THIS IS AN INVITATION-ONLY EVENT, exclusively for TLC Chapter and Verse mentees and included within TLC’s mentoring programme offer, which covers 12 months of one-to-one support, a full manuscript assessment, and this all-day event.

Three times a year, TLC opens its doors to mentees enrolled on our Chapter and Verse programme for an intimate one-day event to help writers better understand the ins and outs of the publishing process. Mentees will have been working on their book project with their TLC mentor over several one-to-one feedback sessions, and this day offers the opportunity for them to meet with a literary agent and a publisher, and fellow mentees. The aim of the day is to demystify some of the in-house processes around submissions, acquisitions, rights, publicity and marketing, sales and distribution, and other elements that often remain hidden from view, as well as to get first-hand insight from those working within the industry and learn from their experiences. There will also be the opportunity to pitch work for live feedback from our industry guests.

TLC mentees will be invited to this event on a rolling basis, usually towards the end of the six feedback sessions with their TLC mentor. Occasionally, writers may be invited in from prizes we support, or initiatives we partner on, for example the Bridport Prize and the SI Leeds Prize.

This Industry Day will be held in-person.

Speakers:

Davinia Andrew-Lynch (Curtis Brown)

Davinia Andrew-Lynch joined Curtis Brown in 2023 and represents children’s/YA writers and illustrators across the genres, and a growing list of commercial adult fiction. Prior to Curtis Brown, Davinia founded and ran boutique agency Andlyn and was formerly a film/TV agent. She also co-founded, in conjunction with Faber Children’s, the FAB Prize which aims to discover unpublished children’s writers and illustrators from Black and Ethnic Minority backgrounds (www.fabprize.org) 

Kimberley Atkins (Hodder)

Kimberley Atkins is a Publisher at Hodder & Stoughton, a division of Hachette UK. She has worked in publishing for the last fourteen years in both London and Sydney, where she has held roles in editorial and marketing at Macmillan, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House and Hachette. At Hodder & Stoughton, Kimberley leads the General Fiction team, discovering and publishing both new and established voices. Over her career she has worked with a number of internationally bestselling authors including Lucy Score, Stephanie Garber, Liane Moriarty, Jojo Moyes, Gillian McAllister, Paige Toon and Louise Candlish.