If you’re writing contemporary fiction that doesn’t fit neatly into a genre such as crime, fantasy, romance, etc. it can be hard to know how to describe it in a cover letter. There are a lot of terms out there: general fiction, book club fiction, literary, upmarket, and specific subgenres like uplit, new adult and…
Portrait: Carrie Jade Williams, winner of the 2020 Bodley Head/FT Essay Prize © Aoife Herrity Carrie Jade Williams is a fiction writer and essayist. We had the pleasure of (virtually) meeting Carrie at this year’s BPA Writing Weekend, and she told us that she started to write just six months ago after being diagnosed…
Here at BPA, we’ve been enjoying a new writing blog set up by client Jane Lomas, and we wanted to let you know about it too! Jane has been in our mentorship programme over the past year while working on a contemporary novel, and she recently took a field trip to Northey Island as part of…
Marina de Pass joined The Soho Agency after several years working in the editorial departments of Little, Brown and HarperCollins. She is currently building her list of Fiction clients. Marina also published her first YA novel The Year After You shortly after completing the Faber Academy. BPA’s own Emma and Sara taught a Faber Academy class…
I was delighted to attend Emma Darwin’s BPA workshop on ‘Editing your Novel’. Emma’s memoir This is not a book about Charles Darwin, an account of her struggle to write a historical novel based on her family, was described by the Daily Mail as ‘a masterclass’, which certainly made me curious to hear what she…
Blue Pencil Agency offers editorial reports to writers who want their manuscript to be in the best shape possible before they approach a literary agent or self-publish. Our editors are bestselling authors and industry experts with shrewd eyes and a passion for supporting upcoming writers. We asked Sara Sarre, Oliver James, J. David Simons, Saskia…
Mid lockdown and following the postponement of our May retreat and workshops we were delighted to offer 14 clients and BPA subscribers the chance to “meet” our literary agent friends Eve White and Ludo Cinelli and readers Aisha Bushby and Sarah Revivis-Smith from Eve White Literary Agency. As a gesture of thanks, all participants donated…
Iain Maloney is the author of three novels – The Waves Burn Bright, Silma Hill, and First Time Solo – and a haiku collection called Fractures. Iain is also one of our BPA editors. In anticipation of his latest work, a memoir entitled The Only Gaijin in the Village, we asked him a few questions about his experiences as an author. …
How and why did you get into writing? I’ve always wanted to write. When I was little, I used to entertain my younger brother and sister with made-up stories. Despite loving writing, I didn’t believe ‘author’ was a viable career choice. I knew I needed to earn a living, so I went into journalism. I…
A quick google search describes Saskia’s latest book, How It Ends, as ‘a sweeping and turbulent drama about the anxieties of post-war Britain, where one strong and inspirational young woman looks to find her place, no matter the cost…’ I’ve never really been a fan of books set against the backdrop of war. It might…