Rebecca Ley to publish debut novel with Orion Fiction

We were so thrilled to hear about this one.

Journalist and author, Rebecca Ley, has sold her debut novel, For When I’m Gone, to Orion.

Rebecca came to The Book Edit last year and was matched with one of our editors for a full developmental edit. With the feedback she received, she was able to rework the novel and to secure an agent, Sophie Lambert at Colville and Walsh. Within a few months, she had sold the book to Orion.

Publishing Director at Orion, Clare Hey, has said “Rebecca’s writing is full of hope and joy as well as sadness and loss and I am so excited to be bringing this wonderful novel to readers."

Speaking of her experience with The Book Edit, Rebecca has said “I found it brilliant. It was invaluable to have an experienced editor look at my work before trying to find an agent. the suggestions she made were extremely perceptive and useful in the redrafting process.”

A novel about love, grief and living, For When I’m Gone looks set to make everyone’s heart break next year. Congratulations, Rebecca!

Launch of Writers' Studio in association with The Ruppin Agency

We’re delighted to announce a brand new initiative between The Book Edit and The Ruppin Agency, launching today. Writers in the final stages of completing a full draft will now be able apply for a selective scheme, the Writers’ Studio Full Mentoring & Editing Package, offered in association with The Ruppin Agency. This features six monthly mentoring sessions, a one-to-one meeting with a literary agent and a detailed developmental edit of your manuscript.

This package is a step on the road to publication for writers ready to fulfil their potential.

We’ll be looking at the quality of your writing, your potential for publication (whatever you’re working on) and whether we think you’ll be able to make the most of the year-long programme.

Full details about how to apply are available on The Ruppin Agency website. If you have any questions not answered there, please contact studio@ruppinagency.com.

National Writing Day: what's your story?

We’re excited to be partnering with #NationalWritingDay this year on 26th June – an annual celebration of writing in all its forms. On the day The Book Edit will be going into St John and St James Primary school in Hackney to run a session on free writing, getting a group of Year 4 pupils to write for seven minutes about a place that has a special meaning for them.

Find out more at www.nationalwritingday.org.uk and follow @writeday for updates.  Everyone has a story to tell – what’s yours?

Winners of City Writes Competition to share stage with author Harriet Tyce

Ben O’Donnell Bourke

Delighted to hear the recent announcement of this term’s City Writes competition.

Ursula Hirschkorn, current student on The Novel Studio

Congratulations to Ursula Hirschkorn for her story 'Summer Time'; Jake Leyland for his non-fiction piece 'Portrait of a Technician in a War Zone'; Ben O'Donnell Bourke for his story 'Negative Habits'; Harriet Pavey for her story 'Dad' and Stephanie Pride for her story 'The best way to a man's mind is through his stomach'.  

City Writes is a termly event that showcases the best of City's Short Courses Creative Writing talent, hosting readings from alumni, students and tutors. Winners share the stage with a published alumni or tutor. This term it’s the turn of Harriet Tyce whose debut psychological thriller, Blood Orange, was published earlier this year to great acclaim.  

For your chance to hear Harriet read from her novel, alongside the five brilliant winners, tickets for the event are available here. 

And for anybody wanting to join City’s flagship Novel Studio programme, the deadline for applications is fast approaching. More details here, including information about their literary agent competition and the Novel Studio scholarship, set up by Harriet Tyce.

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Brand new Novel Studio scholarship announced at City, University of London

 Delighted to be able to share the news that Novel Studio alumna and crime writer, Harriet Tyce, has initiated a fully-funded scholarship for one successful applicant to the course from a low-income household.

Photo by Simson Petrol on Unsplash

 The Novel Studio has been running as part of City’s short courses programme since 2004 and has been instrumental in providing a foundation for emerging writers to go on to successful publishing careers. Taught by professional writers and editors, 15 selected students develop their novels over a year. The course has a very strong publication record, including, most recently, Deepa Anappara, Hannah Begbie, Kiare Ladner, Anna Mazzola, R.K. Salters and Harriet. 

 Professor Andrew Jones, Vice-President (Research and Enterprise) said “City is tremendously proud of the great opportunity The Novel Studio gives to aspiring writers, and the impressive track-record of novelists who have been helped to launch successful careers in fiction. It is one of the jewels of our short-course portfolio and the university is delighted that Harriet has initiated this scholarship.”

 The aim of the scholarship is to support a student of talent and potential who might not otherwise be able to accept an offer of a place on the Novel Studio. Applicants to the scholarship will go through the same process as all other applicants but with the addition of a form demonstrating their financial circumstances. The top three applications will be shortlisted and a final winner chosen by a panel, including the course director, course tutors and Harriet.

 Harriet was a student on the Novel Studio in 2009/10 and went on to gain a place on the MA Crime Fiction at UEA, where she received a distinction. In 2017 Wildfire pre-empted her debut psychological thriller, Blood Orange, which is being published later this month. Rights to the book have been sold in ten territories around the world, including North America (Grand Central), Germany (Random House), Italy (Mondadori) and Spain (Penguin Random House). Set to be a ‘major debut launch’, and widely tipped as one of thedebuts to read in 2019, Wildfire have described the novel as ‘a stunning piece of psychological suspense...’ with a ‘spectacularly dark and satisfying ending.’

Speaking of her time at City, Harriet said “The Novel Studio course was where I had the privilege of starting my writing career.  I’m very excited to work with Emily Pedder in setting up a scholarship to give other writers that same opportunity, and I’m looking forward to seeing the talent that’s going to emerge through it.”

 The Novel Studio 2019/20 opens for applications on the 1st February 2019. Full details of how to apply to the scholarship are available here.  Great opportunity for budding writers, and a wonderfully generous act.