Dear HLT Readers,

Welcome to the April issue of HLT. First I would like you to meet Hajnalka Fruttus from Hungary, winner of the Bonnie Tsai Scholarship for 2019. You can read more about the verdict in Pilgrims News. Soon Hajnalka’s contribution and selected other contributions will be published in HLT.

We hope you are making plans for the summer and that you will come to Pilgrims to attend one of our excellent courses. To get a flavor of the experience read A Modern Pilgrimage by Ben Gwillim from Slovakia.

Pilgrims trainers and staff are getting ready to attend the IATEFL Conference in Liverpool. If you are planning to attend, look us up at stand 29. Another opportunity for us all to meet will be at the ELT Forum in Bratislava, 7th-8th June. For more read the Conferences section in Pilgrims News.

As for this issue it is hosted by Independent Authors and Publishers, and  has been guest edited by Rob Howard who harvested most of the articles. The idea of a hosted issue by Independent writers and Publishers was born at IATEFL Brighton 2018 Conference. Exactly one year later you can enjoy this special issue. I would like to thank Rob for his hard work. Working with Rob has been a great pleasure.  Now over to Rob to introduce this issue.      

Enjoy this jam packed issue

Hania Kryszewska

HLT Editor

hania.kryszewska@pilgrims.co.uk

                                        

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a with great pleasure that I introduce this edition of HLT Magazine. As the organizer of the INDEPENDENT AUTHORS & PUBLISHERS, I have the honor of working with some of the biggest names in self-publishing and this like-minded group of individuals has come together for the third year to help spread the word and give new authors and publishers a voice in the everchanging arena of ELT books, training and “socialpreneurs” that will surely make up a big part of the future of ELT.

We are pleased to have been invited by Hanna Kryszewska of HLT Magazine and Jim Wright of Pilgrims to be featured in this issue of Humanising Language Teaching Magazine to showcase some of the authors that are and have been a part of our movement. This movement towards eBooks, print-on-demand and self-publishing has been growing consistently in ELT, but without any collective voice. We feel that a voice is needed to be heard above the voices of the major publishers who, for obvious reasons, don’t, and most likely, won’t fill the needed lacuna of small, fast to market specialty books for specific purposes, needs, regions and subject matter. This is where we as small self-publishers shine the most.

Back in 2016, during a lunch break at the ECUATESOL Conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador, I had the good fortune and pleasure to sit with Dorothy Zemach. Dorothy, whom I had just met there as we were both speaking, and I were discussing self-publishing. I mentioned how I had a book ready to publish but was having problems formatting it. She insisted on helping. She asked for my laptop, opened the file and within minutes, reformatted the entire book with ease.  We then talked for a while about how we both saw the future of publishing and that there really was a growing market for self-publishers and authors in the ELT world but as there wasn’t any way to afford a booth at TESOL or IATEFL to showcase our works to the public. With the increasing need for specialty books and the tightening of the EFL publishing market, we decided that the time was right to take it to the streets. An idea was born. We thought about getting likeminded authors and publishers together to form a group to co-rent a small booth at TESOL for the next year. We ran the idea past Dudley Reynolds, then TESOL President and also speaking at ECUATESOL, and he helped with getting the right contacts. Back to the laptop, I fired off a letter to TESOL outlining our idea for getting a small booth like the career day booths that were becoming more popular. At the same time, I thought, why not send it to IATEFL also. I contacted Marjorie Rosenberg, then IATEFL President to see if she thought the idea would fly. Marjorie immediately gave her full support and helped us get the proposal through to the powers that be. While TESOL said they would consider it for future conferences, IATEFL, thanks to Marjorie’s continued support, decided to offer us a small booth at a reasonable price and the INDEPENDENT AUTHORS and PUBLISHERS GROUP was formed. A small group consisting of Dorothy Zemach and Maggie Sokolik from Wayzgoose Press, Marcos Benevides from Atama-ii Books, Sue Kay, Karen Spiller and Karen White from Teachers-2-Writers and myself from EFLtalks and Online Language Center crammed together into a small unassuming and hidden 2x2 booth in Glasgow for IATEFL 2017. We were pleased with the reaction from the crowd. Although most delegates present still wanted a hard copy of a printed book to take home, they saw that ePublishing was the wave of the future and that the ability to get a specialty book to market quickly, efficiently, and for a reasonable price had a place in the new era that is upon us.

Last year, for IATEFL Brighton 2018, we welcomed Walton Burns from Alphabet Publishing, Mark and Annie from Hancock McDonald, Sarah Mount, Alan Pulverness, Alan Stewart Mackenzie from TransformELT, Fiona Aish and Jo Tomlinson from Target English and Judy Boyle from the NO Project to a bigger, more visible booth. We featured book signings from independent authors such as Rachael Roberts, Luiz Otavio Barros, Sandy Millin, Daniel Xerri and Kieran Donaghy, Marjorie Rosenberg, Louise Emma Potter, Vicky Saumell, Susan Holden and James Thomas. The booth had a constant buzz around it and really helped spread the word of the group and hopefully, opened more minds to the offerings that eBooks provide.

This year, for IATEFL Liverpool, we continue to grow. In addition to Wayzgoose Press, Alphabet Publishing, Hancock McDonald, Transform ELT, EFLtalks and the NO Project, we welcome aboard Denise Cowle from the Society of Editors and Proofreaders, Jo Mynard from Candlin & Mynard ePublishers, Joanna Smith from Language Fuel, and Susan Holden from Swan Communications. We are still lining up book signings (at the time of writing) and have an exciting concept lined up for our booth this year. We hope you enjoy and take advantage of what IA&P offers and how we can and will support you as an independent in the future.

Again, I wish to thank Hania Kryszewska and Jim Wright from HLT Magazine and Pilgrims for the opportunity to showcase the INDEPENDENT AUTHORS & PUBLISHERS and hope to have all of you join us and follow us as we take ePublishing and indie writing into the future of EFL.

Enjoy the April issue!

Rob Howard

 

 

 

 

 

Rob Howard  is the owner of Online Language Center, founder and partner at Business Language Training Institute and founder of EFLtalks. He is a teacher, writer and worldwide speaker regarding Business English, Online teaching, Teacher Development and using technology and images. He is Joint Coordinator of the IATEFL BESIG Web and Online team, Online Event and Video Coordinator for the Visual Arts Circle and co-founder of the Independent Authors & Publishers. www.RobHoward.m