Success Stories

“TLC and the Bridport Prize played a vital part in bringing my novel The Conviction of Cora Burns to life. I wrote the first chapters with an eye on the 2016 Bridport deadline and then, once these chapters were longlisted, I worked furiously to meet the word count for shortlisting. But I was unsure where my story would go after that. Thankfully, the shortlist prize was a TLC assessment from a renowned author in the same genre. Her astute insights helped move the narrative forward, allowing me to complete the novel which has gone on to be published in the UK and the USA.”

“I can attribute much of my book’s success to the initial guidance I received from TLC, Jude Cook, in particular. With discreet diplomacy he complimented me on my strong points. Then we talked about the art of telling. Everybody has a fascinating life story – the difficulty comes with knowing the words to share it. Fictional biography gave me the freedom of invention. Jim’s life would be told in the third person, not by me but my narrator. The narrator himself became an important character, one with his own personality, interesting and likeable. He was going to take you on a 580-page journey so he had to be. My most important character, however, was my reader. Of him I was always mindful, I wanted him as a new friend.”

“I’d been struggling to complete my final draft and I was unsure what to do next with my manuscript. My TLC reader, Angela Clarke, read my novel and her feedback was excellent. She helped me see what didn’t quite work with the pacing and storyline, and she helped me see that I was writing a thriller; I’d been unsure of the genre up to that point. She was also very encouraging, which is exactly what I needed. After I had worked on editing my manuscript, TLC put me in touch with Sapere Books, who are now publishing RUNNING IN CIRCLES. I’m so grateful to everyone at TLC for their input; I feel like they offer something very special and they have kickstarted my career.”

“After years of beavering away at my writing in professional isolation, I made one of the best decisions of my writing career; I called in some collaboration courtesy of an outfit that’s at the top of its game. Working with TLC made all the difference, not just to my book but to my appreciation of what was needed on the road ahead, and, crucially to my confidence. My debut, Bone Lines, went through a couple more incarnations, even after two rounds of working with my wonderful TLC mentor Dr Stephen Carver, but that initial push was the step that transformed everything. If you are prepared to face a few realities and do a lot more hard work (because, honestly, that it what is needed no matter how good you think your draft may be) then I cannot recommend this team highly enough.”

“Since Loyal Stalkers was to be my first collection of short stories, I wanted to get some expert advice on my MS before I submitted it to my agent. Cynthia Rogerson was fantastic; she highlighted my areas of strength and where I needed to make improvements and also advised me on the structure and length of each story and how best they would fit into a collection. Although I knew I would get superb editorial input from my agent and publisher, I wanted initial help from a skilled writer I did not know personally. Cynthia gave me the confidence, to pass on my MS to my agent, after the changes she suggested, without having to worry that he might reply saying, ‘as much as I liked your first two books, I think we need to go our separate ways…it’s not you, it’s me etc.’ I highly recommend this service.”

“My novel would never have taken off and got launched in such great shape, without TLC and the editorial input from the  amazing Rebecca Baker and Claire McGowan respectively. Claire did a fast and very incisive MS assessment which enabled me to really improve the novel and pull the many, and often complicated plots strands tightly together – there was also some judicious cutting which proved highly beneficial. Rebecca was a total delight to work with throughout as she did the tough job of copy and proof editing and is a wonderful supportive resource during the long , often lonely road to publication. Rebecca was there with me through thick and thin and really helped  hone and craft the MS in the process. Thank you TLC, I couldn’t have done it without you and your highly professional and always responsive team!”