The Edinburgh International Book Festival: could you perform there one day?

I can help you try.

I am Nicola Morgan and the founder of Pen2Publication. You may know me from the trenchant articles on my publishing blog  -  Help! I Need a Publisher! -  where I offer free advice about how to become published.

Writers value this advice. I know this from the thousands of hits the blog gets and from the quality of comments. It has become a wonderful community of determined and often talented writers struggling to break through to publication  -  or to become published again, because being published once is not the end of the story. The blog has also attracted approval from many agents and publishers, who contact me privately and share knowledge.

If I offer so much free advice, why have I started Pen2Publication? The reason is that writers often need more than general advice: they need something specific to their own situation and they want professional feedback on their own work, feedback which is honest and as objective as possible. The secrets of hooking a publisher may be simple in the abstract but how do they apply to your book, to you as a writer? But professionals can’t give such individual advice without charging a fee.

So, Pen2Publication is my answer. Through it, good writers can receive a range of expert, market-aware advice to help them towards their goal. I say “good” writers, because becoming successfully published does require talent. I know: some inferior writing is published and often very badly, but I’m interested in the craft and art of beautiful communication. I want to nurture your talent and bring it to the hearts and minds of readers. I don’t value one genre over another: whether you want to excel at crime fiction, chick-lit, children’s writing, literary fiction, or any other genre, I’m equally with you. It’s the words “want” and “excel” I’m looking for. I need you to want to be good enough to be well published in the genre which suits you.

On the other hand, if you simply want to improve your writing for personal reasons, but have no desire to become published, I am happy to help you develop. However, there would need to be a certain level of talent and understanding of what makes good writing and I would need to assess this and make a personal judgement tempered with as much objectivity as possible.

I am also developing a small but carefully-chosen band of associates. These are professionals whose expertise I trust and whose credentials are excellent. When I feel that I am not the best person to help, I suggest someone who might. Your arrangement with them would be entirely with them, not me – I don’t take commission.

Before you decide whether to proceed with Pen2Publication, I discuss everything with you fully, to make sure that we both believe this is the right thing for you. After reading the information on this site, please go to the Fees and Enquiry page and download the Enquiry Form. We can then arrange to talk things through. You don’t commit to anything until you are ready.

What services does Pen2Publication offer?

• Advice: a one-off advice shop; or one-to-one advice about any aspect of becoming and staying published, for as long as you need it. I also give advice on author marketing and promotion, an area where I am pro-active and innovative.

• Events for Writers: I am available to speak to writers’ groups and courses. A number of university departments and festivals have asked me to speak. And I plan to organise some events, weekends and conferences myself, in conjunction with publishers and others.

• Manuscript appraisal: a professional full evaluation of your book and your writing, with an opinion of its likely market.  I will identify problem areas and suggest improvements; Iwill tell you if it’s ready to send out. [Warning: it is usually not!]

• Perfect Submissions -  detailed advice about how to perfect your submission to agent or publisher. You send your draft submission and I will help you get it right; I can show you how to adapt it for subsequent approaches.

• Writing Surgery + Tuition -  I diagnose problems in your writing, looking for stumbling blocks to publication. What nasty habits have you acquired? Do you you need to improve your techniques of voice, pace and structure? What sort of writer do I think you are and how is your WIP pitched? (Or how should it be?)

Notes:

• My knowledge is based in the UK markets, which applies equally to Australia, New Zealand and some other English-speaking countries, but NOT the US. While I give general advice about other markets on my blog, the individual focus of Pen2Publication means that we can only properly help writers aiming at representation in UK or similar markets.
• I cannot promise to take you on as a client. I am keeping this consultancy “small but perfectly formed” and I will not take on more than I can handle with integrity and professionalism.
• There can be no promises of publication and to make them would be unwise and unprofessional. Publication happens through a mixture of talent, perseverance and luck. I can nurture your talent, focus your perseverance and help you make your own luck. But I cannot create any of those things.

Want to know more?

Click on the relevant page on the left. Fees are on the Fees and Enquiries page. That page also has a downloadable Enquiry Form. Once you have sent the form, I will phone or email you for a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your needs and any questions you might have.

My email address is nicola@pen2publication.co.uk