Using this site

Do you arrange bookings for authors?

We primarily provide a place for authors to advertise their availability. If you are interested in using any of the authors on our site, please contact them directly, check their suitability for your needs and make any arrangements directly with them, (see our advice on booking an author).

I've searched for a specific author, but your system can't find them.

Please check you have spelled their name correctly. If you're not sure, try searching for just the part of their name you know how to spell. If you still can't find them, they haven't put themselves on our database. If they have a website, you may be able to find them through Google. If that doesn't work or their website has no contact information, try writing to them via the publisher of their most recent book.

I want to use your search, but some of the questions are irrelevant.

If a question isn't relevant, just leave the answer set to its default state (the one at the top of the drop down list).
If you leave all the answers in their default setting, you'll get a list of all the authors on the database.

I feel uneasy about entering my postcode.

Don't worry. There's no need to enter your postcode if you don't want to. But if you don't, you can't use the distance element of the search. If you do want to use the distance search, you only need to put in the first part of your postcode. We don't save it and we won't used it to contact you.

How do you decide the order of the authors in the search results?

If you have used the distance search facility, the authors are listed according to their distance from you. If you haven't used it, the authors are not listed alphabetically (to avoid putting the same authors at the top all the time). Instead the order cycles round over a year...

Are any of your authors willing to travel abroad?

Some of them are. If you contact us with your specific requirements, we can email all our authors and ask those that are interested to contact you directly.

I've done a search, but the list of authors I've been given is so long that I don't know where to start.

Narrowing your search criteria may give a shorter list.

I've done a search, but I haven't found any authors at all.

Try widening your search criteria.

What is my shortlist?

As you work through your search results, you are sure to find some authors catch your eye. Click on the link to put them on your shortlist. When you look at your shortlist, you'll only see the authors that have interested you.

If I leave your site and come back later, will my shortlist still be there?

It will still be there until the session expires, unless you have registed with our website - then it will be linked to that account.

I want to save my shortlist. Why do I have to choose a username and password?

Registering on our website means the shortlist is on our server, not your computer. Doing it that way means you can access your shortlist from more than one place.

Obviously we have many saved shortlists so we need a name and password to tell which one is yours.

Is there some other way to save the shortlist?

You can print it out if you prefer, or you can save it on your own computer using your internet browser.