Creative Industries Trafford (CIT), in partnership with Manchester Literature Festival and supported by Arts Council England, is running a second Northern Lights Writers’ Conference on Saturday 25 October, 10.15am-4.30pm, at Waterside Arts Centre in Sale. The one-day event for emerging and established writers features talks, workshops and panel discussions with award-winning authors, acclaimed publicists and leading literary agents.

Following 2013’s successful Northern Lights – described by Chris Hamilton-Emery of Salt Publishing as “A brilliant writers’ conference” and by The Art of Fiction blog as “A fascinating and stimulating day” – the theme of this year’s event is “making writing pay”. Hear how Orange Award for New Writers winner Joanna Kavenna and Canal Laureate Jo Bell make a living; get advice on fundraising from flash fiction writer David Gaffney; learn the secrets of marketing with Louise Rhind-Tutt (LRT Publicity), and join literary agents Juliet Pickering (Blake Friedmann) and Louise Lamont (LBA Books)…