Guadalajara International Book Fair

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Making a living from writing: Different ways to become a professional writer

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Making a living from writing: Different ways to become a professional writer

Do you have the certainty of seeing complex stories where others only see anecdotes? Do you feel that you squint much more than usual in a situation that is very common for your friends? Do you feel a tingling in the tips of your fingers, as if you can't repress the urge to sit down and pummel the keyboard of your computer as if there were no god and no tomorrow? Well, then the thing is clear: what is stirring inside you is a budding writer. Like the monster from Alien, but with glasses. "Oh, my God! –you may be wondering–. And now what do I do with my life?”

Okay, let's take it easy. First of all, stay calm. Although no, we are not going to deceive you: your situation is critical. You could have been a civil servant, a surgeon, an engineer (or better yet, a reggaeton composer!), but you have chosen to embrace the worst of vocations: that of writing... And no, we will not beat around the bush either: imagine how serious this thing is that, on occasions like this, we cannot even say “It could be worse: it could rain”.

Because, as if it were a kind of ghost train, the path you have chosen is full of difficulties, traps, problems, scares, monsters and well, ghosts. And yes, there are a million reasons to take for granted that the most logical, probable and even reasonable thing would be to fail in the attempt, to be shipwrecked as if you were called Titanic Poseidon and also, and for the same price, to take a few blows to the head. "Oh, sir, but then what shall I do? What should I do?!”

Well, consider yourself lucky! That's what Manel and Pedro are here for! Look, we will help you to advance in this jungle that is the world of professional writing and its industry, to get your novel ahead and, if possible, even so that at the end of the process your head has not taken any hit. (Although, let's be realistic: we already warned you that not everything will come to be...).

So now you know: if you are worried about your physical and mental integrity, do not forget to come to our talk. We will do our best to share with you all the secrets, tricks and nonsense of this trade, and we will even give you two or three tips about it (of which we do not rule out that at least four are wrong, the truth...). Come on, maybe we don't teach him much, but of course laughing, what is said to laugh... we will do it out loud!

Don't give up!

Participants: Manel Loureiro, Pedro Feijoo, Paula Ilabaca

Manel Loureiro

(Spain, 1975)

He is a writer, lawyer and television host who has also worked as a screenwriter on numerous projects. He currently collaborates as an article writer in different national print media, in addition to acting as a host on Television of Galicia (TVG) and as a commentator on Radio Nacional de España.

His first novel, Apocalypse Z:. The Beginning of the End, started as an Internet blog that he wrote in his spare time. The blog became a viral phenomenon with more than one and a half million readers online and the novel was published in 2007, becoming a bestseller. His following works, Dark Days, The Wrath of the Just , The Last Passenger, Only She Sees, Veinte, La puerta and La ladrona de huesos have been bestsellers, both in Spain and in many other countries around the world. Manel Loureiro is one of the few contemporary Spanish authors who has managed to place his books on the list of the best sellers in the United States. His novel, La ladrona de huesos, with more than 250 thousand readers, has consolidated him as a reference author in the Spanish and international literary scene.
Manel Loureiro gives a definitive turn to the thriller with his new novel, Cuando la tormenta pase, winner of the Fernando Lara Award 2024.
Currently, several of his novels are in the process of adaptation to the big screen or pending release. Manel continues to live in Galicia, preparing new stories.

Other activities involving the participant:
The Pleasure of Reading Gala

Pedro Feijoo

(Spain, 1975)

He is a writer and a musician. As a narrator he has published the novels: Los hijos del mar (Espasa, 2013), 2013 Archbishop Xoan of San Clemente Award and 2014 Frei Martín Sarmiento Award; La memoria de la lluvia (Versátil, 2014), 2015 Archbishop Xoan of San Clemente Award; Morena, peligrosa y románica (Versátil, 2015); Los hijos del fuego (Ediciones B, Penguin Random House, 2017); Without mercy (Small Stations Press, 2020); Un fuego azul (Ediciones B, Penguin Random House, 2019) and Nadie contará la verdad (Ediciones Xerais / Ediciones B, Penguin Random House, 2023), which in its Galician edition was awarded the prestigious Xerais Novel Prize in its 40th edition.
In addition, he is also the author of the books Caminar el Vigo viejo (Editions Xerais, 2018) and Pequeña historia de Vigo (Edicións Embora, 2022), in co-authorship with the illustrator Xosé Tomás.

He has also developed an extensive career as a musician, which between 1999 and 2011 led him to tour the stages of half the world, first as a bassist of Los Feliz (the group founded by the former vocalist of Siniestro Total, Miguel Costas), and then as a member of Lamatumbá. Yes, the band that made that same half the world get drunk again at the blow of Licor Café…

Nowadays, and after a long period of non-aggression, he has taken up musical weapons again, and is a member of the writers band Sympathy For The Noir, along with the also authors Mikel Santiago, Santiago Álvarez and Galder Creo, with whom he has shared a table, stage and God knows what else in some of the most prestigious literary festivals in Spain, such as Pamplona Negra or Valencia Negra. In fact, if they call us from across the ocean…

Paula Ilabaca

(Chile, 1979)

Es escritora, docente y editora. Licenciada en letras y magíster en educación superior. Doctoranda en estudios americanos en la Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. Se ha dedicado a la escritura de poesía, narrativa y pódcast, abordando temáticas feministas (poesía) y de denuncia, investigación policial y violencia criminal (novela y pódcast). Su más reciente novela es La mujer del río (Sudamericana, 2024) y fue parte del equipo de guionistas de las dos temporadas del pódcast Crimen (Emisor podcasting 2020-2021). Es fundadora y directora de la microeditorial Castor y Pólux. Su libro La perla suelta ganó el PEN AWARDS 2023 en la categoría traducción de poesía. Ha ganado el Premio Pablo Neruda (2015), Juegos Florales (2014) y Premio a la Crítica (2010). Actualmente se dedica a la docencia universitaria y a dictar talleres literarios.