Future Worlds Prize would like to invite you to a free, online Introduction to Publishing event, held in conjunction with Bloomsbury Publishing and Writers & Artists.
You’ll have the chance to hear from authors and publishing professionals who will be exploring writing, editing and the submissions process. Speakers include: Vicky Leech Mateos, Bloomsbury’s General Publishing Director, who’ll be demystifying all things publishing; Orbit Editor Emily Byron, who will be in conversation with author and Future Worlds Prize winner M.H. Ayinde about the author/editor relationship; Future Worlds Prize finalists and soon-to-be-published authors Marve Anson and Mahmud El Sayed will discuss their experiences of writing and submitting their work; and Sunday Times-bestselling author and Future Worlds’ Prize inaugural winner Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, will offer insight into the agent/writer relationship and how to gain representation in a discussion with her agent, Catheine Cho (Paper Literary).
There will be time to ask questions of our panellists, so if there’s ever anything you wanted to know about publishing, now is your chance to find out!
Agenda:
6:30pm – Introduction
6:35pm – How to Know When Your Manuscript is Ready with M. H. Ayinde and Emily Byron
In this session, attendees will get a look into the writing process from the point of view of an editor and an author. Topics covered will include how to know when a manuscript is ready for submitting to an agent, how to edit your own work, and how writers and editors work together to make a manuscript publishable.
7:00pm – Getting Representation with Catherine Cho and Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
What exactly does a literary agent do? Do you need one? And how do you get one? Our agent and writer give you the tips you need when it comes to looking for representation, including how to write a synopsis, where to find agents to submit to, what should be included in a submission letter/package and more.
Break
7:35pm – Mythbusting with Vicky Leech Mateos, Sarah Shaffi and Andy Ryan
Publishing can be a confusing and opaque industry. In this session, you'll find out more about how long publishing a book REALLY takes, how much books really sell for, and get a layman's explanation of terms including auction, pre-empt, acquisition meeting, advance, royalties and so on.
8:00pm - From Writer to Author with Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, M. H. Ayinde, Marve Anson and Mahmud El Sayed
A panel of Future Worlds Prize writers share their honest experiences of the publishing process, including their personal journeys, what they have found hardest, and their tips for writers. Includes a Q&A.
Marve has been writing for over a decade and has self-published a thriller, HIS DARK REFLECTION, to critical acclaim.
She was shortlisted for the Future Worlds Prize in 2023, winning mentorship from a top UK editor. Her debut fantasy novel, FIRSTBORN OF THE SUN, is the first in a trilogy being published by Penguin Michael Joseph in October 2025. This novel was also shortlisted for the 2022 Jericho Writers Friday Night Live Competition and the 2022 Kit De Waal Bursary, was longlisted for the 2023 REVPIT competition, and won the 2023 Jericho Writers’ Self Edit Course Bursary.
In addition, Marve is a filmmaker who wrote and produced an award-winning short film in 2016 and is a recipient of the 2017 AFRIFF Film School Scholarship Program. She is a member of the Society of Authors, the World Science Fiction Society and the British Fantasy Society. She is a mentor for Black Girl Writers.
When she's not weaving fantastical tales, you can find her exploring life as a serial hobbyist, delving into everything from obsessing over myths and histories, collecting books and passionately assembling her own personal library to indulging in an unapologetic obsession with all things Christmas.
She is represented by Ciara Finan and Flo Sandelson at Curtis Brown Literary Agency (UK) and United Talent Agency (USA).
M. H. Ayinde was born in London’s East End. She is a runner, a lapsed martial artist, and a screen time enthusiast. Her debut novel A Song of Legends Lost, the first in an epic fantasy trilogy, will be published by Orbit (UK) and Saga Press (North America) in Spring/Summer 2025. Her short fiction has appeared in FIYAH Literary Magazine, F&SF, Fantasy Magazine, and elsewhere, and she was the 2021 winner of the Future Worlds Prize. She lives in London with three generations of her family and their Studio Ghibli obsession.
Paper Literary was founded by Catherine Cho in 2021, with a vision of building author careers. Our approach is built on a commitment to storytelling and maximizing every opportunity for our clients.
Catherine is originally from Kentucky. After a background in law and public affairs, she began her publishing career in New York at Folio Literary Management before moving to London. She was an assistant at Curtis Brown before being promoted to Associate Agent.
At Curtis Brown, she worked closely with authors at every stage of their careers. From established leading authors like John le Carré, David Mitchell, Tracy Chevalier, David Nicholls, and Lisa Jewell to authors with platforms such as Rt Hon Gordon Brown and Nigella Lawson.
She was a literary agent at Madeleine Milburn Agency where she built her own list of debut authors through submissions, working closely with them editorially. She has sold six and seven figure deals in the US and UK.
With her background in law, she has always focused on contract negotiation and protecting client interests.
Catherine is the author of Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. She was shortlisted for the 2020 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. She is a regular contributor to national publications.
Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson is the Sunday Times Bestselling author of The Order of Legends trilogy. Inaugural winner of the Future Worlds Prize in 2020, her debut novel, The Principle of Moments, was published in January 2024 , by Gollancz. As an author of Nigerian, Jamaican, and British-Australian heritage, her work primarily focuses on people who live at the intersection of identities, whether that’s here on Earth, or in far away galaxies of her own creation. She holds a BA in English Literature and Classical Studies from the University of Exeter.
Mahmud El Sayed is a British-Egyptian SFF writer and translator. He lives in East London where he spends his time pondering linguistic oddities and running story ideas by his cat. A former journalist, he covered ‘serious’ Middle Eastern politics until he had enough of chasing people up for boring quotes and decided to write about generation ships, sentient libraries and memory taxes instead. He won the prestigious 2023 Future Worlds prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour and his work focuses on Arabic and Islamic-inspired themes in a genre he is calling Arabfuturism.
This event is free to attend, and a recording will also be made available for a time-limited period afterwards. To register, please click on the ‘Find out more' button below to submit your email address. We will send joining instructions out to this email address in advance of the event.
PLEASE NOTE: there's an RSVP deadline of midnight, Monday 20th January. Joining instructions will not be sent out to anyone who registers interest in the event after this date.
