When I made the decision to be an Indie author, one of the hardest parts was knowing I would lose out on the editorial and professional support you get from a traditional publisher. I knew if I was to improve I needed help. I also knew that professional support was expensive. So where to go? How could I know what I needed? Where should I start?
Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, I went to The Literary Consultancy (TLC). That is how I met Joe Sedgwick. It was with his help I met the editors that have immeasurably improved my two novels and my writing in general. In this article I interview Joe, who explains what TLC do and how they can help authors with their work. I will say, by way of introduction, that getting Joe’s help was one of the best decision I ever made for my writing career.
I wasn’t paid for this article, nor to I have any arrangement with TLC beyond being a paying customer. I wanted to do this interview because TLC have helped me enormously and they may be able to help you too.
Over to Joe.
What is The Literary Consultancy (TLC)? What services do you offer?
The Literary Consultancy (TLC) was set up in 1996 as the first editorial consultancy of its kind, offering professional feedback to writers at all levels through our core manuscript assessment service. Since then, we have sent detailed feedback reports to thousands of writers on a range of writing projects: across novels, memoir, poetry, short stories and scripts, from beginner writers to well-known names. Our expert team of readers is made up of world-class writers, tutors, and publishing professionals who, guided by TLC, write reports which help our clients better understand their work, how to improve it, and where it might sit in the changing landscape. Alongside our assessment service, we offer a popular mentoring programme, Chapter and Verse, with both online and face-to-face options available, and a range of literary events, all carefully designed to offer additional support and inspiration to writers. We’ve also just launched an online programme for writers called Being a Writer, which prioritises emotional resilience and literary creativity. (https://literaryconsultancy.co.uk/being-a-writer/)
Tell us about yourself. How did you get into books? How did this lead you to TLC?
I’m going to have to fall back on a terrible ‘boring publishing stereotype’ answer here, but the truth is I’ve always loved reading since I was very young, and I was lucky to have parents that were very encouraging of my obsessive reading habits – I was basically always at the local library. I’m very aware of how lucky I was (and still am) to have access to books and have a good literacy level, and my parents worked very hard to give me that opportunity.
When the time came to start thinking about what career I wanted to pursue, a job working with books, or writers, or words in general, was right up at the top of the list. I’ve always figured, we spend so much of our lives at work (thanks, capitalism! J), why not try to make the thing you do for a job your passion? After a couple of marketing jobs (and having basically having given up on working in publishing), I thought I’d have one last go at working in the industry, and embarked on an MA in Publishing at Kingston University, which was the best career decision I’ve ever made. The people I met on my course made me realise I had to give it everything to work in this industry – I clicked with them all so well, and everyone I met who was already working in the industry were so passionate about reaching readers. After an opportunity for a paid, year-long internship came up at TLC, I secured an interview and managed to beat out an incredibly talented field to get the role. I’ve subsequently worked my way up through the company as an Editorial and Marketing Assistant, to my current role as Editorial Services Manager, overseeing the day to day running of the office and quality control of our Editorial services. Year-long, paid internships are gold dust in any industry, so even after working at TLC for 5 years now, I still pinch myself every day that I had the chance to even apply for that role at that time.
Are you more of a writer or a reader? How does this change the way you think about providing services for writers?
I’m definitely more of a reader than a writer. Whenever I get the opportunity to write something for the TLC website, or for an associate organisation, I always really enjoy it though, and I occasionally get little creative ‘spurts’ to pick up a pen and start something new. As with many writers though, I find finishing new writing projects tricky, so I certainly empathise with the plight of writers. I like to think I’m always in their corner – that’s certainly something that my Director, Aki and our former Director, Rebecca Swift instilled in me from the moment I started working at TLC. To always do what’s best for the writer, even if it’s something that might be tough for them to hear. I do read a lot though, and I try to read in a relatively wide range of genres, so that I’m picking up on different trends in the industry – but literary/commercial fiction and non-fiction (nature, modern science, historical) is what I like reading the most.
TLC provides one-on-one manuscript feedback and a variety of other services that, while good value for the time your professionals put in, is inevitably expensive for an Indie Author. What do you think is the key added value you bring for Indie Authors?
That’s a good question, and one that’s really important for all writers to consider, particularly Indie Authors. One of the key areas we add value at TLC is by prioritising author care, which includes our hand-matching service (whereby we assign every manuscript that comes through to us based on genre, the experience of the writer and what path they’re looking to take with the work), and also that we are highly selective with regards to who reads for us. We only work with high-calibre readers, so as to ensure that the quality is built in to the services we provide. We understand and appreciate that professional editorial feedback is a significant investment, and so we try to make sure that every writer that comes to us for any of our services gets something that they can refer back to throughout their writing career. We like to think that the added value is a report that writers can refer back to not only as they continue editing and moving forward with the manuscript they’re currently working on, but for all their future projects as well. I remember one writer telling me that she had a page of her TLC report printed out and stuck on the wall by her writing desk so that she could refer back to it when she was having a slow writing day. It’s that kind of long-term impact that we’re looking for.
If an Indie Author can only choose one of your services, what is the most important? What is the most essential thing an Indie Author needs before they go to publication?
I think really the answer to both of these questions depends on where you feel you are with your writing, and where you think you might need some professional help. Many writers are really good on structure and plotting (areas that our manuscript assessment/mentoring services might help with), but might struggle with spelling and grammar (where a copy-edit might be more beneficial). Some have other areas where they need to develop and strengthen. I tend to think our manuscript assessment, our core service, is a really effective way of getting good coverage on the key areas where a book hangs together, but really, I always try and suggest that writers think about what they really need at that specific point in their journey. (We actually even had a Writers Journey Wizard on our website that should be able to tell you what might be the best option for you, depending on where you are in your writing career. https://literaryconsultancy.co.uk/writers-journey-wizard/)
At TLC our emphasis is obviously on the editorial process, and so for us, the most important thing for a writer to be happy with the quality of the writing. As tempting as it is to start thinking about the cover design or marketing plan (and sometimes this is the sexier stuff), we always try and urge the importance of the quality of the text itself. Really try and get the writing as good as you possibly can at the structural level, and at the sentence level, and crucially, always within your creative vision. A good editor should never tell you to change the vision of the work, or drastically change what the work is trying to do – though they might suggest ways in which you can edit what you have already so that it moves closer to what that vision might be. I also think, for Indie Authors, having a good idea of where their work might sit on a shelf is also really essential, simply because the market is so competitive. Anything that you can do to set your book apart, work on it, polish it, and make it shine.
Finally, despite what I say above about not rushing to the ‘sexier’ stuff, marketing and cover design – we do strongly recommend going to other trusted, recommended sources for professional input on things like cover design and marketing when you get to that point, as these are critical for Indie authors. The Alliance for Independent Authors is a very good one-stop-shop for these, but there are many innovative and helpful organisations providing these services too.
What is the most difficult part of your job? Why?
It’s actually tied in with what I’ve said above, and it relates to offering a clarity of service, and offering the right service at the right time for every writer that comes through to TLC (that’s upwards of 500 a year). The differences between copy-editing and proofreading, for example. I think a lot of people assume them to be basically the same thing, and some aspects of them are incredibly similar, but they require quite a different skillset – copy-editing looking at the quality of writing alongside spelling/grammar/consistency issues; proofreading being the final spelling/grammar check before publication (we’re able to refer writers on to professional accredited editors offering both of these, via the CIEP and PTC). So offering clarity of the services we provide can be tricky sometimes.
Also, managing expectations is also quite tough. Sending a manuscript assessment report back to a writer that says they might still be some way from being ready to send out their work to agents, when they were in the process of drawing up their list of who to approach, always feels quite gut-wrenching. There is of course a necessary element to this. Often the things in life which are most necessary, can be the most difficult. Obviously we want the writer to find value in the service, and so if there are areas they still need to work on, I think there’s immense value in that. But it does have to be managed with a degree of sensitivity.
What is the most common mistake you see from authors? What is the number one change you would advise them to make?
Editorially, it’s probably the old cliché of ‘Show Don’t Tell’. That comes up a lot in the reports I read, and it’s a tricky one, because a lot of the time, it’s not a law to live by. I always tend to think a better way of putting the sentiment behind ‘Show Don’t Tell’ would be ‘immerse the reader in the action/emotions of the character whenever you can’ – though that’s not as snappy… I think telling a piece of action in a reported style, rather than focussing on the emotional resonance of a moment, the feeling in the gut of a character, or even something as simple as the colour of the sky, or the smell of a home-cooked meal is where it’s really easy to go wrong and take the reader out of the experience.
On a more general note, I would say, try not to be too fixated on one specific route to publication. There are so many fantastic options with self-publishing, assisted publishing, online publishing, and of course the traditional routes. But really have a think, once you’re finished with the editorial process and you’re ready to start finding readers – where is your audience? Also ask yourself, what is best for the book? Give it the best chance it has to find a reader, even if that might be a route that you hadn’t given a huge amount of thought to.
What is your favourite part of your job?
In a word: people. I’m lucky to work with a small (but perfectly formed) in-house team, and we’ve been working hard to keep ourselves motivated and laughing during these strange days of lockdown. On top of that, I’m fortunate to work with a team of Readers and Editors that really are the very best at what they do – so that’s a real highlight. But really, (and it might sound a bit corny!) it’s working with writers who are passionate about their writing projects. Working with people who are genuinely keen to learn and develop their writing with our help keeps me going. I haven’t found a better feeling at work than knowing that a writer used a TLC report to unlock a door that had previously been closed to them.
Is the main reason The Literary Consultancy is called by that name because TLC means ‘Tender Loving Care’?
Our founder, Rebecca, used to always joke that ‘TLC’ actually stood for ‘Tough Loving Care’! On a serious note, I think it’s important to have a bit of toughness with the tenderness! A good healthy balance of both is really crucial for providing writers with meaningful feedback. As long as it’s delivered in a way which is professional, honest, and keeping the writers’ vision in mind.
Thank you Joe!
