The road to publication is an exciting time for any writer but for first time authors, it can be confusing. How does it all work? How long does it take to get from contract to publication? What role does an agent play? What does a writer get offered in a typical contract? How do royalties, foreign rights and publishing schedules work? A writer, agent and editor demystify the process and talk about how the various partnerships work.

About the panellists

Samar Hammam founded Rocking Chair Books Literary Agency in 2013 after six years as a Director at Toby Eady Associates. Prior to that she worked as a literary scout in New York City.  She is a primary agent, but works with other agencies to represent their rights in translation. Her clients include Warsan Shire, Nydia Hetherington, Laura Coleman, Kay Medaglia, Brian Turner, Zena el Khalil among others. 

Sean Campbell is the founder and chief editor at époque press, an independent publisher based in Brighton. Established in 2018, époque press has gone on to publish ten works of literary fiction, including the Barbellion Prize winning What Willow Says by Lynn Buckle and the Republic of Consciousness Longlisted The Beasts They Turned Away by Ryan Dennis. In addition to the main imprint époque press also hosts a regular online é-zine which showcases poetry, short stories, spoken word, music, visual art, animation and short films. Sean is passionate about discovering new voices, championing great new works of literary fiction and working with authors who have strong unique voices. Sean loves building close working relationships with authors and engaging them in every stage of bringing their work to publication. 

Who is this event for?

Suitable for writers preparing to submit.

About Writers’ Week

Writer’s Week is a week of online events for writers at all stages navigating how we work, what we cover, and the support we need for our writing lives to thrive. See the full schedule and information about a weekly ticket here.

Bursary places

Limited bursary places are available for those who would struggle to pay the full price for an event, workshop or course with New Writing South. To apply for a bursary please fill out this application form. We are also offering limited 50% bursaries for this event in light of the cost-of-living crisis. To apply for a 50% bursary, please fill out the 50% bursary application form.

Please note, we are unable to refund tickets to this event.