Media Alert: Gollancz Festival is back!
Gollancz,
the science-fiction and fantasy imprint of the Orion Publishing Group, is
delighted to announce a global strategy for The Gollancz Festival 2015 working
in conjunction with Waterstones and Future PLC, the publisher of SFX and Total Film magazines and the website GamesRadar+.
The Gollancz Festival 2014 was the first of its kind –
an integrated multi-platform, digital and physical one-day book event featuring live participation from almost 50
writers. Even bigger and better, the Gollancz Festival 2015 will
showcase more than 70 brilliant authors across 48
hours of action-packed book shop events and creative digital programming.
The Gollancz Festival 2015 will take place over
Friday 16 October and Saturday 17 October. Due to popular demand, festival
events will be held at Waterstones Manchester Deansgate, from 6 – 9pm on Friday
16 October, and at Waterstones Piccadilly, from 2 – 5pm on Saturday 17 October.
Each store will host two strands of unique back-to-back author events followed
by an author signing event featuring all participating authors.
The Gollancz Festival 2015 will also enlarge its reach, with online
events scheduled across all 48 hours of the festival to
make it truly worldwide – specifically working with Hachette Australia and New
Zealand to connect with SF&F readers in Australasia. Entertaining,
interactive content will be shared on established as well as developing
platforms, allowing readers to interact with #GollanczFest on the platform of
their choice.
For those
who want to experience the festival in real life, tickets for all four festival
strands at Waterstones Piccadilly and Waterstones Deansgate will be affordably
priced, and include collectible festival exclusives and incredible value for
money. The virtual events will be free to join and easily accessible
retrospectively at gollanczfestival.com.
The Gollancz Festival 2015 will host some of the
biggest names in the genre, showcase the writers to watch in 2015, and
introduce remarkable new talent. Full
details of participating authors and programme items at Waterstones Deansgate
and Waterstones Piccadilly will be announced when tickets go on sale in August
2015. For advance notification of ticket sales, festival exclusive content and
for more information please sign up at: gollanczfest.com and follow @gollancz
#gollanczfest.
Our
mission statement is: to allow anyone,
from anywhere around the world, to participate in a literary festival packed
with their favourite authors.
CEO of Orion Publishing Group, David
Young, said: “The Gollancz Festival 2014 was described as
innovative, accessible, and as a vital element of publishing’s future: bringing
authors and readers together in an unforgettable way. We’re thrilled to be
broadening both the domestic and international reach of the Gollancz Festival
in 2015”
Publishing Director of Gollancz,
Gillian Redfearn, said: “For a
second year, we’re incredibly proud to be able to offer SF&F readers the
opportunity to experience a genre-fiction convention for free (or for a small
fraction of the usual cost). This
is for every SF&F reader, everywhere.”
Managing
Director of Hachette Australia, Justin Ractliffe, said: “We’re delighted to be
participating in The Gollancz Festival this year. Australia and New Zealand
have very passionate genre fiction communities and joining forces with Gollancz
means that we can make it a truly global event.”
SF Buyer at Waterstones, Kate McHale,
said: “We are thrilled to be working with Gollancz again this year. Last year’s
festival was a huge success, bringing authors and readers together in an
innovative way, and helping to make the enjoyment of events more accessible
than ever before.”
SFX Editor Richard Edwards said:"Since SFX launched 20 years ago,
we've enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Gollancz and its authors. SF&F novels
continue to be an essential part of the magazine's DNA, so we're delighted to
be associated with this exciting event."
About
The Gollancz Festival 2014
Shortlisted for the Publishers
Publicity Circle Annual Awards, highly commended by Books Marketing Society,
and the winner of The Hachette UK Marketing and Publicity Campaign of the Year
2014 Award, the Gollancz Festival was the
UK’s first ever integrated virtual and traditional literary festival.
Featuring live author participation from almost 50 authors from around the world, The Gollancz
Festival 2014 ran from 9am – 9pm on the 13th August 2014. 50 authors from 3 continents took part in 16 interactive author events on 7 different
social media platforms, culminating in an author event at Waterstones
Piccadilly where 23 writers (and
one live band) participated in an event and signing from 6 – 9pm.
Amongst
other brilliant results, #GollanczFest reached nearly 9 million timelines on Twitter. The events have been
watched nearly 18,000 times on You Tube. The two rooms of festival programming
at Waterstones Piccadilly sold out within 3 weeks.
About
Gollancz
Gollancz is the oldest specialist SF & Fantasy publisher in the UK.
Founded in 1927 and with a continuous SF publishing programme dating back to 1961,
the imprint of the Orion Publishing Group is home to a galaxy of award-winning
and bestselling authors. Through our long-running SF and Fantasy Masterworks
programme, and major digital initiative the SF Gateway, Gollancz have one of
the largest ranges of SF and Fantasy of any publisher in the world.
Comments
Post a Comment