Edit & Pitch Your Novel
Start Date
Package
Edit & Pitch Your Novel
Learn how to edit your complete draft, polish it to a shine and pitch it with confidence to agents and publishers.
Tutor
Anna DavisLength
6 weeksLocation
OnlineWriting Goal
Edit & pitchGreat novels are made in the rewrite.
It’s a huge achievement to write a complete draft of a novel – but what comes next? This course is chock-full of our best industry-led editorial advice on how to review and rewrite your manuscript and put together a compelling pitch package to send to literary agents and publishers.
The course succeeded for me on so many levels. I hadn’t really cracked the business of putting together a convincing pitch letter and synopsis, which of course the course, coming from the heart of the publishing industry, really helped with.
Author of The Gypsy Bride
The first half of this course focuses on how to undertake a big picture edit and then work on a line-edit to get your manuscript into the best possible shape, utilising The Rewrite Doctor, the tried-and-trusted self-editing method from our Founder and Managing Director Anna Davis.
Then we’ll demystify what goes into the perfect pitch by showing you how to write an outstanding synopsis and query letter to an agent with exclusive video pitching advice from the leading literary agents at Curtis Brown and C&W.
Tutor
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.
Literary agent interviews
WHAT DOES THIS COURSE GIVE YOU?
This bestselling course has been given a major upgrade with brand-new teaching videos – including new literary agent videos – and substantially updated course notes and resources. Enrol now to experience the supercharged edition of this much-loved course, available from September 2025.
- Video modules: Work through six modules comprising teaching videos and substantial notes by Anna Davis. The first three modules take you through the editing process in depth – the second three show you how to write a synopsis and pitch your work to agents. The course includes exclusive video interviews with top literary agents, including CEO of The Curtis Brown Group Jonny Geller (clients include Monica Ali, Susanna Clarke, Ruth Jones and David Nicholls), Curtis Brown’s Felicity Blunt (clients include Claire Keegan, Meg Mason, Abi Daré and Bonnie Garmus), and many more.
- Writing tasks: Weekly writing tasks to help you explore and understand the teaching topics, progress your edit and build your pitch package. Weekly posts to the forum from Anna will reinforce these lessons.
- Resources & notes: You’ll get access to multiple resources and teaching notes, including Anna’s 'Rewrite Doctor' editing method, examples of successful synopses, and agent query letters – plus actionable tips for nailing your pitch.
- Professional feedback: An expert CBC editor will give brief written feedback on the students' practical pitching assignments, with all students receiving feedback on either their synopsis or their agent letter. Students are also given the option to purchase additional end-of-course feedback from our expert editors.
- Student forum: Find your writing community on our private student forums. Upload your completed writing tasks, give and receive peer-to-peer feedback, and discuss the week’s topics with your fellow students and the CBC team.
WHAT’S NEW ABOUT THE UPGRADED EDITION?
All six modules include . . .
- Substantially improved and expanded materials from our Founder and Managing Director Anna Davis. Every teaching module has been revisited, rethought, and boosted with new topics and techniques.
- Brand-new teaching videos with higher production values than the originals, in which Anna presents her new and revised teaching materials and the literary agents of Curtis Brown and C&W give their advice on how to pitch to agents and insights into what they are looking for.
- Lots of new and revised resources to enrich the module content, plus updated case studies, example synopses and agent letters.
COURSE SCHEDULE & DELIVERY
Our online courses are designed for flexible learning. Allocate your own study time and take part from wherever you are in the world. Each week, we recommend spending at least four hours on the course. It’s also important to be editing your novel and working on your pitch package across the six weeks.
Week 1
The end is the beginning: Reviewing your novelWeek 2
The Rewrite Doctor: Planning your editWeek 3
Revising & polishingWeek 4
Preparing your pitch: Writing your synopsisWeek 5
Preparing your pitch: Writing your agent letterWeek 6
Everything you need to know about pitching
Additional feedback
All students will be given the option to purchase feedback on their final task from a CBC editor.
- CBC report: For an additional fee of £155, you can obtain a detailed 500-word report on your work (of up to 3,000 words) from one of our editors.
- CBC report + tutorial: For an additional fee of £260, you can obtain a 500-word report from one of our editors and have a 30-minute video or telephone tutorial with them to discuss your work.
Our How to Write Your Novel Series
This is the final course in our popular How to Write Your Novel series, designed to take you from first idea to final draft.
It follows on from Starting to Write Your Novel and Write to the End of Your Novel – you don’t need to have studied with us previously to benefit from this course. Take the courses in succession or join us for the course that aligns with your current stage in the writing process. All three courses have been updated with brand-new videos, expanded resources and revitalised teaching materials (available from September 2025).
GIFT THIS COURSE
Encourage your writerly friend or loved one to get creative! We have £250 digital gift vouchers available, enabling you to buy any six-week online course as a present.
