OK call me naive, call me daft but until Philip Pullman resigned from his post as Patron of the Oxford Literary Festival saying he could no longer agree to their policy of not paying their authors, I was labouring under the misapprehension that all Festivals did. I am staggered to discover that most don't. It seems that one author, who drew a large capacity crowd at Oxford with seats near the front costing up to £50 a ticket, ended up being thanked and given a mug to take home. So now the proverbial is hitting the literary fan with the Bookseller publishing a letter signed by authors asking that they be paid for their endeavours and lots of publicity all round which can only be a good thing. I have been joining in a chat on Facebook with Amanda Craig, Danuta Kean and others regarding this and decided that I would help in my own small way by writing about the Felixstowe Book Festival and its payment policy.
The festival at Felixstowe was founded by Meg Reid four years ago when she decided what the town needed was such a festival so she just got on with it and provided one. I have been privileged to have been involved since the beginning and am astonished at the amount of enthusiasm, hard work and sheer bloody mindedness involved in such a venture. And, here is the important thing to note, from the very start authors and speakers have been paid. Not for one moment did we think that they should come for free. Why should they? A little seaside town in Suffolk is not going to get your book spread across the newspapers or the TV screens (though who knows what the future may hold), but what Felixstowe can promise is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable audience who are out to have a thoroughly enjoyable weekend with lots of fun and bookish chat.
And here I have to make it clear that all our authors/speakers who have appeared have been wonderful. Many agreed to commit to coming in the first year without a guarantee of payment. Meg made sure that they knew this and though she was searching out funding, sponsorship etc there was no guarantee there would be a fee, but she would do her best to make sure that at least they got expenses. And you know what? Not one of them pulled out. Not one. The festival has been a success since the get go and it is not just down to the organisers, or the people who pull the pints in the bar, or the ticket sellers – though of course we could not do without them and their help also freely given – but I am sure they will forgive me for saying that the Festival would not take place without writers.
I gather the Oxford University Press has said it cannot afford to pay their speakers as they are a registered charity and cannot exist without sponsorship etc etc. Gosh blimey there is a surprise. How do you think others manage? I gather Hay is another festival which relies on its name being big enough to attract authors for free because of all the publicity they get. I think this is arrogance of a high order. If you called out a plumber would he come and mend your leaky tap for free? In fact, you will be lucky to get one to come out at all without a call out fee let alone labour on top.
All authors who agree to come to speak at the Felixstowe Book Festival are paid a fee and reasonable expenses. Publishers do help out with some costs – we have a speaker this year coming over from Brussels and his travel costs are being met, but we will be paying him a fee and accommodation and that is how it should be. No arguing. We have very little difficulty obtaining speakers because we give them a fee, not always commensurate with their worth naturally, but we hope that they also enjoy the atmosphere and the appreciative audience and the welcome they receive.
This year, among others, we have Martin Edwards talking about his Golden Age of Murder best seller; on the platform with him will be Rob Davies from the British Library talking about their Classic Crime series; Rose Tremain; a well known Bronte author (almost 100% confirmed); Fanny Blake; Guy Fraser Sampson hosting two Tilling tea parties at which he will give a talk about Mapp and Lucia and he will also be speaking about his debut crime novel published in March. On the platform with him will be the actor Hugh Fraser, who will be well known to many as Captain Hastings in the Poirot series, who also has a debut crime novel published. There will be writers workshops, children's events and many wonderful things. Our patron is Esther Freud and we are delighted that she has agreed to take on this position as it shows that authors are appreciated by the organisation.
This year the Festival is on 25th and 26th June and the venue is the Orwell Hotel, Felixstowe Suffolk Keep an eye out for further news etc on the website.
So all authors who would like to spend a weekend in a lovely seaside town in Suffolk mark up your diaries for the last weekend in June for as long as we flourish and prosper. We could not do it without you.
PS Dear Mr Pullman – fancy coming to us in 2017……..?
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