How to Write a Stand-Out Cover Letter

How to Write a Stand-Out Cover Letter

SO, WHAT IS A COVER LETTER? Literary agents and many literary competitions require a cover letter along with your sample chapters and synopsis. This is a formal introduction to you and your novel. Note: It is not a CV, a bio or a blurb for the book. It’s a...
Ask an Agent: Marina de Pass from The Soho Agency

Ask an Agent: Marina de Pass from The Soho Agency

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...
Editing Your Novel: writing guru Emma Darwin’s top tips

Editing Your Novel: writing guru Emma Darwin’s top tips

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...
Common Mistakes Writers Make: A Q&A with BPA’s Editors

Common Mistakes Writers Make: A Q&A with BPA’s Editors

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...
Highlights from our Zoom Q&A with Eve White Literary Agency

Highlights from our Zoom Q&A with Eve White Literary Agency

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...
How to Write a Synopsis

How to Write a Synopsis

SO, WHAT IS A SYNOPSIS? A synopsis is a functional document summarising the story of your novel. It usually fits on a single side of A4, but always check the agency/competition website for specific requirements. Third-person, present tense, reasonable font size…...