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Event listings

Find out how to write a great event listing

Every year, we share Book Week Scotland events on our website. Please note we are no longer accepting event submissions for Book Week Scotland 2019.

How to write a great event listing

Use this short guide to help you write an attention-grabbing and effective event listing for your organisation. Still stuck? Read the Book Week Scotland handbook or email sehrish.imlach@scottishbooktrust.com.

Titles

Short, sweet and memorable (80 characters or fewer)

  1. Keep it snappy. Grab your audience quickly with an event title of around 80 characters.
  2. Name your performers. If you have an author, workshop leader or storyteller at your event, give them a shout out in the title.
  3. Make it exciting. Last year, Book Week Scotland had more than 400 public events. Make sure yours stands out with an intriguing title.
  4. Stay simple. Coming up with cool titles is a lot of fun, but they need to be very easy to understand.

Title examples

Descriptions

Clear, interesting and honest (200 words or less)

  1. Show off your event. Write the kind of description that would tempt you! Keep it under 200 words (too long and readers give up) and focus on the most important details.
  2. Be honest. Don’t try and big up your event so much that you’re making unreasonable claims about the size/author/content. Stick to the facts, they’ll be enough.
  3. Include essential information. Is the event for adults or children? What are the names of your speakers/chair people? Will there be a book signing?
  4. Highlight the details. If your event has extras (free refreshments, surprise guests, prizes) don’t forget to mention them.
  5. Break up your text. Paragraphs are brilliant for making event listings easy to read, so break your description up. Think: Intro – main description – conclusion.
  6. End on a high. Leave readers feeling fired up about your event, give them a good reason to come along in your final sentence.

Description Example:

Dismembering the Facts: a Conversation with Billy Crimerton

Set in the atmospheric church at Wynd’s End, award-winning crime writer Billy Crimerton will be joining Marie Chairs for an in-depth discussion about the bloody details of writing crime fiction. Having just published his fourth novel, The Perfect Crime, Crimerton is accustomed to paying attention to the finer points of the business of murder, where every scene has its purpose and no one is completely innocent. In this intimate evening event, Crimerton will shed light on what it feels like to play god on the page and talk us through how he takes the little details and uses them to turn a simple story premise into a layered and captivating novel that rings true to life and sends chills up the readers’ spine. Chairs will begin the discussion by asking the questions everyone wants answered, but later in the evening she will throw open the floor and invite you to ask your own. Book your free ticket now! And after the event, stick around and enjoy a complimentary drink and chat about The Perfect Crime while waiting for your chance to have your book signed by the master crime writer himself.

Tweets

Tiny, fun and informative (240 characters or fewer)

  1. The shorter the better. On Twitter, you only have a limited number of characters to sell your event, so only include the most important information.
  2. Include a link. Adding a hyperlink to the web page of your event makes it much easier for readers to find out more or book tickets, so leave space for one if you can.
  3. Use # and @s. If you know your author/venue/speakers are on Twitter, include their @ name in the Tweet and if you add the #BookWeekScotland tag, more people will see your tweet.

Tweet examples