The Literary Consultancy launches a new series for writers interested in how to lead more conscious lives TLC is proud to announce a new series of events inspiring and equipping writers to lead more conscious creative lives. The series is hosted via TLC’s platform for writers, Being A Writer. Conscious Writing Month Programme Running 3rd-26th September online, Conscious Writing Month will feature a range of speakers across disciplines and formats, speaking to four key themes: Conscious Mind, Conscious Body, Conscious Climate, and Conscious Society. Tickets are available on a tiered pay wha ..read more

How to find and work with a professional editor Since 1996, The Literary Consultancy has been providing professional editing services to writers at all levels, working across all genres. In the meantime, there has been a proliferation of editorial services, from agencies and consultancies like us to freelance editors offering their services independently. The big question is, how to find a professional editor these days? And once you find them, how to work with them? Here, we share our top tips on how to find a professional editor, and how to make the most out of working with one. The right ki ..read more

Self Editing Take your writing to the next level with TLC  TLC is delighted to announce the return of our two self editing courses, developed in partnership with expert tutors. Starting in October, these courses are for writers who have a work in progress or completed manuscript and are working on either a novel, or a piece of full length creative non fiction. Self Editing Non Fiction with Xanthi Barker begins October 14th Self Editing Fiction with Jon Barton begins October 23rd “This is one of the best courses I have ever had the pleasure to take. It is so refreshing to b ..read more

How to Finish a Novel (or any writing project) Here are our Top Ten Tips for how to finish a novel (or any writing project). 1. Hone in It’s always easier to start something new, than to persist with something ongoing. Try to focus on your Active projects, and be honest with yourself about which projects are Dormant (not for now) and which you might need to let go of completely (a hard but sometimes necessary, even liberating choice). This leaves you with more headspace to focus on pushing forwards with one project, and exponentially increases your chances of finishing it. 2. Understand the pr ..read more

We’re delighted for 2022 TLC Pen Factor Competition Winner Johnny Gaunt, who has secured agent representation for his debut literary horror novel OFFCUMDEN, with Liv Maidment at Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency. After wowing the judges at the competition two years ago, Johnny got to work on further developing the manuscript, undertaking Mentoring with TLC Mentor Ray Robinson, and having a final manuscript assessment with Tom Witcomb. We’ve loved working with Johnny and are excited to see how his writing career progresses. Offcumden is set in South Yorkshire in 1984 and follows 13-year-old Chr ..read more

How to build a writing community What is a writing community, and how do you go about building one? When we welcome writers into our online platform, Being A Writer, we ask them what they are looking for, what motivates them, what the barriers are, and we also get a temperature check on where they are in their creative journey, whether they are complete beginners or well-published veterans. Across all career stages, forms and disciplines of writing, ‘a sense of community’ consistently features in the top three things writers tell us they are looking for. This is alongside practical tips about ..read more

Following an initial 12-month fixed term contract, The Literary Consultancy is delighted to be appointing Cairo Aibangbee as a permanent member of its core staff team. Aibangbee will remain part-time, and begins her role as Programmes and Marketing Officer on 2nd April. Since her original appointment in March 2023 as Programmes and Marketing Assistant, Aibangbee has taken up the reins delivering on TLC’s existing Marketing and Communications strategies. Having familiarised herself with TLC’s current strategies and branding, her creative approach to social media led to a wide-ranging campaign f ..read more

Submit to a literary agent with confidence and style, using TLC’s top tips on how to write the perfect pitch letter Over the years at TLC, we’ve worked with thousands of writers through our editorial services, and a significant percentage of those writers have one goal in mind: getting published. Whilst of course this isn’t the only measure of success for a writer, if it’s something you want to achieve then you’ll need to get strategic about how to get there. One of the first steps on the road to getting published is often the pitch letter: to a literary agent, or perhaps directly to a small o ..read more

According to the Office for National Statistics, the average gender pay gap across all UK employees is 14.3%. In recognition of this, in the week of International Women’s Day (8th-15th March 2024), we are offering all women writers 14.3% off TLC services. Manuscript Assessment 14.3% off manuscript assessment, our core editorial service that matches you with an editor who reads in your field and delivers a bespoke report to help you develop your writing (we accept: fiction/ non-fiction/ short stories/ poetry/ scripts). Read more about this service here. Book Now Developmental Editing 14.3% off ..read more

Take your writing to the next level with TLC  TLC is delighted to announce the return of our two self-editing courses, developed in partnership with expert tutors. Starting in April, these courses are for writers who have a work in progress or completed manuscript and are working on either a novel, or a piece of full length creative non fiction. Self Editing: Fiction with Jon Barton begins April 17th.  Self Editing: Non Fiction with Xanthi Barker begins April 30th.   “The TLC Self Editing course was so very useful. Jon was brilliant. The content and delivery has really giv ..read more