May 2021
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in Clunes This May ....
Clunes Booktown presents a series of prolific author talks in this special reader-focused event filled with conversations running over two days.
This is the first national weekend for book clubs with opportunities for members to meet other clubs, discover tactics and programs around building and boosting their own book-loving community.
Postponed from May 15-16. For emerging and experienced authors; the book is the central character across this weekend with workshops and expert panels on what goes on between the pages from creation, to pre-production and on to publication.
The 2021 Program
29-30 MAY
Book Clubs’ Weekend
TICKETS FOR ALL SESSIONS
Join us on the first national weekend for book clubs and their fans. Meet other book club members and discover different tactics, opportunities and conversations around building and boosting your book-loving community.
Standard Weekend $150
Creative Clunes Members Weekend $135
Concession* Weekend $120
Single Session Tickets $15
*Concession Refers To Australian Pensioners And Healthcare Card, Carer Card, Full-Time Student Card And Australian Seniors Card Holders
SATURDAY 29 MAY
10.30am – 11.35am | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET
Setting the Scene (15min intro) Book Clubs Hub com is running the first national survey. Hear what more than 400 Book Clubs around Australia are doing – who are they, where are they and what are they reading, and many other questions. What do we know about book clubs here and overseas? Includes results of the first national book club survey, followed by:
Panel: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Book Clubs
Book Clubs each have their own personality and with that comes myriad positive and negative challenges. Hear from those with long standing book club experience. The aim of this amazing talk is for you to come away with great tips on how to set up, run and/or market your book club better. Please come prepared with your juicy questions for the panellists.
Chaired by Jennifer Hutchison, author and publisher
Panelists: Pam Kershaw, book club veteran, and Shay Leighton, founder and director, Tough Guy Book Club.
11.40 – 11.55pm | SUPPER ROOM, 98 BAILEY STREET
Join us for morning tea in the historic Supper Room of the Town Hall.
12pm – 12.45pm | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET
Connecting Authors and Book Clubs
Learn about how book clubs and authors can connect more for mutual benefit in a discussion led by Toni Jordan novelist, with Vikki Petraitis, true crime author and successful podcaster, and Lindy Cameron, author and independent publisher, Clan Destine Books.
Book Clubs Hub has already set up a searchable author register where book clubs can seek out authors that are happy to meet with them in person or online. This talk will explore what more can be done – all good ideas most welcome.
12.45pm – 1.45pm | CLUNES TOWNSHIP
Lunch break to explore and enjoy the local eateries of Clunes.
1.45pm – 3:00pm | CLUNES TOWN HALL 98 BAILEY STREET
Book Clubber Heather Horrocks, part of our Book Clubs Hub Steering Group, will wrangle those in the room so they can quickly learn about each other and then share the stories discovered as Tale From The Trenches……
Tales From The Trenches
Hear about the weird, wonderful and heart-warming range of experiences of book clubbers from around the country.
3.00pm – 3.20pm | SUPPER ROOM, 98 BAILEY STREET
Afternoon Tea in the historic Supper Room of the Town Hall.
3:30pm – 4.30pm | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET
Rare Books – Together is better
One of our aims is to think about how Book Clubs can help bring culturally diverse communities together. In this panel you will hear about working with older Australians, why there was a need to set a book club for south Asian women and how the vision impaired benefit from Book Club membership. Be inspired by our panellist stories, which include:
Richard Freadman, Emeritus Professor of English at La Trobe University and Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University specialising in life writing in health care settings
Daizy Maan, founder of Bold Punjab and start-up program manager at Deakin University
Sarah Bloedorn manager of Vision Australia Library.
Nathalie Jones, founding member of the Guide Dogs Victoria Ballarat Book Club.
Chaired by Maryanne Vagg, reviewer, programmer and librarian
5pm – 6.30pm | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET
The Remains of the Day
Drinks and nibbles for weekend ticket holders to celebrate a day of conversations.
SUNDAY 30 MAY
10am – 10.45am | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET
While most Book Clubs organise themselves, there are still many organised for them. Hear about the experiences of the Council for Adult Education, which started it’s book club to address isolation on solider settlements after World War II and now has thousands of members. Booktown partner, Readings, has run books club for many years out of its book stores and have a wealth of knowledge to share on running Book Clubs.
Maryanne Vagg, reviewer, programmer and librarian, who also established an online Book Club on the Gold Coast, will be joined by Angela Crocombe, manager of Readings Kids, and Bill Collopy, Manager, Council for Adult Education Book Club Operations.
10:45am – 11:15am | SUPPER ROOM, 98 BAILEY STREET
Join us for morning tea in the historic Supper Room of the Town Hall.
11.15am – 12:30 pm | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET
Headline Act: Kate Torney, CEO, State Library of Victoria
Many Book Clubs are run out of libraries. How does that benefit both the libraries and the readers? State Library of Victoria CEO, Kate Torrney, will address this question through her Key Note Speech, followed by an audience Q+A.
Leading us into: The Book of Tomorrow
Where to from here? How can we best support and encourage book clubs around Australia?
12.45 pm – 2.30pm | Literary Lunch Locally in Clunes with Guest Speaker TO BE ANNOUNCED; WATCH THIS SPACE!
Great conversations at
Skilling Up Weekend
COMING SOON!
15-16 MAY POSTPONED TO OCTOBER 9-10, 2021
Skilling Up Emerging and Experienced Authors
TICKET COSTS – see below
Dive deep into the creation of a book and discover what goes on between the pages. Listen to expert panels and take in workshops to understand what is needed before, during and after publication today.
SATURDAY 9 OCTOBER
9.00am – 9.45am | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET – $15
Expert Panel: Current trends in our book industry
9.00am – 10.00am | FORMER FREE LENDING LIBRARY, 6 TEMPLETON STREET – $30
Workshop: The realities of preparing your work for publishers
Jen Hutchison
10.00am – 11.00am | ATTITUDE, 25 FRASER STREET – $30
How to do your own PR
Jules Brooke
10.15am – 11.00am | CLUNES TOWN HALL 98 BAILEY STREET – $15
Expert Panel: Looking Good – Book Design and Layout. What’s in a Cover?
10.30am – 11.30am | FORMER FREE LENDING LIBRARY, 6 TEMPLETON STREET – $15
Expert Panel: How Editors and Authors Work Best Together
10.00am – 11.00am | THE WAREHOUSE, 36 FRASER STREET – FREE
How Writers can Seek Funding
With Debby Marziarz
11:15am – 4:00pm | THE WAREHOUSE, 36 FRASER STREET – $25
One-on-one (30mins) grant writing consultations
With Debby Marziarz
11.30am – 12.15pm | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET – $15
Expert Panel: Effective Pitching to Publishers
12:00pm – 1:00pm | FORMER FREE LENDING LIBRARY, 6 TEMPLETON STREET – $30
Workshop: How to Publish Like a Pro
Print on demand workshop with Debbie Lee from Ingram Spark
12.30pm – 2.30pm | ATTITUDE, 25 FRASER STREET – $60
Workshop: Writing Crime
Lindy Cameron
12.45pm – 1.30pm | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET – $15
Expert Panel: The Meteoric Rise of Podcasts and Audiobooks
The Meteoric Rise of Podcasts and Audiobooks. Where do they fit in the life cycles of books? With Vikki Petraitis, Emily Webb and Bolinda/Borrow Box
1.30pm – 3.30pm | FORMER FREE LENDING LIBRARY 6 TEMPLETON STREET – $60
Workshop: Writing Romance
Anne Gracie
2.15pm – 3.15pm | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET – $15
Expert Panel:
Getting It Out There – Printing, Distribution and Sales
3.00pm – 5.00pm | ATTITUDE, 25 FRASER STREET -– $60
Workshop: Writing Fantasy
Alison Goodman
3.30pm – 4.30pm | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET – $15
Expert Panel: Going It Alone or Going Rogue
Learning from the experiences of those who have tried and taken different publishing and promotion paths
4.00pm – 5.00pm | FORMER FREE LENDING LIBRARY, 6 TEMPLETON STREET – $30
What You Need to Create Audiobooks
Join Dave Stokes for an in-depth insigne into Audiobooks.
Audiobooks continue to outstrip sales growth for both paperbacks and eBooks, and have done so for the past few years. Why?
With the concurrent phenomenal growth in podcasting and audio social media (like Clubhouse), you gotta believe that there is a reason for it!
As this engaging workshop will illustrate, we talk and listen to learn and entertain.
Verbal communication goes way back prior the invention of written language and the printing press.
Let’s get that inner voice out of you!
SUNDAY 10 OCTOBER
10.00am – 12.30pm | CLUNES TOWN HALL, 98 BAILEY STREET – $60
Expert Panel: Marketing Morning
- Part 1: Building Your Book Marketing Strategy
- Part 2: Implementing Your Book Marketing Tools. Choosing, Using, and Measuring Their Impact
10.00am – 12noon | ATTITUDE – $60
Workshop: Writing Memoir
Emeritus Professor Richard Freadman
10am – 12.00pm | FORMER FREE LENDING LIBRARY, 6 TEMPLETON STREET – $60
Workshop: Podcasting
With millions downloading their podcasts, Emily Webb from Australian True Crime and Vikki Petraitis from Casefile Presents The Vanishing of Vivienne Cameron are the veritable experts in making podcasts that top the charts around the world. If you are interested in how podcasts are made or want to develop and make your own, come along to their workshop. It will cover: craft, podcast communities, content creation, formatting, scripting, equipment, and podcast platforms.
12.30pm – 2.30pm | FORMER FREE LENDING LIBRARY, 6 TEMPLETON STREET – $60
Workshop: Writing for Young Adults
Ellie Marney
12.30pm – 2.30pm | ATTITUDE, 25 FRASER STREET – $60
Workshop: Writing History
Join Professor Keir Reeves, who has written, edited and contributed chapters to numerous books, loves public history and heritage that bring our past alive, as he explains how to approach writing history.
Keir holds a chair in Australian History at Federation University is on the boards of Goldfields Tourism and the Museum of Chinese-Australian History.
Learning from those who have successfully created, formed partnerships and marketed books that have boosted businesses. Join Alva, Rita Erlich and Vaughan Mossop in conversation with Leslie Falkiner-Rose.