Resources Archives - The Writing Coach

Supporting The Creative Future Writers’ Award

November 25, 2019 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Competitions, Inspiration, Publishing, The writing coach, Writers Leave a Comment

Founded in 2013, The Creative Future Writers’ Award is an annual development programme which celebrates talented, under-represented writers from a variety of backgrounds, who lack opportunities due to mental health issues, disability, health or social circumstance. As partners of the Award, along with other leading literary organisations, this is something The Writing Coach are passionate about and Jacqui Lofthouse is delighted to offer an annual prize of mentoring two writers, the Silver Award winners.

On 25th October this year, Jacqui visited the 2019 Creative Futures Writers’ Awards Ceremony, a high profile event held at the Southbank Centre in London as part of the London Literature Festival – and had the pleasure of listening to readings given by many of this year’s prizewinners’ including one of the two winners who will go on to be mentored by Jacqui personally.

Jacqui said:

Once again, I was blown away by the quality of the readings at the ceremony. It was the kind of evening that deepens one’s connection with the act of writing, reminds us of the importance of the spoken word and the necessity of hearing diverse voices. So many of the voices moved me on a very profound level and I felt extremely privileged to be in the room amongst emerging writers of such talent.

Winners are chosen by a panel of industry experts and given the chance to develop their writing through mentoring, training, coaching and assessment. Prizes are awarded for short fiction and poetry and winning submissions are also published in an anthology, alongside work by guest authors, which is available as a hard copy and e-book.

Can you help keep the awards free to enter?

Creative Future are currently running a campaign to raise £2,000 to keep the competition free to enter – something that’s vital for writers in secure mental health units, prisons, without reliable IT access, or even lacking the confidence to stake an entry fee on their own work. Do take the time to watch the video below to find out more about how you could support this fantastic cause. The crowdfunding campaign closes this Friday 29th so do watch today to find out more about the Awards and the wonderful work the organisation do for writers who might otherwise be unable to access mentorship.

To find out more about this campaign, please click here.

And if you are interested in entering next year’s awards to win mentoring from The Writing Coach or another leading organisation, do sign up to the Creative Futures newsletter to keep informed about entry dates here.

Carolyn Kirby triumphs in two first novel awards

November 7, 2017 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Books, Competitions, Inspiration, The writing coach, Writers Leave a Comment

From left to right: Runner up of Bluepencilagency First Novel Award Neil McLennan; Literary agent and judge, Eve White; winner Carolyn Kirby; best selling author and judge, Saskia Sarginson (Photo by Alexander James)

We are delighted to announce that former Writing Coach client Carolyn Kirby is the winner of the inaugural Bluepencilagency First Novel Award with her historical thriller Half of You. In addition, she has also recently been awarded second place in the Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize.

Carolyn was one of our Founder’s earliest clients and she is delighted to see Carolyn go on to win. Jacqui Lofthouse writes:

I am so thrilled for Carolyn at her double award success. I know she has worked long and hard to become the brilliant novelist she is today – and to see this work rewarded is hugely inspiring. I’m so pleased that I was able to introduce Carolyn to her literary agent David Haviland and I know that this novel will soon find a wonderful home in the publishing world – I can’t wait to see the book!

The Bluepencilagency First Novel Award, judged by literary agent Eve White and best-selling author Saskia Sarginson, is given to previously unpublished and unrepresented writers. 20 novels were longlisted and six made the shortlist. The winner receives £1,000 in cash and an introduction to Eve White and the runner up, a writer’s retreat at Retreats for You and an editorial report from Bluepencilagency.

Since winning the first novel award, Carolyn was introduced to literary agent David Haviland at the Andrew Lownie Agency by our founder Jacqui Lofthouse and we are excited that David will be representing Carolyn for this novel

Set in 1880’s Birmingham, Half Of You follows a young woman’s search for the roots of her scarred personality amid the origins of psychiatry and new Victorian ideas about nature versus nurture. As the dark secrets of her past unravel, Cora must decide if her personality is an unalterable product of biology and her upbringing, or find the strength to change herself.

Writer Carolyn Kirby studied history at Oxford University and novel writing with The Writing Coach and at the Faber Academy. Half Of You was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize 2016 and very recently also won second place in the Daniel Goldsmith 2017 First Novel Prize. Carolyn’s previous work has been long-listed for the Mslexia Novel Competition, the Exeter Novel Prize and the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize.

“The premise of genetics set in 1880’s Birmingham is interesting and Carolyn’s writing was strong.” notes Eve White. Adds Saskia Sarginson; “The setting was great and through the character of Cora, Carolyn created a strong voice. I was completely convinced by the story.”

Carolyn Kirby

Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize

Carolyn also came second in the Daniel Goldsmith 2017 First Novel Prize this year.

Of this earlier competition, she said:

How amazing it was to see my name amongst the impressive list of new writers on the First Novel Prize shortlist. And then, how completely thrilling to be placed second in such a field! Reading the distinguished judges’ glowing comments about ‘Half of You’ was a spine-tingling experience. This prize will energise my search for an agent and publisher who feel similarly enthusiastic about my Nature versus Nurture thriller. Thank you to everyone involved with the First Novel Prize which provides such a wonderful platform for new fiction writers.

You can read more about what the judges for that prize had to say about Carolyn’s work here.

If your novel is over 50,000 words and of an adult genre, do consider entering next year’s Daniel Goldsmith competition. The First Novel Prize will open for entries again in 2018, with a First, Second and Third Prize up for grabs. Entries will reopen on 1st February 2018, and you can find out more here.

Good luck in next year’s competition if you choose to enter a first novel award. Carolyn is a great example of persistence and dedication paying off and we’re so proud to see this double win.

Our Founder at The People’s Book Prize

May 25, 2017 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Books, Competitions, Events, Inspiration, Modiglini, Motivation, Publishing, The writing coach, Writers 2 Comments

We are delighted to announce that our Founder Jacqui Lofthouse was shortlisted in The People’s Book Prize for her novel The Modigliani Girl. Jacqui attended the prize-giving ceremony at The Stationer’s Hall, the original home of copyright, on the evening of Tuesday 23rd May.

Jacqui Lofthouse with her shortlisted novel ‘The Modigliani Girl’

Frederick Forsyth announces the winner of The People’s Book Prize

Watch the prize-giving ceremony including Frederick Forsyth’s speech here:

Jacqui writes:

It was such an honour to be shortlisted for this fantastic award, whose founding patron was Beryl Bainbridge and especially to attend with my wonderful publisher Stephanie Zia at Blackbird Books and fellow Blackbird author S.E. Lynes, author of Valentina. I am so grateful to every single person who read the book and voted for me. It was also a pleasure to meet so many other authors, agents and publishers. I particularly enjoyed meeting Avril Joy, author of Sometimes a River Song, who won a special ‘best achievement’ award, agent and publisher David Haviland, Louise Moir, author of Irreplaceable, author Catryn Power whose short stories were also shortlisted, Susan Mears, literary agent and author RJ Mitchell.

S E Lynes, Jacqui Lofthouse and Stephanie Zia

The fiction prize was won by Paula Wynne for The Grotto’s Secret – I’m very much looking forward to reading her novel. All prize-winners are listed here.

The People’s Book Prize is particularly known for championing independent publishers. At the launch of the prize, Beryl Bainbridge said:

Something like this, this idea – which is absolutely amazing – once it takes off, it will be of enormous importance to writers. I look forward to the time when we mention this particular prize as the greatest – and look back – and remember I was at the meeting at the London Book Fair and think where it has gone! So I wish it tremendously good luck.

How the Bridport Prize kick-started my novel

November 21, 2016 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Competitions, Confidence, Events, Inspiration, Markets for your work, Motivation, The writing coach, The writing life, Writers Leave a Comment

Carolyn Kirby, a former Writing Coach client, reached the short-list of this year’s Bridport Prize award for a first novel. In this guest post, Carolyn writes about her experience of entering the competition.

Carolyn at the prize-giving ceremony talking to Peter Chapman-Andrews about his mother’s life and work. Photograph by Graham Shackleton

A new category in the Bridport Prize

Like many new writers I’d heard of the Bridport Prize. It is well known around the world as a short story and poetry competition with over £16,000 in prize money which has been running since 1973. But I hadn’t realized until this year that the competition is also open to novels. In 2014 the Peggy-Chapman Andrews Award for unpublished first novels was added to the other categories in memory of the inspirational founder of this prestigious literary prize.

I had previously had some success with an early novel, Cloud Cover, a wartime love story that Jacqui had helped me to get started. The book made it to several competition long-lists, including the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize. But that was as far as it got. At the start of 2016, I had put the book away to work on a new idea for a Victorian-set thriller, Half Of You. This story follows a young woman’s search to uncover the dreadful secrets in her past through new ideas about nature versus nurture. I sensed that the opening to this novel was good, possibly better than Cloud Cover, but the work was at a very early stage, much too soon to submit it agents.

So I was excited to realise that the Peggy Chapman-Andrews offered a forum for novels in progress. Only 5000 words were needed to enter, so the competition could provide a wonderfully anonymous and impartial litmus test. I reasoned that if my entry was long-listed, I would have encouragement to keep writing. If it wasn’t, I could re-think of the story without having got too far. But either way, the prize would give me an incentive to write more chapters by July when the long-list was to be announced. At this point, 15,000 words would be required for the next round of judging. So I sent off the entry and got down to writing another 10,000 words. Just in case I was successful.

Making the Long-list

On 18^th July, when I saw Half Of You on the long-list, it felt miraculous that my work had been plucked from such a vast sea of words. There were 856 entries for the Peggy Chapman-Andrews award this year. Which added up to literally millions of words for the judges to consider and compare. I felt so grateful to the Bridport readers for the time they must have put in to this painstaking task.

So now I had to spend the summer preparing for the possibility that my entry would reach the short-list to be announced at the end of August. At this point 30,000 words would be required for the final stage of judging. The competition again gave me an excellent incentive to stay indoors at my laptop pressing on with the story.

I knew that in these latter stages of judging my fairly raw chapters would be subject to the intense scrutiny of professionals from top literary agency AM Heath, The Literary Consultancy and the Chair of judges, novelist and academic, Kerry Young. So, the day of the short-list announcement was, to say the least, tense. As I opened the e-mail from Kate Wilson, the Bridport’s lovely administrator, I was mainly focusing on keeping my heart rate within healthy limits. “Congratulations…” was all I needed to see. I instantly felt that I’d moved up to the next level in my writing journey.

Chair of judges, Kerry Young, makes the Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award presentations. Photograph by Graham Shackleton

Although my book didn’t win the overall prize, I was overjoyed to be a winner. The prize-giving lunch in Bridport Arts Centre was a wonderful occasion that gave me gave the chance to meet so many friendly, inspiring people including Peter Chapman-Andrews, Peggy’s son. Peter told me about his mother’s community work in Bridport and her visionary idea to fund a new Arts Centre through a creative writing prize. The prize continues to provide funding for Bridport Arts Centre to this day.

I am still in the throes of a first draft of Half Of You, but reaching the Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award short-list has given me a level of faith in the story that spurs me on. And I have written thousands more words than I would have done without the competition.

The 2017 Bridport Prize launches on 15^th November 2016 (to close on 31^st May 2017) and is open to residents of the Republic of Ireland for the first time. Any new writer looking for a way to energise their writing in the coming year should start preparing an entry. You never know where it might take you!

Nan Bovington longlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize

April 20, 2016 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Competitions, Markets for your work, Publishing, The writing life, Writers Leave a Comment

It is always such a thrill when clients of The Writing Coach have success in their writing lives, so it is with great pleasure that I announce Nan Bovington‘s achievement. She has recently been longlisted for the prestigious Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize. This is the first time that a longlist has been announced for the prize. This year there were 484 entries to the prize, and the shortlist will be announced tomorrow (21st April).

Nan’s novel is entitled ‘Last Best West’. Set in Canada in 1906, it is the story of a highly educated young woman who goes to the far North to become a gold prospector. I am at present re-reading the manuscript and I am hugely impressed at Nan’s storytelling and poetic prose.

Founded in 2010, by Professor Janet Todd OBE (who coincidentally taught me eighteenth century literature at UEA), the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize has gone from strength to strength with many shortlisted and winning authors securing publishing deals and furthering their writing. Last year’s winner was Emily Midorikawa who runs SomethingRhymed.com with Emma Claire Sweeney. Their website profiles the literary friendships of female authors. (You can find their post about Louise Doughty and I here). Emily and Emma Claire’s book A Secret Sisterhood will be published by Aurum Press in the UK and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the USA, both in late 2017.

The annual Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize provides a unique opportunity for unpublished female authors, aged 21 and over, to launch their literary careers. Judges are seeking writers who combine literary merit with ‘unputdownability’ and the Prize has developed a formidable reputation for attracting first-class writing talent.

I am sure that you will join me in wishing Nan huge luck tomorrow. I am certain that she deserves success with this unique and lyrical work.

The Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition

August 2, 2012 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Competitions, Markets for your work, Motivation, Publishing, Resources, Uncategorized 3 Comments

If you have completed (or are very close to completing) a novel for children or young adults, the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition is the perfect opportunity to get your work noticed. Mslexia are hoping to discover a fantastic new children’s writer who has been overlooked by the usual submission process. In the current climate, where it can be difficult to get your work noticed by an agent or publisher, this could be one way of getting your work to stand out.

Enter the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition and give your children’s novel a headstart

The Mslexia’s Children’s Novel Competition has a deadline of 10 September 2012 and in order to enter you must have a complete manuscript ready for submission because shortlisted authors will be required to submit a full manuscript for the final stages of the judging process. The competition, which has a first prize of £5,000, is for unpublished novelists only and will be judged by a panel including award-winning children’s writer Malorie Blackman, literary agent Julia Churchill and children’s books editor at the Guardian newspaper, Julia Eccleshare.

You probably know Mslexia, an award-winning magazine for women writers. In addition to their new novel competition, they also run annual poetry and short story competitions. Last year’s adult novel competition winner Rosie Garland has just signed a six-figure two-book deal with HarperCollins – proof that competitions such as these can really make a difference to your writing career.

There are some fantastic writing resources and workshops (to complete at home) on the Mslexia website that aim to help you improve your novel and develop your writing skills.

Who is the competition aimed at?

Women who’ve always wanted to write a children’s novel, but could never find the time. You only have to write 30,000 words minimum for this competition.
Women with an unfinished manuscript languishing in a bottom drawer. (Could this be the impetus you need to finish it?)
Women who took up the write-a-novel-in-a-month challenge with NaNoWriMo and have a rough first draft. (Why not polish it up and send it to Mslexia?)
Women who’ve submitted their completed novels over and over, and have despaired of finding an agent. (If you reach the shortlist, they’ll all sit up and take notice.)

Full details of the competition are on the Mxlexia website here and a summary of entry requirements follows:

Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition

The competition is open to children’s novels in any genre by previously unpublished women novelists, but it must be for children who are able to read for themselves or for young adults. Crossover fiction (i.e. that aimed at children and adults) is eligible. Nonfiction, and fiction intended for adults is not eligible. To qualify as a novel, your book must total at least 30,000 words.

To enter the competition: send up to 3,000 words – which must be the first 3,000 words of the novel. Any preface is included in your 3,000 words. There is no need to submit a synopsis.

First Prize: £5,000

Juding panel: Malorie Blackman, award-winning children’s author; Julia Churchill, literary agent specialising in children’s books for Greenhouse Literary Agency; Julia Eccleshare, children’s books editor at the Guardian newspaper.

Closing date: 10 September 2012

Entry fee: £25

If you plan to enter the competition, do leave a comment below. I’d love to know of any Writing Coach readers and former clients/members who enter and will be rooting for you all!

Annual Review of 2011 (Part One: What went well)

January 6, 2012 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Motivation, Resources, The writing coach, The writing life, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Gull captured on a summer photography course 2011

First of all, a very Happy New Year to you all and wishing all readers of this blog a happy, healthy, and creative 2012!

What is the Annual Review?

Last year, for the first time, I embarked on the ‘Annual Review’ process suggested by Chris Guillebeau here. This worked really well for me and by the end of the year, I realised that I’d met nine of the goals I set for myself in January 2011, so naturally, I’m doing the same for 2012. If you read Chris’s post, you’ll see that the review is quite a lengthy process, but for the purposes of this blog post, I’ll simply give a few edited highlights of my review.

The intention is not to brag about any of my own achievements (some of them might seem quite meagre and others will be irrelevant to the reader) but rather to look at what did work, what didn’t (where I failed) and to think about what I can learn from this and what is next. I also hope that by blogging about the process I can inspire you to think clearly about what you want from 2012 – in relation to your writing work and indeed beyond. I’ve been quite amazed by how well the goal-setting process has worked this year for me. This is Part One (what went well – you have to come back for the next post to find out my failures…)

What went well in 2011?

The first question Guillebeau asks in the annual review process is ‘What went well?’. He invites you to look at individual categories in your life, so here are a few from mine:

Creative:

Enjoying a quiet moment with 'The Paris Review'

This year, I completed the final edit on my fourth novel, a comedy about the literary world and sent it to my agent; it is currently under submission to publishers. I’ve been working on this novel for a few years, so I was delighted to finally call it ‘complete’. From a writing perspective, the second half of 2011 was a little more nebulous for me as I wanted to have time to experiment with new ideas and ways of writing. I wrote 10,000 words of a memoir and began a Young Adult novel. Recently I also began experimenting with poetry for the first time in years.

Attending drama classes at City Lit was a real highlight for me in 2011. Acting was my original passion and it has been fantastic to return to classes and to begin to consider writing for theatre too. In addition, my interest in photography continued. In the summer I attended Unshaken Photography’s ‘Introduction to Digital Photography’ and also started a photography blog here. In addition, I enjoyed learning about iphone photography via Bindu Wiles’ ‘The Photoessay Project’, the result of which is here.

Career:

Me performing Street Theatre on Covent Garden Piazza circa 1983

In 2011, I began to think seriously about career change. I have been running ‘The Writing Coach’ for six years now and whilst I really enjoy working with my clients, in recent months I have become aware of the need for a change, wanting to engage more in the outside world rather than working mainly from home and also seeking a new direction and fresh inspiration.

For some years I have been a School Governor and in mid 2011, I took a decision to consider a career teaching English and Drama in secondary schools (whilst continuing to write when I get a spare minute…) In November, I applied for a PGCE in English with Drama at the Institute of Education in London and I learned yesterday that I have been accepted on the course, beginning in September 2012. (Getting that ‘yes’ was in fact my first goal for 2012!) I’m really excited at the prospect of moving in this new direction.

Naturally many readers will have questions about how this affects my work at the Writing Coach and the answer is that I will continue to run the website, blog and newsletter but I will no longer be coaching (apart from a very few exceptions agreed in advance) after July 2012. However, I will continue to offer products (ebooks, ecourses and possibly a membership option) via the site. As yet I have not taken a decision on whether to employ a manager to run the services but as soon as that decision is taken, I will let you all know. If anyone has any questions about this, please do get in touch with me via the Contact page.

In so many ways, I see this new direction as an extension of my work at The Writing Coach. I’ll still be teaching writing and literature, simply in a new form and to a new audience and I’m immensely excited about the future.

Family and Friends:

My family may be publicity-shy but my cat is not...

ANY CHARACTER HERE

My family and close friends are always my central priority and when I look back at the year, what I think of, most of all, is my relationships with those close to me and the many good times we’ve shared. I’m a pretty private person at heart, so I won’t say much here beyond the fact that I’m immensely proud of all those close to me who have achieved some incredible things this year. You know who you are – and thank-you. (Of course, it goes without saying that David kept drawing great cartoons!)

Business:

This year saw the launch of the new Writing Coach website. Goburo were fantastic to work with and I highly recommend Nick and Hayley’s work. I so enjoyed launching the new-style Completion Club, our online club and a brilliant community for all writers looking to complete a work – and membership remains open until the end of January (allowing for sign-ups for a six month membership). In addition I launched my ebook with a brand look: ‘Get Black on White: 30 Days to Productivity and Confidence for Writers’.

Honor's Shadow by Voula Grand

I worked with around sixty-five clients in 2011 (including those working with other consultants and as part of Completion Club) I was also delighted to appear in the acknowledgements of Julia Crouch’s novel Cuckoo and Voula Grand’s novel Honor’s Shadow. Several other clients and former students got agents and publication deals or self-published. Huge congratulations to you all.

This year I also began fundraising for the charity African Revival and raised in the region of £700 for the charity (figure to be confirmed).

Goals:

At the beginning of this post I mentioned nine goals that I set at the beginning of 2011 and met. In case you’re interested, they were:

Complete my fourth novel and have it accepted by my agent
Write the copy for the new Writing Coach website and launch it
Edit and revise ‘Get Black on White’ and launch the ebook.
Enrol in and attend a regular drama course
Take the children to Paris
Take a photography course
Raise my consultancy fees :)
Get our front garden and driveway professionally landscaped
Visit ten art exhibitions

If you’re wondering what goals I didn’t reach and where I failed miserably, please do subscribe to the blog to be sure you don’t miss the next post… And/or you can sign up to the newsletter here.

On visiting the London Book Fair 2011

April 12, 2011 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Authors, Publishing, Resources, Self-publishing 1 Comment

View of the London Book Fair from the International Rights Centre

My first visit to the London Book Fair has been a lively and exhilarating day. I have found it fascinating to meet so many people working in so many different areas of the publishing industry.

The day began early, rising at 5.15am to make it to The Sloane Club for an 8.15am breakfast hosted by Firsty Books who have just launched their excellent Firsty Authors epublishing package. I attended with author friends Shelley Weiner and Jennifer Potter and found myself quickly drawn into the discussion.

It was interesting to hear how the forthcoming new EPub3 files will allow “enhanced ebooks” to become even more interactive. Firsty CEO Darin Brockman suggested that publishers will need to begin thinking about producing content across multiple platforms. I raised the example of one of my clients who is currently developing a multimedia novel which will have embedded video and audio as part of the package.

The new ebooks will be more interactive. For example, they will allow children to colour in pictures and email them to their grandparents. I was particularly curious to hear how ebooks will be used in the developing world, reaching audiences who might otherwise not have access to books. Indeed, a representative of Oxfam was at my table. He surprised me when he told me how difficult it is for Oxfam to place free books in libraries!

At 10.30am I headed over to Earls Court for the Fair. I met Stephanie Zia of blackbirdebooks at the Author’s Lounge and we went to the Literary Cafe to hear the bestselling Russian author Boris Akunin in interview with Tibor Fischer. Tibor opened with the words: “Boris, you have sold tens of millions of books – how did you do that?” The answer, apparently (and doubtless ironically) is “in the stars”. Akunin, originally a literary translator said that in fact, when he began writing, he had “a five year plan… I plan big.”

I was delighted to discover that Akunin recommends the organic method of writing. He begins with “a spark or a trick if it’s a detective novel” and then he begins to dream up his characters, each of which have their own story. His plot is then influenced by the “force-fields” that arise between the characters. Interestingly Akunin maintains a blog, despite his success. He said that he blogs at 5pm (at 7pm he goes out with his friends or plays video games!) and he doesn’t think of blogging as work: it uses a different part of his brain; he is enjoying himself.

Kazuo Ishguro took to the stage after Akunin. In the short interview, he focused first on the current need for ‘an alliance’ between media that will enable serious work to survive. He believes that the “serious novel” by which he means all “good novels” (not meaning a specific genre) may need to be protected in this age when a “huge tide” of “celebrity culture and sequels” threatens to overwhelm us. He touched on an adverse effect of the ebook revolution: “I don’t know how we will persuade people to pay for our writing”. He wondered if a system of patronage might have to make a come-back; he commented that he had been offered £10,000 by a diamond manufacturer to write a short story that included product placement! Needless to say, he turned it down.

Ishguro’s own current work is, he suggested, an “intimate epic”. He talked about the challenge of keeping the work intimate when writing against a huge historical canvas. The theme of his current work is memory. He asks the question: “When is it better to forget the painful things a society has been through?” and likened it to the dilemma surrounding therapy – should one “stop repressing” or ‘”just move on…”?

Jacqui Lofthouse and Stephanie Zia celebrate their first visit to the London Book Fair

After a breath of fresh air and lunch, Stephanie and I went up to the International Rights Centre where we were able to connect with several literary agents. It was exciting to share the work of my clients with these agents and I also had a chance to speak with my own agent. Then it was time for a glass of champagne!

Next, after a brief tour of the Digital area of the Fair, Stephanie and I returned to the Firsty Books stand to meet with Firsty’s publishing director. It was an ideal opportunity for us to explore what is now possible in book Apps and for us to pool our knowledge and resources in this area.

Finally, to round off the day, I joined the London Book Fair ‘Tweetup’ (a gathering of those who Tweet), organised by Jon Reed of Publishing Talk which began in the bar at Earls Court and continued in the pub…

It was fantastic to meet Jon after following him for a couple of years on Twitter. I was also lucky enough to bump into a colleague, Judith Watts who teaches on the MA Creative Writing at Kingston University. Judith introduced me to Anna Faherty, lecturer on the publishing MA, and by chance I met Susan Greenberg, lecturer in Creative Writing from Roehampton University. If anyone still thinks that Twitter doesn’t help one forge real relationships, I think we all proved them wrong in the Prince of Teck pub at Earls Court tonight.

I rounded off my day by reading the Bookseller on the tube home. Funnily enough it contained an excellent article about the importance of Twitter for publishers today. If you’re looking to get started on Twitter, Jon shares Publishing Talk’s “Twitter Cheat Sheet” here.

Thanks to all those I met today for making it a memorable occasion. I am, shall we say, a little sleepy but oh, it was worth it!

Leaf Writers’ Magazine

April 2, 2011 by Jacqui Lofthouse Filed Under: Markets for your work, Resources Leave a Comment

One question I’m frequently asked by my clients is “where can I publish my shorter work?” In response to this question, in future weeks and months, I’m going to write a few features that highlight potential markets for your work.

I’d like to begin with a publication I’ve only recently become aware of: Leaf Writers’ Magazine. The magazine was first published in print and online by Leaf Books in Spring 2010 and the fourth edition is about to appear this month. Leaf Books was already established as a leading publisher of micro-fiction and they have put over 250 authors and poets into print, many for the first time, sourcing their material via their regular competitions.

Each issue of the magazine focuses on a couple of writing practices, genres or themes, and sets well-known authors alongside those just starting out. In Leaf’s own words:

“Seamlessly blending the heart and soul of a literary quarterly with the guidance and advice of a creative writing course, Leaf aims to bridge the gap between the beginners and the professionals of the writing world. The magazine also serves as a directory for the latest literary courses, reading groups, festivals, events and publishing opportunities for writers.”

To give you an idea of the magazine’s content, the edition I read included an interview with author of Chocolat, Joanne Harris and an interview with the poet Gillian Clarke. The interview with Joanne Harris reveals that she didn’t find things easy at the beginning of her writing career:

“My first full-length attempt at a novel was never submitted, but my next try, The Evil Seed, was published three years after its completion. It wasn’t an easy process; I spent most of that time looking for an agent, after realizing that unsolicited manuscripts are seldom read.”

It’s another example of persistence being key for writers and is a reminder that most well-known authors have an unpublished manuscript sitting under their bed somewhere…

The Gillian Clarke interview included a comment on her writing habits:

“Like most poets I spend more time thinking than writing, and the poem comes or it doesn’t, like a spell out of the air.”

This reminded me of a comment made by the playwright David Hare at the Shakespeare and Company Literary Festival which I attended last year. Hare also talked about spending more time thinking than writing, an insight that gave me much food for thought in relation to my next book, as it made me really focus on the quality of thought that must go into one’s work if it is to excel.

In addition to the interviews, the edition of Leaf Writers’ Magazine that I read had a comprehensive ‘Writers’ groups guide’, and articles on topics including how to get the most of writers’ workshops and point of view in writing fiction. It also included an inspiring piece about writers’ favourite locations for writing.

For me however, the most impressive thing was jut how much of the magazine was reader focused. A lot of the material in the magazine was generated by Leaf authors, including extracts from Leaf books and the winners of a memoir writing competition. One of the reasons I chose to feature Leaf is that they are so author-friendly in this respect, genuinely encouraging new writers. Indeed they are actively looking for submissions, including articles, as outlined on their website here.

Like many independents, Leaf are not yet in a position to pay contributors but they do offer valuable experience of publication and exposure for new authors. Every commended story in their competitions gets published in an anthology. (The last memoir competition included around 35 commended authors, all to be published.)

When I work with writers who are seeking a literary agent, I always advise on including relevant experience of publication in the covering letter (it sounds obvious, but you’d be amazed how many people forget to put it in). That’s just one reason I recommend aiming to publish your work with magazines such as Leaf. As well as being fantastic for your writer’s CV, publication in small magazines can offer a real confidence-boost too. In my view, when we’re feeling confident, we’re more likely to do our best work and also to push ourselves to submit further work – or, as Seth Godin would say, to Poke the Box.

Issue Four of the magazine is about to be published and will focus on creative collaboration and writing techniques. It will include an interview with Phillip Gross and Simon Denison about their award-winning book of poems and photography I Spy Pinhole Eye, Cinnamon, 2009. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl will discuss the process of writing their novel Beautiful Darkness, Puffin, 2010 together, while tutor and author Myra Schneider will examine the concept of beginnings in poetry. Issue 4’s essential guide will be dedicated to Writing Handbooks, profiling the top titles to use as your creative writing bibles. They have also accepted a very short piece I wrote called “Overcoming writer’s doubt”. I confess I found it quite a challenge to squeeze my thoughts on that subject into just over 300 words, but if you do read the magazine, I hope you will find it useful.

If you’re interested in Leaf Writers’ Magazine, you can order a hard copy or buy an instant PDF download here. They also send out a newsletter which you can sign up for here. If you do choose to buy the magazine, I’d love to hear your views on it. If you have had success in publishing your shorter work lately, do please share in the comments; the more we share our resources, the better for all writers who use this site.