TLC Mini Masterclasses: Marketing for Writers
£100+VAT; £85+VAT Concessions (students, under 30, over 65, unwaged/low income) BAW member discounts available
The TLC Masterclass series is delivered by world-class tutors to guide writers to achieve their maximum potential. In this mini-Masterclass series, writer and communications consultant Anna Caig has designed three two-hour workshops to help writers think about effective strategies for marketing their work, including how to articulate your key motivations and aims, how to create and deliver an effective marketing strategy, and how to pitch yourself and your work. This series of three mini Masterclasses is ideal for writers who are wanting to find out more about how to connect with potential readers, how to create engaged online communities, and how to boost sales of published work.
This mini-series is competitively priced at just £100+VAT for all three sessions. Being A Writer members receive 10% discount. Capacity will be limited to 25 places.
“Marketing used to be about making a myth and telling it. Now it’s about telling a truth and sharing it.” Marc Mathieu
Session One: Building Your Author Brand
Wednesday 5th May 2021 5-7pm (Online)
Your ‘author brand’ is a clearly defined version of yourself you’re comfortable sharing with the public, which acts as the foundation for an authentic marketing strategy. This session will support you to understand how this process can work in harmony with your creativity. Many writers see their work and the marketing of their work as two separate things, but getting to the heart of why you create, thinking about what inspires and motivates you as a writer, and telling this story from a different perspective, can be a great way to start an effective marketing strategy.
By the end of this session you will:
- Understand what an author brand is and how to put together your own brand guidelines
- Have explored the motivation and inspiration behind your writing and understand how this can be applied to your author brand
- Understand how your author brand can be used in practical ways to market and promote your work.
Session Two: Creating and Delivering a Marketing Strategy
Wednesday 12th May 2021 5-7pm (Online)
Using your author brand as a foundation, we will look at the elements of an effective marketing strategy, from setting objectives and identifying target audiences, to the channels you’ll use to reach these audiences and the types of engaging content you’ll create and share. Crucially, we will also clarify how much time you’re happy to spend on your marketing and what the most effective and efficient use of this time will be. This session will also support you to start thinking about the best social and digital platforms for you, and how to use them effectively.
By the end of this session you will:
- Understand what a marketing strategy is and how to put one together to promote your work
- Understand how to identify and target audiences who are likely to appreciate and enjoy your writing
- Have explored what communications channels you can use to reach these audiences, including digital and social media.
Session Three: Media Training and Interview Skills
Wednesday 19th May 2021 5-7pm (Online)
Good media training is all about understanding the rules of engagement when you work with the media, and this session will support you to feel more confident in an interview setting. We’ll also cover how to pitch yourself and write a compelling news release. It’s not just about the traditional media these days, though. Writers are now faced with a wide range of opportunities to communicate with potential readers. Whether this is the creation of some simple video content for your own website or taking a guest slot on a podcast, this session will help you stay focussed, convey your most important messages and, most importantly, feel as relaxed as possible doing so.
By the end of this session you will:
- Have a good understanding of different types of media interviews, what to expect and how to prepare for each setting
- Understand the importance of key messages and know how to articulate them clearly in an interview
- Be able to apply good interview skills in a range of different communications settings, for example a guest appearance on a podcast or creating a short piece of your own video content.
About the Tutor
Anna Caig has worked in communications for 17 years, specialising in media relations, reputation management and strategic marketing campaigns. She began her training business to support writers to build their brand and reach more readers. She now works with traditionally, indie and self-published writers, as well as helping creatives in any discipline find a wider audience and spread the word about their work in a way that is authentic to their values and reflects why they create in the first place. Anna tutors on the MA Journalism course at The University of Sheffield and is the former Head of Communications at Sheffield City Council. She writes historical crime fiction set in amazing landscapes, and reviews books for the Sheffield Telegraph newspaper and on her blog.
About TLC Masterclasses
TLC Masterclasses are for writers with a specific writing project in mind and with a determination to see that project through to a more cohesive, coherent end product. Each Masterclass offers a holistic deep dive into elements of craft and creativity, with practical exercises and inspirational examples drawn from a wide range of sources. All Masterclass attendees are also entitled to a 10% discount on TLC manuscript assessment for work submitted within three months of the Masterclass. There are 25 places available for this series.
Bursaries
Two free tickets to this complete TLC mini-Masterclass are available to a writers on low income, with priority given to those from groups currently under-represented in publishing, including writers of colour, working class writers, disabled writers, and those with caring responsibilities. Please email us at with a brief paragraph describing why you would like a place. Your application will be treated in confidence.
Accessibility
Accessibility note
- This event will be hosted via Zoom, and requires an internet connection to attend.
- These sessions will be recorded so that we can provide you with a secure link to watch them back for a period of 7 days after each session. These are for participants only and will not be shared publicly.
- You do not need to be physically fit or able-bodied to participate in this event.
- These sessions will be auto-captioned using Otter.ai
- The sessions will include written text and visuals. Please contact us if you require descriptions for visual materials to be sent to you in advance.
- A short comfort break will be included in each session. The tutor will indicate the timings for this.
If you would like to attend this event and have any additional access questions, please email us at to discuss. Unfortunately we are not able to accept landline calls as the TLC office remains closed during the lockdown. Please ensure you email us at least 30 days clear of the event to allow us enough time to put appropriate measures in place.
Connect with us
TLC Events Feedback
- “The TLC Writers Day was really valuable to me. I met lots of fellow writers in a friendly and conducive atmosphere and each session was highly informative. I learned about a multiplicity of ways to promote myself and my novel, about the author-publisher relationship and what agents and publishers look for in a novel as well as new ways to energise my writing.”
TLC Writers' Day 2018
- “The workshop was thought-provoking and gave me plenty of sources for continuing my learning. It also provided me with ideas and material which I can immediately use to enhance the novel I am writing. Andrew managed to include us all and gave me confidence and enthusiasm to continue.”
Online Writing Workshop ‘Perfect Plotting’ with Andrew Wille
- “An inspirational two hours : a character that prior to the workshop had only been a name became a human with depth and a past I never even knew were there.”
Online Writing Workshop ‘Crafting Characters’ with Kit de Waal
- “TLC’s Edit That Book workshop gave a real insight into the process of getting a book published. The value of having an industry expert sharing their knowledge cannot be underestimated. I went away with a variety of tips that I might not have found elsewhere that will ultimately make my writing better, more engaging, and hopefully more likely to be picked up by an agent or publisher in the future.”
Online Writing Workshop ‘Edit that Book’ with Phoebe Morgan
- “Shelley Weiner is a pro – not only in her knowledge of and ability to share insights into the the writing process, but also of creating inclusive and safe environment. We had a very wide range of participant experience – from beginners to published authors, but the faced-paced workshop was designed in a way that it was useful to everyone. Many thanks to Shelley and to TLC for organising this.”
2021 Inside Stories with Shelley Weiner Masterclass
Writers’ Day 2019
Secret Life of Novels
