One of the partners in this project is a charity from Thanet Kent called Thanet Creative Writers. It was in a group discussion at one of their regular “Tea and Chat” events that the idea for this site first came up.

Thanet Creative Writers (often abbreviated to TCW) exists to help people enjoy writing and to progress in writing. Naturally, TCW encounters a lot of writers seriously considering their options for novel publication. Some have jumped on board with some form of self-publishing while others have an agent or at least a publisher to work with.

Regardless of how they became published, the organisers at Thanet Creative Writers noticed that the questions were the same:

• How do I let people know about my book?
• Where can I find new readers?
• What sort of publicity works?
• What do I need to do to sell more books?
• What is this author platform and why do I need one?
• How do I go about online marketing?
• Can a blog help me?

It just so happened that at this event was the chair (and co-founder) of Thanet Creative Writers. The chair (that’s me, by the way) is a web developer with a background in online marketing.

I’ve worked with top marketing-led companies in London and Kent and would name names but a good many non-disclosure agreements are still in effect. Also, I learned that hard way that not all companies are what you might call “morally upright” and I am not exactly keen to mention one or two of the firms I have worked for. That said, I learned some hard but valuable lessons about taking care who you do business with.

Thus a top geek and a local writers’ charity (among others) started to put together a plan that rapidly became Author Buzz.

Thanet Creative Writers will be providing the governance and accountability for Author Buzz and this is something that you can take part in too.Thanet Creative Writers are a member-led charity and open to new members joining. Members get a say in how the charity is run, an invite to AGMs, and a right to stand for and vote for trustee and leadership roles.

You can read more about becoming a member here.

The main purpose of Thanet Creative Writers is to share a love of writing, which I think I mentioned. They gather online and in various locations around Thanet (Which is in Kent) with various sorts of events. Thanet Creative Writers were founded in 2013 by Matthew Brown (that’s me), Laura Winder, David Clements, Illisia Adams, and Andrew Winder. In 2017 Thanet Creative Writers became a charity to continue and expand the work that they have been doing.

You do not need to be a member of Thanet creative writers to take part in any of the events that they run and so, likewise, membership of the charity is not required to enjoy this site or even to volunteer to join us and help make this dream a reality. It is, however, recommended because joining Thanet Creative Writers is not only a jolly good idea but a nice way to give something back and show your support.