ltd. (John Berlyne and John Parker, UK)
Only registered members of World Horror Convention 2010 will be allowed into PITCH BLACK, but instead of burdening publishers and agents with your unpublished manuscripts (unless they actually want you to!) you MUST fill out and print the PITCH BLACK COVER SHEET on the convention website (www.whc2010.org/pitchblack02.html) for EACH project you want to pitch—this will have all your contact details, together with a synopsis of the work you are offering, and your reasons why they should publish, reprint or represent you. No appointment is necessary—you just have to wait until there is an opening at the table you wish to pitch to. You will then be able to discuss your ideas in person, and they can take your information away—to decide if they want to follow it up at a later date.
You should also consider bringing the first three chapters/100 pages of a novel, a short story from a collection, or the contents table/list of contributors for an anthology concept, in case you are asked to supply more supporting material.
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOU WILL NEED TO PRINT OFF MULTIPLE COPIES OF THE REGISTRATION FORM AND YOUR WORK SAMPLES IF YOU PLAN TO PITCH MORE THAN ONE PROJECT OR APPROACH MORE THAN ONE REPRESENTATIVE.
With hundreds of new and established writers from all over the world attending the convention, this is a perfect opportunity for agents and publishers to find the next Big Genre Writer, or to exploit rights for the next Big Genre Best-seller.
PITCH BLACK will run from NOON until 5:00 p.m. on THURSDAY, MARCH 25 in The Royal Albion Hotel's Bar Rogue.
Throughout the event there will be a full bar, which will also sell tea, coffee and snacks, open in the immediate area. There is also a more informal area for meetings and follow-up discussions, along with an outdoor balcony area overlooking Brighton Pier and the historic beachfront.
PITCH BLACK is a unique opportunity for publishers, agents, writers and editors to get together in one place and help shape the future of the genre. If you work in the literature of the fantastic, then this is the one event you cannot afford to miss . . .
[** Please note: the convention is not responsible for the non-attendance of any of the participating publishers, editors or agents.]
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, The World Horror Convention will be held over March 25-28, 2010, in the historic Regency seaside city of Brighton, on the picturesque south coast of England. This is the first time that the event will have been held off the North American continent.
The theme is "BRIGHTON SHOCK!—A CELEBRATION OF THE EUROPEAN HORROR TRADITION FROM VICTORIAN TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY", and the convention will host numerous panels, talks, presentations, readings, workshops and displays devoted to horror, macabre, mystery and thriller fiction and art in all its varied and fearsome forms.
The venue will be the historic Royal Albion Hotel, which dates back more than 180 years and is situated directly opposite the iconic Brighton Pier and a stone's throw from the beach. There are plenty of alternative hotels and Bed & Breakfasts in the immediate surroundings, catering for all budgets, and Brighton is filled with restaurants, wine bars and clubs. Antiquarian shopping precinct The Lanes, the Sea Life= 0Centre and the world-famous Royal Pavilion are also within easy walking distance.
Brighton has direct transport links from Gatwick International Airport and the centre of London, and is easily accessible for overseas visitors, especially those from mainland Europe. And if you want to extend your stay, then Britain's annual National Science Fiction Convention, Odyssey 2010, is being organised near to Heathrow airport the following weekend. Come for World Horror and stay for Eastercon!
Author Guests of Honour are TANITH LEE and DAVID CASE, Artist Guests of Honour are LES EDWARDS and DAVE CARSON, and Editor Guest of Honour is HUGH LAMB. Best-selling author JAMES HER BERT is the Special Guest of Honour, INGRID PITT is Special Media Guest, and Mistress of Ceremonies is JO FLETCHER.
Other writers, artists, agents, editors and publishers already registered as attending World Horror Convention 2010 include: ABADDON BOOKS (UK), John Joseph Adams, ANGRY ROBOT BOOKS (UK), Kelley Armstrong, ASH-TREE PRESS (Canada), ATOMIC FEZ PUBLISHING (Canada), Anne Billson, Randy Broecker, Edward W. Bryant Jr., BURNING EFFIGY PRESS (Canada), Pat Cadigan, Ramsey Campbell, CENTIPEDE PRESS (USA), Mort Castle, CHIZINE PUBLICATIONS (Canada), Vincent Chong, Simon Clark, Lawrence C. Connolly, Storm Constantine, Basil Copper, Paul Cornell, Peter Crowther, DARK ARTS BOOKS (USA), Ellen Datlow, Scott Edelman, Bob Eggleton, Gemma Files, Paul Finch, Christopher Fowler, Jane Frank, Gary Fry, W. Paul Ganley, GOLLANCZ/ORION PUBLISHING GROUP (UK), GRAY FRIAR PRESS (UK), Simon R. Green, Heather Graham, IMMANION PRESS (UK), John Jarrold, JEMMA PRESS (Greece), Stephen Jones, Graham Joyce, Paul Kane, Nancy Kilpatrick, Robert S. Knowlton (Bob Hadji), Allen Koszowski, Joel Lane, Tim Lebbon, Samantha Lee, D.F. Lewis, John Ajvide Lindqvist, LITTLE, BROWN (UK), Brian Lumley, Dorothy Lumley, Kristina Lloyd, Patrick Marcel (France), L.H. Maynard & M.P.N. Sims, Gary McMahon, Farah Mendlesohn, MORRIGAN BOOKS (Sweden), MORTBURY PRESS (UK), Mark Morris, Lisa Morton, Yvonne Navarro, Adam L.G. Nevill, NEWCON PRESS (UK), Kim Newman, NIGHT SHADE BOOKS (USA), Reggie Oliver, Weston Ochse, Michel Parry, Stephen W. Parsons, PENDRAGON PRESS (UK), Sarah Pinborough, David Pirie, John L. Probert, PS PUBLISHING (UK), QUERCUS BOOKS (UK), Tina Rath, REBEL E PUBLISHERS (South Africa), Tony Richards, David A. Riley, Barbara & Christopher Roden, Nicholas Royle, Lynda E. Rucker, Mark Samuels, SCI FI WIRE, SCREAMING DREAMS (UK), Steven Savile, Robert Shearman, Douglas Smith, Michael Marshall Smith, SNOWBOOKS (UK), Alexandra Sokoloff, David A. Sutton, TARTARUS PRESS (UK), TELOS PUBLISHING (UK), Melanie Tem, Steve Rasnic Tem, TRANSWORLD (UK), Lisa Tuttle, Stephen Volk, Ian Watson, Conrad Williams, F. Paul Wilson and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, amongst many others.
You can also sign up for three different Writing Workshops held over the Saturday and Sunday of the convention. These will be tutored by MORT CASTLE ("Creative Writing"), NANCY KILPATRICK ("Vampire Fiction") and JO FLETCHER ("Publishing & Editing"), who will also be holding manuscript critiques. More details can be found on the website.
The Horror Writers Association's prestigious annual Bram Stoker Awards for excellence in horror and fantasy fiction will be presented at a gala Fish & Chips Banquet on the evening of Saturday, March 27. This event will be one of the highlights of the convention, and will include past Stoker Award winners and our Guests of Honour as award presenters.
All information about the convention, hotel and location is available on our website: www.whch2010.org, including an easy to use PayPal Registration Form (which will automatically convert your payment at the current exchange rate). Or you can print off the form and send it with a cheque (sterling only) to: World Horror Convention, PO Box 64317, London NW6 9LL, England.
With numerous writers, artists, editors, publishers and booksellers expected to attend from all over the world, this is the one event that the dedicated horror fan, professional, collector or dealer cannot afford to miss!
Wish you were here? Well, now you can be . . .
WORLD HORROR CONVENTION.
MARCH 25-28, 2010.
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND.
www.whc2010.org
(January 26, 2010)