Services & Events
HI~Arts Talent Development provides the following services to writers:
1-2-1 writer meets
A 1-2-1 meeting is our preferred first point of contact with writers wishing to use our services.
Every writer is different. Every writing project is different, and we are looking for the finest new writing in the Highlands and Islands. The 1-2-1 meetings are offered to those who fulfill the Talent Hub criteria – we focus on new writing with commercial potential, and primarily fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. But we are also very happy to consider poetry, drama, writing for stage or screen and all other forms of writing.
The 1-2-1 writer meets are with HI~Arts Writing Development Coordinator, Peter Urpeth. The meets are informal, last for one hour and provide you with time to discuss your work and your support needs, and for us to begin to develop a tailor-made package of support and advice for you and your work.
The meets are organised in a number of ways:~
- we organise sessions in locations throughout the Highlands and Islands. Watch this space for the timetable of 1-2-1 events.
- subject to availability, we can arrange a meeting with you at a time and location to suit you.
- via Skype video, at any reasonable time.
1-2-1 meetings are accessed via an online application process, click this link to apply:
http://www.jotformeu.com/peterurpeth/Writer_1-2-1_application
Latest 1-2-1 Sessions:
TBC – Please apply using the link above.
Work In Progress
PLEASE NOTE – DUE TO CURRENT DEMANDS ON THE SERVICE – WIP IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO NEW SUBMISSIONS
Work In Progress (WIP) is HI~Arts’ highly acclaimed critical reading service which provides writers with the opportunity to have their work read by a highly experienced, and very well published assessor.
WIP assessments are free, mutually anonymous and our reading panel is composed of some of Scotland’s – and the UK’s – finest writers in their chosen field.
The project provides writers with a detailed professional report on their work that is constructive, honest and full of helpful pointers and directions on making their work as good as it can be!
Work In Progress is currently open for submissions from writers living in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland of commercial, genre fiction including literary fiction; general nonfiction and writing for children.
The work you are submitting must be complete, or substantially complete; it must have a synopsis and a cover letter – even if you intend to self-publish the work.
Enquiries – please read the submission guidelines before making an enquiry. Any questions can be directed to:
Work In Progress operates via an automated online form and submission process – click the button below!
We regret but we are unable to accept printed submissions.
Over the last five years, WIP has been the route through which many books have been developed and published.
You say about Work In Progress:
‘The assessment report was brilliant. It definitely gave me direction and motivation to keep pursing my writing career. I think the service is well needed and can only be a positive encouragement for writers.’
‘It was wonderful to have someone read the manuscript and see it with fresh eyes, especially knowing that the reader has experience as a professional. The feedback was very constructive and through it I’ve been able to look at my book and writing in a new way and to think of ways to make the story shine through while still thinking about my novel commercially. I also feel more confident about approaching publishers and agents with the manuscript. I feel I have a clearer idea of how and where my book might be published and as a result of the feedback given, my search for a publisher/agent is more focused.’
‘I found this programme to be of massive help. It was very clear in its objectives and its instructions in how to engage with it. It was very well run, with quick, clear communication from administrators. The end results were of a high quality, providing much-needed support, encouragement, analysis and advice that is of real and lasting value.’
Please read the WIP guidelines thoroughly before submitting your work.
WIP guidelines can be downloaded here:
When you have read the guidelines, please submit your work via our online form at this link:
Work In Progress Application Form
Work In Progress – Synopsis & Cover Letter advice
We are very pleased to announce an expansion of the Work In Progress service to include a new, stand-alone synopsis and cover letter critical reading service with Nicola Morgan.
Nicola Morgan is an author (of about 90 books), is ex-Chair of the Society of Authors in Scotland and is a Fellow of the Royal Society
of Arts. Her advice and insight into all aspects of the writing and publishing process has been very widely acclaimed, especially by agents and publishers. But don’t take our word for it, read for yourself at: http://www.nicolamorgan.com/author/why-trust-me/
Nicola Morgan’s synopsis and cover letter reading and advice service is available exclusively through HI~Arts’ equally highly regarded critical reading service, Work In Progress (please do not contact Nicola directly seeking access to this service) – and is open only to writers who have had their work read through Work In Progress after the beginning of June 2012.
We are in the process of amending our project guidelines, meantime - any queries please contact Peter Urpeth at: peter@hi-arts.co.uk
Please note - WIP is now the only service through which Nicola Morgan offers critical assessments to writers, please do not contact Nicola directly seeking assessment of your work.
Mentoring
PLEASE NOTE – DUE TO CURRENT DEMANDS ON THE SERVICE – OUR MENTORING PROJECT IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO NEW APPLICATIONS
We focus our mentoring services on providing you with support for the difficult phase of finishing your project – and at present our focus is on mentoring mainstream & genre fiction, and commercial non-fiction.
Our mentoring projects are not time-limited. We work with you to provide as much on-going support as we can over a realistic timetable, as our resources allow.
We generally consider writers for mentoring whose work we feel has commercial prospects, and who have already successfully and efficiently used our other development services and have shown an ability to work constructively with crits and advice.
If you would like to be considered for one of our [limited] mentoring places, please e-mail Peter Urpeth:
Independent Authors & Self-publishing
Self-publishing and the growing Independent Author sector are among the most dynamic and creative areas of contemporary publishing, and HI~Arts aims to support independent authors to achieve high professional standards in all aspects of their work and to make self-publishing ventures a success.
HI~Arts is an associate member of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), the only not-for-profit association for self-publishing writers, and we actively encourage all writers considering self-publishing their work to join the ALLi.
The ALLi is a fast-growing international alliance of independent authors, and joining gives you access to the best advice, events and connections – self-publishing is a real opportunity for writers and membership of the ALLi will give you access to the best professional advice and support in making it a success for you – and the ALLi now offers international rights and translation agency services to independent authors with suitable books!
To find out more about the support services and advice that the ALLi provides to independent author members and to join, please click the ALLi banner above.
ALLi is a membership organisation and there is a fee to join. HI~Arts fully recommends that independent authors and writers considering self-publishing join the ALLi - the individual, professional advice and support offered by the ALLi, and the opportunity to network with other independent authors and with those providing professional services to the sector is excellent value and a small part of the overall value of achieving professional standards in the growing independent sector.
To keep informed of our events for independent authors, please join the ALLi’s and our e-newsletters.
Writing Tip Sheets
We have a series of tip sheets available for download by authors and literary agents to help with the writing process. Please click here to access the Tip Sheets.
No. 1: Write A Great Synopsis by Nicola Morgan
No.1a: Write a Great Cover Letter by Nicola Morgan
HI~Arts is very pleased to be able to offer two new tip sheets for writers covering the fundamentally important issues of writing a synopsis and cover letter. These tip sheets have been commissioned by HI~Arts from leading and literary mentor and consultant, Nicola Morgan: http://www.nicolamorgan.com/
No. 2: Hunting Down The Pleonasm by Allan Guthrie
This second tip sheet offers award-winning author Allan Guthrie’s insight into creating sharp, direct prose and self-editing for authors. Allan Guthrie was born in Orkney, but has lived in Edinburgh for most of his adult life. He is married to Donna. His first novel, Two-way Split, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. His second novel, Kiss Her Goodbye, was nominated for Edgar, Anthony and Gumshoe awards. His third, Hard Man, has just been published. Allan is a commissioning editor for Point Blank Press and a literary agent with Jenny Brown Associates.
No. 3: Writing For Children – Dos and Don’ts by Fraser Ross Associates
No. 3a: Writing For Children – Common Pitfalls by Fraser Ross Associates
The two tips sheets for authors wanting to write for children have been written for HI~Arts by Scotland’s literary leading agency specialising in writing for children – Fraser Ross Associates. Lindsey Fraser and Kathryn Ross ran Scottish Book Trust from 1991 until 2002 when they decided to put their combined experience into a new venture – Fraser Ross Associates Literary Agency and Consultancy.
Their experience prior to Scottish Book Trust lay mainly in teaching and bookselling, both in the UK and overseas. Over the years, they have been on the judging panel for the Nestlé Smarties, Whitbread and Fidler literary prizes and have attended and addressed conferences on literature and readership development throughout the UK, in the USA and Canada, in Ghana, France, Germany and Russia. They have reviewed children’s books widely, both nationally and for the Scottish press, and edited a number of anthologies and author biographies for children.
In addition to the literary agency, Kathryn and Lindsey are the National Co-ordinators of the Scottish Executive’s Read Together initiative and run The Pushkin Prizes, a creative writing competition for Scottish pupils in their first and second year at secondary school. They also administer the Blue Peter Book Awards on behalf of the BBC.
No.4: Tips For New Writers – Making a submission / presenting your work to a publisher / presenting your work to an agent / are there basic rules about getting published? / editorial matters – by John Jarrold
This wide-ranging tip sheet by literary agent John Jarrold, the leading agency for SF, fantasy and horror fiction, provides detailed advice for writers presenting their work to agents and publishers for the first time. John Jarrold has been a publisher, editor and agent for more than 22 years, and his experience across the book industry makes these insights an invaluable guide. For more details on John Jarrold, see: http://www.johnjarrold.co.uk/
Tip Sheets For Screenwriters
The following four tip sheets are by screenwriter Sam Firth, who has a wealth of screenwriting credits. Sam has taught screenwriting a university level and in Eastern Europe. She has trained with Arista, North by North West, and The Script Factory. She has an MA in Screenwriting from the Northern Film School.
1. How To Become A Screenwriter
2. Writing A Screenplay
3. Sending Out Your Work
4. Resources
Writing Industries – Focus Events
We organise an annual programme of seminars with leading experts in the book and broadcast industries, focussing on key aspects of the industry; current trends in that industry and to provide space and time for writers to discuss their work. Previous seminars have included agents, publishers, authors, games developers etc. Watch this space for future events.
More details of all these events will be on our website over the next few days and weeks, any queries please contact Peter at: peter@hi-arts.co.uk
