ABOUT

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James Blatch is a writer, broadcaster and publishing entrepreneur, and the founder of Learn Self Publishing. Before getting involved in publishing, James spent more than ten years at the BBC, including working as a Defence Reporter. That took him to places such as Kuwait, the Arctic Circle and HMS Invincible, and he reported on the Kosovo conflict. He later worked as a film examiner for the British Board of Film Classification before moving into writing and self publishing.

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These days, James is focused on helping authors make sense of the publishing world and build a career from their writing. Through Learn Self Publishing, he shares practical advice, training, courses, events and support for authors at all stages. He co-hosts The Self Publishing Show, where he talks to authors and industry experts about what is working, what is changing and what authors can learn from it.

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Learn Self Publishing is very much a team effort. James works closely with Catherine Matthews, who keeps a huge amount of the organising and day-to-day running of the business on track, and Tom Ashford, an indie author who brings plenty of first-hand experience of writing and publishing his own books.

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The team brings authors together in person through live shows, events and writers’ retreats. These give writers the chance to step away from everyday distractions, spend time with other authors and learn directly from people working in the indie publishing world. The retreats in particular offer time to focus on writing, talk through ideas and challenges, and spend time with people who understand the ups and downs of writing and publishing books.

James, Catherine and Tom work with a wide range of authors, marketers and experts from across the indie publishing world. This means the advice and training available through Learn Self Publishing comes from people who are actively doing the work themselves, whether that is writing books, running ads, finding readers, publishing, marketing or building an author business.

The aim is to make self publishing feel less confusing and give authors practical information they can actually use, while creating a community where writers can meet, learn from each other and feel part of something bigger.