Edit & Pitch Intensive
Applications
Edit & Pitch Intensive
Join us for four days of expert teaching in London. Work intensely on editing and pitching methods for your novel with group workshops and tutor feedback.
Tutor
Anna DavisTutor
Lauren PearsonLength
4 daysLocation
LondonWriting Goal
Edit & pitchWe're excited to introduce our first four-day intensive in-person course that focuses entirely on the all-important editing and pitching stages of the novel-writing process. Join us at the Curtis Brown offices in London to learn how to wrestle your unwieldy draft into its finished and polished shape and hone your pitch package for submission to publishing professionals.
Join CBC's founder Anna Davis and author/former Curtis Brown literary agent Lauren Pearson for four full days of teaching, featuring a a one-to-one tutorial with Lauren to discuss your synopsis and plot, a workshop focused on a 3,000-word extract from anywhere in your novel, editing clinics with Anna, pitching practice, and a special pitching and Q&A session with two top Curtis Brown literary agents.
This is the perfect course for those with a complete draft who want to figure out how to really give it some oomph as they prepare to query agents and publishers. It runs from Mon 14 April to Thurs 17 April 2025 and we have 15 spots available.
Tutors
Anna Davis
Anna Davis is the founder and Director of the Curtis Brown Creative writing school. She is the author of five acclaimed novels which have been published in twenty languages. She has been a journalist and Guardian columnist, as well as a Curtis Brown literary agent. She taught creative writing at the University of Manchester and in many other settings before founding Curtis Brown Creative in 2011.
Lauren Pearson
Lauren Pearson has been in publishing for more than 20 years, both in the US and in the UK. A former agent, most recently with Curtis Brown, she has worked with authors including Audrey Niffenegger, Gregory David Roberts, Babette Cole, Isla Fisher, Paula Harrison and Emily Barr. Now a freelance editor and writer, she especially loves working on crime & psychological thrillers, both literary and commercial fiction, as well as middle grade and YA. She is also the author of the Crabtree School series from Scholastic and The Sleepover from Orion Children’s Books. She has an adult fiction novel publishing in 2025 with a 'Big Five' publisher, details to be announced.
What does this course give you?
- Live teaching sessions in London: Anna and Lauren will lead teaching sessions on how to edit your work, how to develop your pitch, how to make your opening page impactful – and more.
- 1 workshop: Choose an extract from your novel that you’re not yet happy with (up to 3,000-words) extract from your novel-in-progress and get feedback from Lauren and your fellow students.
- 1 tutorial: You'll get a 20-minute, one-to-one tutorial with Lauren based on your one-page synopsis and overarching plot. Use the tutorial to address specific concerns about your writing and your plan for moving forward with your edits.
- Editing clinic: Anna will provide big-picture feedback on students’ work and answer editorial questions. All students will receive focused feedback based on a sample of their work, which Anna will read in advance.
- Literary agent masterclass: On the final day the group will deliver their pitches to top Curtis Brown literary agents, who will give verbal feedback. This will be followed by a Q&A with the agents, during which the students will have a chance to ask questions about writing, pitching and the submissions process.
COURSE FEES
The course fee of £600 (inc. VAT) per student is payable in full before the start of the course. This fee includes refreshments and a catered sandwich and salad lunch every day. We will be able to cater to all dietary requirements we’re made aware of.
COURSE SCHEDULE
The Edit & Pitch Intensive will be held in the Curtis Brown offices in London (Cunard House), with sessions taking place in the boardroom. Nearest tube station Piccadilly Circus.
All teaching and workshop sessions will take place from 10.00am to 17.30pm each day.
READY TO SIGN UP?
Students must have a complete draft of a novel by the time of the course.
There are just 15 available places on the Edit & Pitch Intensive.
Please apply with the first 3,000 words of the novel you’d like to work on during the course, and a synopsis of no more than a page (both need to be in the same document, as you can only upload ONE file on the application form).
We will respond to entries throughout the application period. The deadline for applications is Sunday 16 March 2025.
PRE–COURSE WORK
- Students will be asked to submit the following before the course begins:
- A one-page synopsis, the first page of your novel and a 3,000-word extract from your novel-in-progress, with a note giving any necessary context (anything that's needed in addition to the synopsis to understand how the piece sits in relation to the novel, including a mention of how far through the story the extract appears).
- Your 3,000-word extract will be workshopped. Your tutorial with Lauren will focus on your synopsis and is also a chance for you to discuss your concerns about how to edit your novel and moving forward with redrafting.
- Schedules for tutorials/consultations will be sent out to all students ahead of the start of the course.
- The material from the other 14 students will be sent to you ahead of the course so that you can do your reading and write your feedback before you arrive. Please provide comments on the 3,000-word extracts (the synopses and first pages are provided to aid your understanding).
- Our boardroom will be open in the morning before class and in the late afternoon after class for students who need to catch up on reading and feedback-writing, or indeed for students who want to sit and write.