MANUSCRIPT ASSESSMENT AND EDITORIAL ADVICE SINCE 1996
Blog
In 2016, TLC’s 20th anniversary year, we launched a blog as a space for thoughtful, non-promotional pieces on all things writing, editing and publishing. If you’d like to pitch a piece, please email Aki Schilz on aki@nullliteraryconsultancy.co.uk.
We’d love to hear from you, and please feel free to comment on the blogs here.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Editing
‘I’m looking for someone to proofread my book.’
When a freelance proofreader or copy-editor receives an enquiry along these lines, the first thing we’re tempted to ask is, ‘Are you sure that’s what you’re looking for?’ What we actually ask, if not in so many words, is what they mean by ‘proofread’.
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Tales from TLC Mentoring: Pitching Your Work to a Room of Peers
January 01, 2019 | Blog
Saturday 27th September 2018. Farringdon. Everywhere the plant of brick on brick, where screaming cutting machines scythe through the clank of construction. We are all builders here, a collection of mentees constructing our stories with the help of The Literary Consultancy. Ensconced in The Free Word Centre, we met, swapped experiences and heard from industry professionals,
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Journey Into Sound: Writing for Radio
A few weeks ago, at a writing event, I heard again those familiar and chilling sounds that pursue me wherever I go, never still, never ceasing in their torment. On this particular occasion they issued from a spectre sporting Roosevelt glasses and a baseball cap. Whilst this literary phantom is a serial master of disguise,
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The Joy of Journaling as a Writer
November 01, 2018 | Blog
My journaling adventure began officially on the 28th day of the second month of the year 1986. And like that first sentence my first entry spelled out a seemingly unnecessary amount of information that involved birthdays, family names and rooms. I was eight years old.
I don’t know what possessed me to pick up a biro that day and begin my relationship with the written word,
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Stepping Stones to Success
Stepping Stones to Success
When I first started writing, I thought there were three steps to getting published:
- Write a novel
- Get an agent
- Get a publishing deal
Sounds easy when you put it like that, and they are the three big steps,
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Raising the Visibility of Women in Non-fiction
The Literary Consultancy is delighted to be supporting The Thinking Woman’s Writing Award, set up by author Kate Jegede. Applications will open 14th September for the Award, which will gift a free full manuscript assessment to a woman writer writing a non-fiction work with a philosophical theme. The winner will also receive a free year-long membership to the RSA’s coveted Fellowship scheme,
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Always Another Twist – Journeys, Outlooks & Curves in the Path
August 01, 2018 | Blog
It’s a hot day when I finally emerge from the forest, sunlight and shadow leaves dripping from me. I look back and see the path’s curves that I didn’t notice while I was walking. My start point’s there, the finish and my route in between…
I cycle and walk a lot – to keep fit and also for inspiration,
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5 Tips for Getting the Most from your Beta Readers
Beta reader (n.) A beta reader is a test reader of an unreleased work of literature or other writing (similar to beta testing in software), giving feedback with the angle of an average reader to the author about remaining issues.
You’ve worked for months or years on your manuscript.
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On the Importance of Criticism and Self-belief
June 01, 2018 | Blog
Since 2001, TLC has received ongoing core funding from Arts Council England which has enabled the provision of bursaried manuscript assessments for talented writers on low income. The scheme is known as ‘The Free Read Scheme’ and offers access to TLC’s core services to writers who under normal circumstances might not be able to afford them.
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How Do You Know if You're a Writer?
A writer is someone who writes something, it’s as simple as that. Of course there are many different kinds of writers – e.g. news writers, script writers, speech writers, novelists, travel writers, poets, joke writers, bloggers, etc – but you don’t have to make money from your writing to be a writer.
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