No. 1: Writing A Successful Synopsis and Cover Letter by Jenny Brown

The first tip sheet covers the difficult task of writing a successful synopsis and cover letter for use in approaching agents and publishers, and was prepared by Jenny Brown, Scotland's foremost literary agent.
 

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.

The following tip sheets can be downloaded from this page:

1. How To Become A Screenwriter

2. Writing A Screenplay

3. Sending Out Your Work

4. Resources