To make the cut and count your efforts amongst those that do, one day, reach the bookshop shelves, there are a number of resources available – some free, some not – that can help writers to get better and better. Agents remain the gatekeepers and are famously picky, typically taking on just two new clients a year (great writing, an engaging and fresh voice and a zeitgeisty idea tend to be the trio of necessities you need to impress). Therefore, to give yourself a fighting chance, it’s important to get the first in the three spot-on.
Here, in time for Encourage a Young Writer Day on 10 April, we outline the resources we rate – all, of course, to be used alongside the most important tool of all in your arsenal: read, read and then read some more.
Mslexia
Mslexia is ‘the magazine for women who write.’ Published quarterly, it is read by and contributed to by respected, well-known authors and unpublished writers alike. It’s a brilliant place to read short stories, to grapple with the business of writing, to explore literary debates, and to deep dive into issues (a recent example is writer Bethany Rutter on how to describe fat protagonists. And yes, lazy, stupid or ‘bubbly’ are lazy and reductive). The website is, perhaps, even more useful to aspiring writers, since members get access to various salons, including occasional agent extravaganzas (in which writers can pitch their books and selected entries get personal feedback) and Monday ‘write-ins’ via Zoom, which foster a community in what can be a very solitary activity. You can submit your work to Mslexia, plus the magazine sends out regular updates to subscribers about current writing competitions to enter. Explore more here.
Writers And Artists’ Year Book
If you’re at the stage when you want to start sending out your book to agents or industry professionals, the annually updated Writers And Artists’ Year Book is your new and indispensable best friend. It is the definitive guide to getting published, with over 4,000 contacts as well as over 80 articles from authors, publishers and editors. As well as buying the book (£27), you can mine the website for information too.
Curtis Brown Creative
Curtis Brown is one of the world’s leading talent and literary agencies. To become one of its stable of authors is a globally recognised seal of approval. It is also no mean feat, since it is a highly selective agency (the same, however, can be said for most agencies). Your chances are, though, considerably improved if you sharpen your skills via one of its selective Curtis Brown Creative courses, as budding authors have been doing for the past ten years now.
They say, ‘Our teaching approach was – and still is – practical and positive. We help people to write the story they want to tell rather than trying to push them in a direction that is not their own. If you’re writing a crime novel, we won’t try to make you turn it into literary fiction. And we help writers find their trusted readers – this can be hugely important, and time and again we hear feedback that this is one of the best things writers get from our courses.’ You can take London-based, in-person courses, or online classes. Students get to take advantage of exclusive pitching tips from CB agents; get expert feedback on both the Writing Your Novel and Writing An Original TV Drama Serial courses; take agent-led masterclasses; and share their opening with a Curtis Brown agent. Explore the full range of options here.
Jericho Writers
Creative writing courses, editorial services (from opening edits to full manuscript assessments) and an agent match service that you can trial free for seven days: Jericho Writers is for anyone who is serious about the craft and wants to be published. Explore more here.
National Centre For Writing
The Norwich-based National Centre For Writing officially launched in 2018, but its origins go back to 2006. It launched then with just three staff and noble intentions; fast forward seventeen years and it is ‘now home to a team of eighteen and an ever-expanding network of writers, translators and industry professionals.’
Most useful for aspiring writers is its array of courses, which range from tutored online creative writing to evening workshops to courses for young writers to mentoring. Each course is developed in partnership with the prestigious School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, one of the most revered centres of creative writing in the UK. The 12-week courses cost £475, but there is also an array of downloadable free resources that can help too. Explore more here.
The Penguin Podcast
Do you want to know how your favourite authors work, what drives them and how they got started? Tune into Penguin’s podcast for in-depth interviews with the likes of Julian Barnes, Malorie Blackman and Ian McEwan. Listen here.
Five Dials
If you want to immerse yourself in a world of literary fiction, do consider a subscription to Five Dials, the magazine from Hamish Hamilton, one of the oldest publishers in London and now an imprint of Penguin. You’ll find interviews, new fiction and verse – amongst many other diverting things within its pages. For a taste of its content, in a recent article, Dan White recounts his 2014 conversations with Toni Morrison and Angela Davis on their work together. Bliss for bibliophiles. Read it here.
Ambit
If you’re into subversive – or at least anti-establishment – literature, try a subscription to the quarterly literary and art magazine, Ambit. Founded in 1959, JG Ballard was its fiction editor for 30 years, Carol Ann Duffy contributed, and Eduardo Paolozzi was once its art editor. Its 96 pages are filled only with unsolicited submissions: time to get that short story into print? Read it here.
Bandit Fiction
‘We are digital publishers who believe in great fiction. The bandit community is a place where readers and writers can grow, learn, and engage with the literary scene,’ says the entirely not-for-profit Bandit Fiction, whose team is made up only of volunteers. Free to read, it works with new writers and accepts submissions of between 500 and 2,500 words. Read it here.
By Nancy Alsop
April 2023
