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Literary Consultancy Interview
Posted on 10 January 2007. © Copyright 2004-2024 WriteWords
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Write Words talks to Caroline McCarthy, Manager of The Literary Consultancy, about their new mentoring scheme for writers.
Tell us about the mentoring scheme
In short, the TLC mentoring scheme gives writers the chance to develop their work over the course of a year. It will include 6 one to one “tutorials” (conducted by email or post) by a carefully chosen mentor, who will be an experienced published author. At the end of the course writers will receive a manuscript assessment from a TLC and be invited to spend a day in London meeting with members of the publishing industry, such as literary agents and editors from leading houses. We are offering a discount of over £700 to the first 20 writers who enrol, so it’s a good time to join up! We are immensely grateful to The Arts Council England for supporting this scheme.
Why did you decide to launch a mentoring scheme for writers?
We see many writers who’ve had their manuscript assessed by us return with redrafts time after time, so offering ongoing tuition feels very much like a natural progression for TLC. Both myself, and TLC’s Director, Rebecca Swift, share a passion for working with new writers. We believe in nurturing the creative processes involved in writing, but also encourage people to think realistically about their work. The mentoring scheme – with its TLC read and an ‘industry day’ - fits in perfectly with our ethos: it’s great for people to develop their work but one needs a strong awareness of the realities of getting published.
Can your scheme help writers get published?
Obviously there are no guarantees attached to the scheme in terms of finding an agent or getting a book deal. However, we do enjoy excellent working relationships with a number of leading literary agencies and publishers, and can offer advice and make recommendations to ‘graduates’ of the course if we feel that is suitable. What we can guarantee people is an insight into the industry – it seems that many developing writers are unaware of various aspects of publishing, such as the importance of a book’s marketability or the role of a Commissioning Editor. It’s important to be aware of the realities of being a working writer.
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Comments by other Members
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 Zigeroon at 11:00 on 12 January 2007
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Fascinating timing as looking for critique for work that has had good feed back but no positive requests and six figure advance cheques! Will link with interest.
Andrew
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Nik Perring at 17:22 on 15 January 2007
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Sounds like an interesting idea. I just wonder whether any advance you might get would cover the cost of it.
I've heard plenty of good reports of TLC so I'm sure it's worth every penny.
Best of luck with it!
Nik.
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Nik Perring at 17:23 on 15 January 2007
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Sounds like an interesting idea. I just wonder whether any advance you might get would cover the cost of it.
I've heard plenty of good reports of TLC so I'm sure it's worth every penny.
Best of luck with it!
Nik.
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Comments by other Members
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