HOT TOPIC and EVENT GIVEAWAY: UK Author Signing Event, shiMMer
- Kimmers
- Jan 25, 2017
- 6 min read
Today Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter is excited to have the women of the United Kingdom M/M author signing event, shiMMer, join us to give our readers a little information on what the gathering is all about.
Please welcome Suzanne, Fiona, Sue, Claire, and Carol!
Hi……so happy to have you ladies join us today. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be coming to Europe and attending shiMMer. I have to say I am definitely going to be fangirling! There are a couple authors signed-up who I have been dying to get my hands on. Oooops, I mean, meet. *blush*
Before we get started, for those who are not familiar with what shiMMer is all about can you give us a rundown?
Sure, shiMMer will be the first major male, male author signing event in the United Kingdom that is purely about connecting authors as well as readers and hopefully promoting sales and readership. Our aim is to make the day fun, inclusive and for everyone to enjoy each other’s company in a safe environment. It will be a relaxed, friendly and sociable affair and hopefully the first of many more MM signings in the future. We have been to lots of MF signings and we thought it was about time MM had one of its own! Sounds just wonderful! Oh, we gotta know….where did the name shiMMer come from?
A few of us love glitter and all things shiny so we decided on shiMMer with the 2 big m's in the middle for the MM connection. I love it. And of course the MM needs to stand out. *winks* We definitely want to know who the brain children are behind this great event. How about introducing yourselves and giving us a little background about what you do in the world of books and how you all met?
Well, there are 5 of us on the shiMMer Team. shiMMer is being organized by two blogs. First we have Books Laid Bare Boys which is made up of the founder, Suzanne, and Fiona - who is a fabulous reviewer. Then we have UK Gay Romance which is Sue, who is also a very successful MM author. Claire, another amazing MM author, is the genius behind the website and admin side of things. Carol is our logistical expert and operates her own blog, Books Laid Bare. Suzanne, Fiona and Sue mainly focus on promo and connecting with blogs, readers and authors. It is very much a team effort and the thing that binds us all is our love of reading and books. All of us are avid readers, reviewers and advocates of the MM genre and together we all want to give MM authors another platform to boost their work.
You can find out more in the about section on the shiMMer website.
I absolutely love seeing the partnership between authors and blogger’s. After all we are all in this together. So, what was your motivation or driving force behind planning shiMMer? Is there something more than getting a book signed, or meeting a fan/writer, that you hope readers and author’s alike gain from attending this event?
You only have to go on Facebook and into the MM groups to know how much passion there is, both on and off the page, for authors and their books. MM fans are madly loyal and supportive of their authors and there is so much love for the genre that we thought if we could bring that to life for just a day it would be amazing. Between all of us we have attended signings, author events, MM meets, and the like, but nothing on this scale that is purely for authors to promote themselves.
As someone who went to my first GRL (Gay Romance Lit) in America this past year I can tell you the experience at something like this is surreal and I have no doubt shiMMer will result in the same feelings for those who attend.
Last time I checked you already have about 30 authors registered. That’s quite the list of talent with just less than six months to go before the event!
Oh my gosh, we are so overwhelmed with the amazing authors on our attendee list. From the biggest names to debut writers and everything in between. It’s really fantastic!
You’re not kidding. Great group of talent! Are most of the authors within Europe or will some be attending from other countries? Oh, and I guess in the same breath, is there still availability for more authors to register?
We still have space for more. So any author wondering if this is the event for you, the answer is ‘yes!’ Most attending authors are UK based but we do have some from Europe too. We are blown away that Joseph Lance Tonlet is coming all the way from America to join us but we are equally humbled that UK based authors are so enthusiastic. I must say, I too am overjoyed Joseph is making the trip and I'm humbled that he asked me to join him! I understand you have a “special guest” attending. Model, actor, all around entrepreneur, Mickey Taylor. Would you like to tell us a little bit about Mickey?
Absolutely! We love Mickey and are extremely excited he will be signing at shiMMer.
Obviously being the face of Books Laid Bare Boys Mickey was a natural choice to be our shiMMer special guest. He is crazy talented and exceptionally creative and has a diverse skill set. Yet I suppose if you had to label him it would simply be ‘Artist.’ Mickey is about to release his second album and he is extremely passionate about his music. (Which is excellent by the way! You should totally download his albums, Puppets Lament and Midnight Palace.) He is also a model, actor, director; and most relevant to our event, an author. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to read his autobiography it’s a must. You will soon learn there is a lot more to this gorgeous young man than just a pretty face.
Mickey’s book is in three parts with the first two parts having been released and available on Amazon. Mickey Taylor - Part One: A Complicated Evolution and Mickey Taylor - Part Two: Almost Mickey. Part Three is on its way…
*runs to look up Mickey Taylor’s books* What can readers expect from six hours at shiMMer? Will there be set times each author is signing or will they be available for anyone to converse with, get a signature from, etc. at any given moment?
Our aim is to make shiMMer as relaxed and sociable as possible. We will leave it up to authors to decide if they want to have set times, but as far as we’re concerned we just want everyone to feel free to interact with each other as much as possible.
Sounds like a great atmosphere. Now can readers bring their own books or items to be signed or is there a way they can purchase books from the authors in attendance?
Authors will be encouraged to have pre-order forms that will be available on the shiMMer Facebook page and our website, ASAP. We would encourage readers to buy directly from the authors wherever possible.
Good to know. Quite obviously an event like this takes much time, dedication, desire….and expense to pull off. I see that your website indicates you welcome sponsors. How can someone sign-up to support you? Is anyone welcome to sponsor you, other bloggers, readers, authors….even those who may not be attending but want to support something very positive for our book community?
It only costs £10 to sponsor an author. Information and details about sponsorship are on our website but you can also contact Sue Brown with any questions you may have. Anyone is welcome to sponsor. We have a few people who sadly can’t attend, due to other commitments, who have welcomed sponsorship as a way of still supporting the event.
Before we depart –give our readers the deets. Where can authors register and how can readers obtain tickets? What is the cost? You know, the down and dirty you think everyone needs to know.
The ticket price is £25. That gets you through the door and into the wonderful world of shiMMer.
We plan on holding a raffle. Tickets will be £5 and there will be one mega prize of a heap of wonderful stuff that is growing by the day! Raffle sales are all for charity (yet to be decided).
It’s an 18+ event because some of our authors write quite naughty stuff and we don’t want anyone holding back and worrying that their conversations might be inappropriate!
The venue is stunning – look it up, it’s the Holte Suite at Aston Villa Footbal Club. We chose it because there’s loads of free parking; it’s right by the station: ten minutes form Birmingham City Centre, and also in the middle of the country. The hall is quite lavish and the toilets are fab!
Some of us are staying in Birmingham overnight and will be partying post shiMMer but there is no formal event organized.
ALL the details and ticket sales are available on our website:
Such a pleasure to have all you ladies here today, thanks for stopping by. Can't wait to meet you in Europe!
Our pleasure....see you in the UK!
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