I would love to attend the Killer Fiction conference on September 10th but, at £149 plus a return train fare from Somerset plus a night and meal in a hotel, don't you think that's beyond the means of an aspiring novelist based in the provinces?
Please, W&A, spare a thought for people outside the Home Counties - there are more of us than you, after all.
Part of the problem is the London-centric view of the country. What if it were possible to spread these courses out to Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, or any other suitable centres in other parts of the country? If people could access them without staying overnight - and certainly without incurring London's inflated costs - would there be more appeal?
I'm not planning to attend any - I'm in France - but if I still lived in England, I'd be more interested if I didn't have to go to London for the privilege.
"In Bristol, even when I attend business conferences, I'm charged no more than £75 for the day, and I can claim that back against tax."
Having lived well below the poverty line for the whole of my adult life, I have never paid tax, never filled out a tax form, and therefore know sod all about tax exemptions. But here's a question. What if you declared yourself to be doubly employed: as a businessman AND a writer? Could you then claim your writers' course expenses (including accommodation and drinks/meals bought for agents, organisers, established writers, etc.) back against tax?
Quite simply, I will never be able to attend a writers' conference because I can't afford to. Even with the 20% discount that I'm eligible for through having reached level 4 on this site. (And I have no tax to claim it back from.)
Hi Paul, I bet "My Dad's bigger than your Dad"! Seriously though, I hope someone from W&A posts an answer to my question. Are the agents-speakers getting a fee for attending, for example? Surely, they're the ones looking for new authors, aren't they? In Bristol, even when I attend business conferences, I'm charged no more than £75 for the day, and I can claim that back against tax.