The 2005 Meet the Publishers´ Day Event in Inverness was held at the Maple Court Hotel in Inverness on the 23rd March between 10-4pm. In attendance were representatives from Sandstone Publishing, the Executive Magazine, David Fletcher Associates and the Jenny Brown Literary Agency.

The twenty plus delegates in attendance came from as far north as Thurso and as south as Oban. They ranged from a university student in search of her first professional writing assignment to a published novelist with a three book deal, from teenagers to retired professional engineers. All of them got a hands on look at the rough and tumble world of publishing and received tips on making a career in writing, where the line between success and failure are frequently so blurred as to be indistinguishable.

David Fletcher of David Fletcher Associates said, ´It is important that you keep doing what you are passionate in, and not blindly follow literary fads. I have worked with people who have been sending in manuscripts for years before they finally get it published. It can be tough, so you need to enjoy what you do.´

Perhaps the highlight of the event was a live pitching session where the delegates got the chance to pitch their book ideas to an expert panel who then awarded developmental prizes to the ideas they thought had the best chance of success. The winners came from a former naturalist penning an autobiography about life on the Isle of Rum in the 1960s and a freelance writer working on a humorous dictionary of football jargon.

Mark Staunton of Jenny Brown Associates who was the marketing manager at Canongate when they won the British Publisher of the Year Award in 2002, said, ´This is the first time I have attended an event like this. To have people talking about their book ideas in person to a panel of publishers and agents, that is incredibly brave. And I have been surprised at the overall quality of the ideas I have heard, it is such a pity that we have to choose a winner.´

Given that the 2004 Meet the Broadcast Commissioners´ Day Event helped bring about the first significant debut by a Highlands & Islands programme maker in two decades, it is hoped that the publishing event will have at least as good if not better a result. The event was sponsored by Highlands & Islands Enterprise via Skillsco, the creative industries training vehicle. The event was helped by and received feedback from aimhi, Ideasfactory and Hi-Arts.