On Wednesday evening, 10 outstanding authors launched their novels at CompletelyNovel‘s ‘One Big Book Launch‘. The Free Word centre was heaving with literary folks and friends and family of the emerging authors – it was a great evening.

Some authors don’t like book launches. Anticipating who might come, and being centre of attention, just isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. One Big Book Launch is the solution. Not only did CompletelyNovel and BookMachine promote the event extensively, but the authors presenting their eclectic mix of novels had a mixed and optimistic crowd who might never have stumbled upon their work before.

Last year we wrote about how moving it was to hear authors themselves reading through their own work. This year was no different, just better. There was a real buzz around some of the stories, not just the novels – but of the writers themselves and their journeys to becoming published writers.

One author, Diana Morgan-Hill fell under a London train at the age of 29. Her novel tells of the trauma of having both of her legs ‘stolen’ from her. The event gave her the opportunity to speak about this to a room full of people – something so personal to experience first-hand.

Another of the winning authors, Amanda Epe, is a former BA cabin crew. Her story covers the author’s battle with self-esteem, national identity, and the idea of beauty for women in an image conscious world. It was so enriching to hear about it in person.

Well done to the CompletelyNovel team for pulling off another successful multi-author launch event. Here’s to many more!