A 30 minute short story writing contest. Ever needed or wanted to write a story in a hurry? Then here's the place to come to learn how.

Between Diamond and Newspapers dropping comics left, right and center, the traditional methods of getting a comic printed are dying out. So why not put your work online? Join us as we discuss how to get your work online, why you should, some of the common pitfalls seen in online comics and some of the success stories.

Learn the tricks of the fanfiction trade: how to hook your readers into your story, and how to critique with tact.

Game where the emcee reads out a title, author, and plot summary and specifies opening or closing sentence. Participants (panelists only? panelists + audience volunteers? audience teams?) write a plausible sentence for the book. The emcee reads the submissions, along with the actual one, and the audience votes for most likely (and/or most entertaining). ...

With so many publications folding, is there a point to writing short fiction any more? Is it a form for up and coming writers to hone their skills? Did the Internet kill short fiction or might it prove its saviour? Take a look back at the past year of SF/fantasy/horror/spec-fic and discuss the possible future in fiction.

Who does it well? Who does it badly? Tips and tricks

From writing mechanics, to formatting, to knowing how to use word processor features: what you can do to make your editor's life easier, and to make the editing process as pain-free as possible for both of you.

Want to get a meeting to develop a television series? Want to get your short stories published? How about get a government grant to write your magnus opus? What about getting funded travel to the UK, the United States, or even to Antarctica?

A guide to the numerous government funding agencies, initiatives, opportunities and fan funds available that aren't ...

Guest of Honour Trudi Canavan will launch Jenny Blackford's historical novella The Priestess and the Slave, set in classical Athens and Delphi. There will be anachronistic ouzo and baklava.

http://www.hadleyrillebooks.com/Priestess.html

How do we read the text in ways Rowling didn't intend? How and why do some of these become 'fannon'? How often does 'fannon' pre-empt the author?

A panel where published science fiction authors provide an overview of their major "do's" and "don'ts" for writing in the genre along with various tips and techniques for crafting stories.

A panel where published horror authors provide an overview of their major "do's" and "don'ts" for writing in the genre along with various tips and techniques for crafting stories.

A panel where slash authors provide an overview of their major "do's" and "don'ts" for writing in the genre along with various tips and techniques for crafting stories.

With so many competing forms of entertainment today and so many publications folding, is there a point to writing short fiction any more? Is it a form for up and coming writers to hone their skills? Did the Internet kill short fiction or might it prove its saviour? Discuss.

Withdrawn for lack of panellists, may possibly merge in content of "2008 on ...

Self publishing: Discuss!