When: 12 April 2025
Where: Craiglands Hotel, Ilkley
Ticket price: £48

CWA members and their guests are invited to a one-day symposium in the charming West Yorkshire town of Ilkley! This event will be held under the auspices of the Northern Chapter and organised by Jason Monaghan and Dea Parkin.

Speakers will include

• Katherine Armstrong, Deputy Publishing Director for crime & thrillers at Simon & Schuster in conversation with Stephanie Glencross, long established literary agent at David Higham Associates.
• Kate Bendelow, forensics expert and author of The Real CSI: A Forensic Handbook for Crime Writers
• Anna Caig, book marketing expert and currently Andy Burnham’s Head of News & Media
• Roger A Price, former senior police officer who set up the first dedicated informant unit, investigated many murders and retired as Special Ops DI
• Alison Morton, who will draw on 12 years of successful self-publishing to talk about how to up your game and stand out from the crowd.

Ask questions in advance about traditional publishing today
The opening slot of the day will be taken by Katherine Armstrong and Stephanie Glencross. A focus for their discussion will be how established, traditionally published writers can develop their careers in a changing market. While there will be a Q&A after the talk, in order for the two to cover all the issues closest to our delegates’ hearts we’re asking them to forward questions in advance. Please send your burning questions to: Jason@jasonmonaghan.com by Monday 17 March.

Our other speakers will all feature live Q&A after their talks, so have your questions ready.

Kate Bendelow worked for Greater Manchester police for 15 years as a crime-scenes investigator and wrote the industry bible for crime writers. Her book has been praised by no less a writer than Lynda La Plante, and Kate is a crime advisor for creators of fictional crime whether it’s on the page or TV and writes the Maya Barton series.

Anna Caig will focus on helping you to promote your books and yourself as an author, whether this is by digital means or other avenues. Board member DV Bishop says: ‘Anna talks common sense! Brilliant for authors who fear/loathe self-pimpage.’ Anna helps authors whether they’re traditionally or independently published or a hybrid through her own marketing courses.

Roger A Price, a crime writer himself, is the real deal when it comes to senior police officers who’ve been there, bloodied the T-shirt. Roger saw service around the world on the National Crime Squad and finished up in charge of a drug undercover unit. One of his most famous murder cases was that of the gangland execution of Chorley accountant David Wilson, and he’ll share his experience of that and other investigations.

Alison Morton, an author of contemporary and historical crime novels, has dedicated herself to not only self-publishing, but standing out from the crowd and doing it successfully. She’ll talk about how to bring a completely professional approach to self-publishing and how to up your game.

We’ll also be announcing the Margery Allingham Short Mystery Prize longsist 2025.

Wouldn’t you like to be part of the fun? Join the CWA today!