Getting Non-Fiction Published: Fergal Tobin with Irish PEN

Getting Non-Fiction Published: Fergal Tobin,

author and commissioning editor at Gill & MacMillan.

Thursday 9th May 8pm - United Arts Club, Dublin 2.

On May 9th at the UAC, Fergal Tobin, author and publishing director of Gill & Macmillan, discusses the essential elements of a great non-fiction book.

How to submit, what to submit and how to get published: What are the key ingredients needed to write and sell non-fiction? In a market where non-fiction will always have a healthy share, how do you take your first step? Join us on May 9th and learn about the structures of non-fiction publishing and how the process differs from fiction.

Fergal Tobin has been publishing director of Gill & Macmillan since 1994. Among the books he has published are the monumental Encyclopaedia of Ireland; David McWilliams' The Pope's Children; Frank McDonald's ground-breaking manifesto The Destruction of Dublin, a book that one reviewer said was "the best book published in Ireland since the Book of Kells"; Fintan O'Toole's Irish Times Book of the Century; and, last autumn, Mary O'Rourke's best-selling memoir Just Mary, which will appear in paperback later this month. In the course of his career, he has published almost 2,000 books. As an author, he writes popular history most often under the pseudonym Richard Killeen. The pseudonym is now being retired and his next book, The Irish Revolution 1912-25: an illustrated history, will appear next October under his own name, as will all future books.

Fergal was President of CLE/Publishing Ireland from 2002 to 2004 and was President of the Federation of European Publishers, based in Brussels, from 2010 to 2012.

Publishing Non-Fiction will address the following principal issues:

o How is it different from publishing fiction?

It's about horses for courses: publishers specialise in certain areas exclusively

The role of literary agents

How a prospective author should prepare a good proposal

How to identify a likely publisher

Some things you should not do

The dynamic of a non-fiction publishing house

The pressure on publishers to build their lists

Copyright and contracts

Moral rights and editing

Marketing, publicity and promotion

Join us on May 9th for an evening that is guaranteed to be of interest to all writers, editors and aficionados of history, memoir, travel and the wide and often profitable realm of non-fiction publishing. Booking is advisable and you can avoid disappointment by booking your ticket here: http://irishpenfergaltobin.eventbrite.ie