We will match you with a mentor from our team of experienced author-tutors who will help you develop your idea and work towards your writing goals. Across three sessions, your mentor will provide feedback on your synopsis (or project overview) and 5,000 words from your manuscript as well as addressing any specific issues you are struggling with.
Our three-month mentoring programme is for writers seeking targeted, detailed one-to-one feedback on a work-in-progress. The programme is perfect for writers looking for advice on the best way to shape their story and move forwards with confidence. Each mentee will have the opportunity to submit specific concerns and questions ahead of each meeting to ensure the mentoring focuses on areas that will be useful for them. Whether you’re looking for expert guidance on how to bring your vision to life on the page or help navigating known problem areas or a particularly tricky scene, this bespoke service is designed to give you the skills and motivation to keep writing and complete your manuscript.
You can apply for mentoring at any stage in the writing process, whether you are developing an idea, part way through your first draft or in the process of editing and rewriting your manuscript. Applicants can be writing in any of the following genres/categories:
- Novels written for adults
- Novels written for children (older than 7) or young adults
- Collection of short stories
- Memoir
- Narrative non-fiction
Schedule
Mentoring sessions will take place via Zoom at times agreed in advance by you and your mentor. Each meeting will last for 30 minutes. We recommend having one mentoring session a month across the three-month period, though you can complete the programme more quickly by scheduling your three meetings across a shorter period – with your mentor’s agreement. After each session, you’ll receive brief written notes of the discussion (200–300 words).
- Meeting 1: Discuss your synopsis and get insights into the overarching plot/structure of your work-in-progress.
- Meeting 2: This session will focus on a 3,000-word extract. Feedback will be given on essential elements of your work, such as writing style, characterisation, narrative voice and pace. You can submit questions ahead of time to help steer the session.
- Meeting 3: Discussion will centre on a further 2,000-word extract (or a revised synopsis). You will be invited to submit questions ahead of time to get guidance on key concerns. Your mentor will also help you plan next steps and how to move forward with your manuscript.
Fees
£650 (inc VAT), payable in full before mentoring starts. (If you are unable to pay the full fee upfront and would like to discuss an instalment plan, please do let us know).
Ready to apply?
To request WIP Mentoring please fill in our application form. We ask that you send us a one-page synopsis or overview of your work-in-progress along with the 3,000-word extract you would like to discuss with your mentor (please do provide a few lines of context if the extract is not taken from the beginning of the work). Both the synopsis and extract need to be in the same document, as you can only upload ONE file in the application below.
The form also asks you to let us know a little more about your work-in-progress and if you have any specific concerns that you’d like to work through with your mentor. Your application will help us select the right mentor for you from our experienced team.
Mentoring allocation
We will respond to your request for Mentoring within seven working days and let you know which of our expert mentors is right for your project.
We consider it important that each applicant can be matched with a mentor who has the right experience to guide you on your writing journey. If we do not have an available mentor who we think can be helpful to you, we will respond within seven days of your application to say that we are not able to provide you with Mentoring.
Your first mentoring session must be scheduled to take place within four weeks of confirmation. Your mentoring place will be confirmed once you’ve agreed to our choice of mentor and we have received your fee payment.
Meet our mentors
We'll match you with an available author from our expert teaching team.
Laura Barnett
- #1 Bestselling author
- Author of 5 acclaimed novels
Suzannah Dunn
- Author of 13 novels
- Over a quarter of a million copies sold in the UK alone
Lizzie Enfield
- Columnist for Writing Magazine
- Author of 5 acclaimed novels
Genevieve Fox
- Feature journalist
- Renowned memoirist
Anna Freeman
- Winner of the 2013 Tibor Jones Pager-Turner Prize
- Author of 2 historical novels
- Host of Radio 4's human interest arts programme, Sketches: Stories of Art and People.
Vanessa Gebbie
- Novelist, poet, short story writer
- Financial Times Novel of the Year winner
Abbie Greaves
- Shortlisted for the RNA Debut Novel of the Year Award
- Author of 2 novels
- Former Curtis Brown literary assistant
Simon Ings
- Author of 8 acclaimed novels
- Columnist for the Times
- Renowned science fiction author
Emma Kavanagh
- Author of 6 acclaimed crime novels
- Holds a PhD in cognitive psychology
Ayisha Malik
- Author of 3 critically acclaimed novels
- Winner of The Diverse Book Awards
Jacob Ross
- Winner of the 2017 Jhalak Prize
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- Associate Fiction Editor at Peepal Tree Press
William Shaw
- Shortlisted for the CWA Golden dagger
- Author of 10 crime novels
Chloe Timms
- Writer, campaigner and podcast host
- Novelist
Anthony Trevelyan
- Longlisted for the 2016 Desmond Elliott Prize
- Novelist and short fiction author
Cathi Unsworth
- Longlisted for the 2014 Theakston Crime Novel of the Year Award
- Editor of the award-winning short story collection London Noir
Sumayya Usmani
- Author of 2 cookbooks
- Winner of the Scottish Book Trust’s Next Chapter Award 2021
- Shortlisted for Best Cookbook of the Year at the Food & Travel Magazine Awards
Claire Wade
- Winner of the Good Housekeeping Novel Competition
- Winner of the East Anglian Book Award for Fiction
Hannah Sandford
- Editorial Director at Bloomsbury Children's and YA Fiction
- Over 10 years' experience in editorial at major publishers