By JJ Marsh

There is a trend around the world these days to seek out the local, the eccentric, the home-made. It’s a natural reaction to globalisation and the drive for relentless uniformity.

Those apples from the market garden down the road might be a bit misshapen, but they’re a variety the big growers no longer cultivate. Their cauliflower might occasionally harbour an alarming-looking caterpillar, but they were freshly harvested only a few hours ago. And it all tastes marvellous.

That hand-made whatnot from the craft fair might have flaws no machine process would permit, but the craftsman will share their techniques and even encourage you to learn some of these skills for yourself.

So, what if you could do the same thing with books? What if in one place you could find the daring, the unfiltered, the not-another-celeb-biography? What if you could meet the creative artisans behind the stories and ask them about their characters, their writing process, their craft?

That is the dream behind the Indie Author Fair. Forty independent authors are coming together to create a pop-up bookshop as part of the Chorleywood’s ninth annual Literary Festival. This time, the supportive, informative community of indie publishers are not the poor relations, but taking centre stage to celebrate the social experience which accompanies the decision to take artistic control.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur determined to break the bestseller list or an experimenter testing the boundaries of what literature means, there’s room for everyone.

Many of independent publishing’s most exciting authors will be reading, performing, signing books and meeting readers to explain their passions. Not to mention offering themselves as a Human Library, full of wise, exciting, beautifully presented and surprising tomes.

There’ll be readings for adults, story time for children, signed copies and fascinating people from every aspect of publishing’s new wave. People are coming from Spain, Switzerland and Scotland to take part.

Experts will be on hand to talk about the various routes to publication and how going indie doesn’t necessarily mean going it alone.

It’s an exciting experiment to appeal to the adventurous. Something to titillate the literary tastebuds and encourage folk to try something a bit different.

So why not come along and sample our wares? We’re open for business from 2pm-5pm on Sunday 16^th November, at the British Legion Hall, Common Road, Chorleywood, United Kingdom, WD3 5LN.

The Indie Author Fair springs from a collaboration between Chorleywood Bookshop, Triskele Books author collective and the Alliance of Independent Authors.

Chorleywood is a short hop from Central London on the Metropolitan Tube and Chiltern Rail lines.