Have you ever...
Plus all our usual bits of news and opportunities to support writers!
News, events, resources and opportunities
Cheshire Novel Prize - new award for kid lit - opens 4th September
Bloomsbury Mentorship Programme - deadline 29th Sept
Curtis Brown Breakthrough Mentoring Programme for Disabled Writers - deadline 5th Nov.
Sponsor
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WOWCON
What a great weekend!
But don’t worry if you missed it - recordings for all events are available for 30 days!
Concession prices are available at £12 if the normal cost is beyond your means. No questions asked.
6-week advanced picture book course with Clare Helen Welsh
Going beyond the fundamentals, level-up your writing skills as bestselling and award-winning children’s author Clare Helen Welsh guides you through an advanced picture book course.
If you understand the basic of writing picture books but want to further develop your skills and knowledge, this course is for you. It’s ideal for writers who have already written picture books and want to polish them ready for submission to literary agents. With two-hour sessions over six weeks, this course is designed to delve even deeper into the craft of writing picture books, with comprehensive feedback from your peers, your course tutor, and a literary agent. With a focus on publication, learn more about the children’s publishing industry, including current trends, from our guest agent during an initial Q&A, and how to submit your picture books to agencies and publishers.
The two-hour sessions will take place live on Zoom. Slack, a text-based platform, will be used for work-sharing and mid-week support.
What is included in the course?
Industry expertise: Gain direct access to a literary agent for around two hours during an initial Q&A, which includes up-to-date knowledge about industry trends and submission advice, and a final feedback session on your writing.
Written resources: Receive comprehensive teaching notes from your course tutor, including craft advice and book recommendations, for you to keep and refer back to during and after the course.
Video session: In the first week of the course, be introduced to your fellow course participants and your tutor via a Zoom video chat, with a chance to ask any initial questions.
Writing tasks: Writing tasks created by your course tutor to help you put the skills you’ve learnt into practice and develop your own picture book.
Professional feedback: Receive feedback from your course tutor and a literary agent on your writing tasks and your picture book text.
Peer feedback: Receive feedback on your writing from your fellow course participants, and develop your own critique skills by giving feedback in return.
Writing community: Learn from and share ideas with fellow participants on the course platform. Discuss each week’s topic, give feedback on your writing, and support one another during and beyond the course. Many of our students even create critique groups after the course has finished.
There are just 4 places left, so best be quick!
Find out more here.
Secure your place here.
Hub Calendar (all times GMT/BST)
September
Monday 25th September 1:00 PM Industry Insights Kirsty Stansfield Publishing Director @ Nosy Crow
Friday 29th September 6:00 PM Publishing Corner Maddy Belton
Saturday 30th September 6:00 PM The Witchstone Ghosts Online Launch
October
Monday 9th October 1:00 PM Publishing Corner Ashley Thorpe Senior Editor @ Storymix
Wednesday 11th October 8:00 PM PB Hour with Rachael Davis
Tuesday 17th October 11:00 AM Toolkit Emily Debut Guide
Wednesday 11th October 11:00 AM Industry Insights Lucy Strange Writing Historical Fiction for Children
November
Wednesday 8th November 8:00 PM PB Hour with Rachael Davis
Tuesday 14th November 1:00 PM Publishing Corner Rebecca Anastasi PB Editor @ Hachette
Friday 24th November 7:00 PM Industry Insights Amy Gerrish Sunny Side Up Marketing for Authors
All sessions are recorded and available to watch back, so don’t fret about being there ‘live’.
This is is just a few of the many sessions/opportunities that happen every month in the Hub and are all available on catch-up if you join now.
Also on offer
WriteMentor Spark is a monthly, online 1-2-1 mentoring service. We also have group mentoring available.
WriteMentor Magazine Issue 13 out now! Buy your copy here!
Podcast Episodes: Watch here. Listen here.
Find our archive of blog posts on writing advice and craft tips, plus author/agent/ industry professionals interviews and much more here.
Introducing WriteCourses
Our WriteCourses suite (which will continue to be added to over time) includes video courses on the following:
WriteStart with Stuart White
Advanced Novel Writing with Vashti Hardy
Picture Book Fundamentals – Fiction with Clare Helen Welsh
Writing Picture Books with Rashmi Sirdeshpande
Self-Publish with Stuart White
WriteSub with Emily Randall-Jones, Florianne Humphrey and Melissa Welliver
Sign up here: https://write-mentor.com/product/writecourses/
*Please note that WriteCourses is included with your Hub membership.
The Final Word
Have you ever…
By Stuart White
Have you ever felt alone with your writing?
Have you ever needed someone to give you a word of advice or encouragement?
Have you ever felt like ‘is any of this even worth it?’
When you sit alone, at a desk (if you’re lucky - more likely on a couch/bed with a laptop and dogs/kids asking for snacks or hugs, or both), hitting the keys and you wonder if what you’re writing is any good? And if it is good, will anyone want to publish it? And if someone wants to publish it, will anyone buy/read it?
Well, I see you.
Yes, you. A writer who opens this email every week, who reads all the way to the end, to seek a kernel of encouragement or advice, or to feel like what you’re experiencing is felt by others, or to gain some kind of validation that this is all worth it.
I see you. And I think you’re wonderful. And not alone. I’m right there beside you, as are a whole community of thousands of other writers who read this newsletter every week.
Your stories are absolutely needed and what you’re working on right now does need to be finished.
Whether it’s a funny tale about a hamster in a spacesuit, or a serious, thematic and deep YA novel exploring identity and the transition into adulthood, all of it is needed.
There’s a reader, or more if you’re lucky, who needs to read that exact story you’re working on right now!
There I said it. You have the validation you need - it IS worth it. It’s always worth it.
See all those manuscripts discarded in a drawer or hard-drive? (Also worth it!)
When you sit alone this week, questioning and wondering and doubting, please remember that I am there with you. Several thousand of other writers are also there, all telling their own stories, in their own unique way, their writing DNA so unique - there’s nobody who can tell your story quite like you!
So get to it!
If you enjoy our free newsletter, and want to tip us for all the work we do, you can now do so here:
Writing can be lonely, but it doesn’t need to be.
May the Force be with you!
Stuart, Florianne, Melissa and Emily