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Making Plans



A belated happy New Year to all friends of A Write Highland Hoolie!


Though the next Mallaig book festival is months away yet, we’ve been making the most of the cold, dark days of January. It’s the perfect time for planning ahead, and when it comes to this year’s Hoolie, we’ve started already.


Organising the Hoolie is pretty much a year-round labour of love. Though we take a brief break immediately after each festival, by January our thoughts have turned to all things book-related once more.


The first decision to be made is the date. For 2025, the Hoolie will once again take place over Remembrance weekend, which this year is Friday November 7 to Sunday November 9. It’s become a tradition to include a Remembrance Day tribute and tune on the pipes on the final day of our festival, and this year will be no exception.


Once the date is inked in, the fun part can begin! We have already spent hours trawling through book catalogues and press releases, scouring social media and pestering our contacts, searching for the best authors and most entertaining events to bring you this November.


There’s so much to consider. Who has a new book out, and are they good at speaking in public? Will they be willing to make the long journey to Mallaig in November? How do we ensure a broad range of genres and subject matter? Some authors are very prolific, but as a rule we try to avoid repeat appearances at the Hoolie to give our audiences something new and exciting every time.


Eventually, we draw up a wishlist, with options and alternatives to bring into play should Plan A fall through at any point. And then the hard work starts, with letters and emails going out to authors, agents and publicists, requesting appearances and setting out terms.


That’s where we are now – initial approaches to a handful of authors have been made and we’re awaiting responses. Each time an author is confirmed, we move on to the next name on the list, until we have a full line-up.


In the weeks ahead, we’ll be sharing more details about this year’s Hoolie. For now, though, don’t forget to Save the Date! We’re looking forward to seeing you in November.

 

 

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