23/04/2026
Only two days to go until our 2026 conference! Join us on the 25th to listen to panel session ‘Pitching yourself and your books’: in this session, our panel will share practical insights on getting a book pitch noticed, developing standout skills, and making the most of networking opportunities as an early-career publisher or writer.
📚 Chair: Jess Orr is Co-Director of Open Book and Associate Programmer for Paisley Book Festival, with 13 years’ experience across the Scottish literature sector. She has worked with organisations including the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Scottish Book Trust and Glasgow Women’s Library, and holds a PhD in contemporary literature from the University of St Andrews.
📚 Yolanda Pupo-Thompson is a partner in London Literary Scouting, where she has worked for over 30 years. Her expertise comes from a lifetime of reading and bookselling: originally from the USA, she worked as a bookseller, and then in publishing, before becoming a reader for the then scouting agency of Koukla Maclehose.
📚 Ruby Allen-Cadman is an editor and creative consultant, who has worked at Oxford University Press, Bloomsbury and Walker Books. Now freelance, she is also the founder of To Be Read, a social enterprise focused on tackling unconscious bias and supporting underrepresented voices in publishing.
📚 Laura Jones-Rivera is the co-founder and co-publisher of the award-winning 404ink , and a PhD Researcher in Publishing Studies at the University of Stirling. She is also currently Charco Press’ Operations Manager and works for numerous other publishers, such as Bloomsbury and Cipher Press, as a freelance typesetter. She was named a Rising Star by the Bookseller in 2022.
