Success Stories

“I’ll be forever grateful to Joe and the TLC team for their support in bringing Life & Death Decisions into the world. Thanks to the Chapter & Verse programme and the expert advice from my mentor, Dr Stephen Carver, I was able to hew this book from the marble of my tropical-disease-addled mind!”

“When I had a draft collection, I was recommended TLC as a next step. It was revelatory to have an independent expert view to assess the merits of individual stories and the collection. The input from my TLC Editor Alan Mahar gave me confidence, clarity and a higher standard to aim for. His comments were not sugar coated. But I worked hard and knew the only thing I could control was the quality of my writing. Ultramarine was published in May 2023.”

“I was about to give up on the MS that became The Ash House. No one was going to read all the pfaff. Then the TLC critique came back. It was from Stephen Carver a writer and Gothic expert who totally ‘got’ what I was trying to do. He identified all the weak spots AND also the strong bits. I can honestly say that without TLC, this book wouldn’t have found a publisher. Thank you!”

“In the summer of 2021, I didn’t know that I had a pamphlet forming. What I knew was that I had quite a few recent poems – some of which, I had followed into profundity. Poets reading my work encouraged me to submit the manuscript to publishers and competitions. So in preparation, I applied for the TLC Free Reads scheme via Writing East Midlands. My TLC Editor Michael Langan’s feedback was very encouraging and provided enough guidance to get me to the next draft of each poem. He saw his comments and questions as a conversation with me and the work. A year later in June 2022, Seren’s Editorial Board unanimously voted to publish my manuscript.”

“I feel so fortunate that through both TLC’s Free Reads Scheme and Writing West Midlands, I had the opportunity, with the advice and suggestions given, to resurrect a manuscript that has been boxed away for some considerable time and develop it into what one reader describes as being ‘ interesting, gritty and honest’. It makes me feel I’ve done something good!”

“I sent a collection of short stories to the TLC for assessment and the report I received was extremely helpful. The reader identified the weaknesses and strengths of the stories, and the tone was very encouraging. The reader had a very good understanding of the technical challenges of the short story form. I rewrote the stories using the feedback in the report and the collection was published by the wonderful Renard Press.”