New independent book festival coming to Market Harborough next year
"We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting the readers of Market Harborough during our past visits here and cannot wait to reconnect with everyone once again next year”
Local book lovers and literary enthusiasts of Market Harborough and the surrounding areas have a new and major book event to mark on their calendars for early next year.
TaleRow will be debuting their first indie book festival in the Congregational Church’s Jubilee Hall from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday 13th February 2027. Situated just a short and convenient walk from Market Harborough’s town centre and high street, this beautiful and historic venue has been chosen to host this event as it is easily accessible for shoppers and visitors to meet the 35 authors and traders already confirmed for the event. Not only that, it also has the additional benefit of there being a mix of free one-hour and two-hour parking spaces outside the building, with a car park behind the hall for those travelling into town who wish to stay longer.
TaleRow is the brainchild of Melissa Hargreaves and Jonas Lane, two independent authors who have both loved exhibiting in Market Harborough in the past as well as having fallen in love with the town itself. Melissa even set her book Already Yours in Market Harborough. Having experienced the trials and tribulations of the independent authorship and self-publishing journey, the pair have created TaleRow with the sole purpose of championing talented undiscovered indie creators, especially as independent authors now account for roughly a quarter to a third of all e-book sales across major English-language markets (Alliance of Independent Authors), the sector having seen self-published book output grow by 264% over the past five years alone (BestWriting, 2026).
"As independent authors, we know how difficult it is to develop an established audience whilst competing with traditionally published or celebrity authors who often have huge promotional teams behind them," explained Jonas.
The author also noted that independent authors wear many different hats—acting as their own editors, publicists, and managers—which inspired Melissa and him to design an event focused purely on supporting unheralded independent writers and creators above all else, being able to draw from their own experiences in order to help others grow and succeed.
Driven by this vision, the TaleRow founders want to create festivals organised and hosted by bookish people for bookish people—a space where every participant feels genuinely valued and supported rather than being regarded as just another stallholder or competition.
"TaleRow will be more than just a book festival — it'll be a community," Melissa – who writes under the pen names of Ellis Greaves and A B Esson – then shared. "One which Jonas and I hope will grow and develop with each event planned in the future." To confirm this, she then announced that the market town of Bedford is planned as the next stop on the TaleRow journey in April of next year.
Alongside Jonas and Melissa, the Market Harborough Indie Book Festival will feature a wide array of authors from the surrounding towns, as well as writers travelling from further afield who want to join this exciting, new indie adventure. Full details of the featured authors attending next February can be found on the TaleRow Residents Page. Several of the authors taking part, including Melissa and Jonas, are teachers or former teachers. Melissa herself had a short teaching spell in Market Harborough.
Visitors to the TaleRow book festival can look forward to exploring stalls from over 30 authors across a wide range of different genres from romance to fantasy, as well as crime and children’s fiction. In addition to the vast array of different book stalls, local Market Harborough craft trader Little Bird Papercraft will be on-site too, offering unique handmade bookish papercuts and bookfolds, with Jonas and Melissa also planning other interactive elements for the day, which will be confirmed in the coming months.
To further encourage a love of reading at a time when children’s reading for pleasure numbers - especially in those between the ages of 5 and 11 – are in sharp decline (the National Literacy Trust’s 2025 survey found that just 32.7% of 8 to 18-year-olds enjoy reading in their free time, the lowest level recorded since 2005), as well as making new and exciting literature accessible to everyone, entry to the TaleRow Market Harborough Indie Book Festival is completely free, with visitors being able to walk in on the day or reserve a free ticket in advance via Eventbrite.
"We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting the readers of Market Harborough during our past visits here and cannot wait to reconnect with everyone once again next year," said Jonas.
“Not only that,” Melissa added, "we are both excited and looking forward to introducing the local community to our first set of authors and traders who will be the very first residents of TaleRow Market Harborough Indie Book Festival."
To find out more about attending, exhibiting, or trading at this and future events, visit TaleRow.co.uk or contact Jonas Lane directly at 0775 2771171.
Alliance of Independent Authors (selfpublishingadvice.org): indie authors account for 24–34% of e-book sales in the largest English-language markets, depending on source.TaleRow.co.uk
BestWriting, “Self Publishing Statistics” (bestwriting.com/self-publishing-statistics): self-published book output has risen 264% over the past five years.TaleRow.co.uk
National Literacy Trust, Annual Literacy Survey 2025 (literacytrust.org.uk): 32.7% of 8 to 18-year-olds enjoy reading in their free time, the lowest level since 2005.TaleRow.co.uk