Want to write for some of the North West’s finest art and entertainment magazines (online and off)? Join us in Preston for the next big, glorious contributors’ meeting.

We’ve long thought that there’s strength in numbers. That having friends – rather than competitors – makes for more fruitful working than not. So when then-Editor Susie Stubbs met Mike and Laura of ace Liverpool art site The Double Negative over a cup of tea at their office in Liverpool, and they suggested we start running joint contributors meetings, it made perfect sense. And that’s precisely what we are doing.

Want to write for some of the North West’s finest art and entertainment magazines?

Our next meeting is in Preston, on Wednesday 28 October, 5.30pm-8.30pm – it will be held at the Harris Museum and Art Gallery and hosted by Lancashire City Council, Blaze Arts’ Culture On A Shoestring Magazine and the museum itself. The Writer’s Meet and Greet is free (booking is required), informal and open to all, whether you already write for us, or are just thinking about it. This is a chance to find out more about Creative Tourist, The Double Negative and Corridor8, including the kinds of things we do and don’t publish (we’re all quite different publications), and an opportunity to talk to us about any ideas you have.

“Blaze is really excited to be hosting a meet and greet as part of the Blaze Festival this year,” says the festival’s co-ordinator Steph Broken. “Events such as this really help the young writers who contribute to Culture on a Shoestring feel more connected with the wider writing community. It’s also a great opportunity for them to network and learn from more experienced professionals.”

Now, while we’re very keen to meet new and regular contributors, there is another reason we run these joint shindigs every six months: we want to foster the writing community in the north. To support those whose career or hobby of choice is, by its nature, quite an isolating and lonely activity. So alongside finding out about us as publications, this Meet and Greet is also an opportunity for you to network with like-minded writers, which is surely something that we all, as writers and bloggers, appreciate every now and again.

Let us know if you plan on coming by registering here. See you soon!