Success Stories - The Literary Consultancy

After several rewrites, near-misses with publishers, frustration and a sense of just giving up on the whole project, I was guided to TLC’s door and the rest I’m very happy to say is now history! Being paired with my Editor, Gill Farrer-Halls, was the greatest single stroke of good fortune. Her guidance was crystal clear and quite brutally honest at times – exactly what was needed to bring Being with Cows into shape. Without her support bringing structural order to the chaos, the script would have remained in so many fragmented pieces. It is safe to say that without this highly professional level of editorial service, I would not be sat here typing this words today. A huge and everlasting thanks to Gill, Joe and all the team at TLC.

Dave Mountjoy,

Being With Cows,

Bedford Square Publishers

Being paired with my TLC Mentor was the turning point. Thalia combined practical advice with challenging my processes, and by fully engaging I found the impetus to not only push through to the end, but also to go back and edit, pulling all my strands together and coming out with a novel. A second read by Angela Clarke brought a new and invaluable perspective and I am deeply grateful for the care and attention I have received. I would not have found my way out of the woods without my TLC Mentor showing me the path.

Merryl Futerman,

Don’t Make A Scene,

Amazon KDP

“I’ll be forever grateful to Joe and the TLC team for their support in bringing Life & Death Decisions into the world. Thanks to the Chapter & Verse programme and the expert advice from my mentor, Dr Stephen Carver, I was able to hew this book from the marble of my tropical-disease-addled mind!”

Lachlan McIver,

Life and Death Decisions,

Hachette

“When I had a draft collection, I was recommended TLC as a next step. It was revelatory to have an independent expert view to assess the merits of individual stories and the collection. The input from my TLC Editor Alan Mahar gave me confidence, clarity and a higher standard to aim for. His comments were not sugar coated. But I worked hard and knew the only thing I could control was the quality of my writing. Ultramarine was published in May 2023.”

Lucy Weldon,

Ultramarine,

Cinnamon Press

“I was about to give up on the MS that became The Ash House. No one was going to read all the pfaff. Then the TLC critique came back. It was from Stephen Carver a writer and Gothic expert who totally ‘got’ what I was trying to do. He identified all the weak spots AND also the strong bits. I can honestly say that without TLC, this book wouldn’t have found a publisher. Thank you!”

Audrey Chin,

Ash House,

Penguin Random House SEA

“In the summer of 2021, I didn’t know that I had a pamphlet forming. What I knew was that I had quite a few recent poems – some of which, I had followed into profundity. Poets reading my work encouraged me to submit the manuscript to publishers and competitions. So in preparation, I applied for the TLC Free Reads scheme via Writing East Midlands. My TLC Editor Michael Langan’s feedback was very encouraging and provided enough guidance to get me to the next draft of each poem. He saw his comments and questions as a conversation with me and the work. A year later in June 2022, Seren’s Editorial Board unanimously voted to publish my manuscript.”

Zakia Carpenter-Hall,

Into The Same Sound Twice,

Seren