We’re looking for around 20 children’s authors from across the North East to join us for Blyth: Your Story Starts Here at the Market Pavilion in Blyth.

This is a celebration of children’s books, stories and big imaginations, but more than that, we want children to meet the real people behind the books and see that stories can start with an idea just like theirs.

How it works

There’s no table fee to take part. Instead, we’re asking each author to donate a minimum of 5 books to our free book collection. Our aim is that every child who comes through the door will receive a book token and get to choose one book to take home for free. Where possible, they’ll then be able to find the author who wrote it and have their new book signed.

Five books is enough. There is absolutely no expectation for you to donate more however, if you can and would like to donate additional copies, they’ll be very gratefully received. The more books we have donated, the more of our event funding can be used for activities and entertainment for the children.

Your author table

You’ll have your own space where you can meet families, chat about your books and sell your books as normal. The donated books are separate from your selling stock. We’re not asking you to give everything away! We want this to feel like a proper celebration of our brilliant local authors, while giving children the experience of choosing a book, meeting the person who created it and taking it home as their own.

Would you like to get involved?

We’ll also have a small number of spaces for readings, workshops and activities during the event. These are completely optional and unpaid. If you have an idea for something you’d enjoy doing, tell us about it on the form. We only have room for around 4–5 sessions, so we won’t be able to fit everyone into the programme. We’ll choose a mix that works well for different ages and gives children plenty of variety.

Want to join us?

Brilliant. Fill in the author form below and tell us a little bit about you and your books.