Author wants to 'fight celebrity culture' with writers' group (From Times Series)

Finchley author wants to 'fight celebrity culture' with writers' group

5:25pm Friday 12th October 2012 in News By Jaber Mohamed

A Finchley author has set up a club for aspiring and established writers to try and “overcome celebrity culture in the publishing world”.

Neil Behrmann, who set up the Authors, Aspirant Writers and Readers (AWR) club, hopes members can join together and help each other in what he says is an extremely tough industry.

Published authors will be invited to talk about the background of their books, how they imagined the stories, researched them and read some excerpts.

The group had its first meeting last Tuesday but Mr Behrmann wants more people to sign up.

He said: “It’s still small and we need more authors to get involved. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to become a successful author - nowadays, it’s all about celebrity writers.

“I don’t think you can fight the celeb culture but I’m definitely fighting for the underdog.  That’s what this is all about. In this very tough publishing world, authors need to work together to become more successful.”

The club is free to join and meetings will take place on the second Tuesday of every month at 7pm, in Amici Cafe and Delicatessen in High Road, East Finchley.