Rebecca Swift

What experience did you have before setting up as an editorial service?

I initially spent two years working for a small press called Lokamaya, publishing work in English that had been translated from Urdu and Hindi. I subsequently joined Virago Press and worked in an editorial capacity.

Before I started The Literary Consultancy (TLC), I had written for Cosmopolitan, The Guardian and Independent on Sunday, and published poetry with Vintage New Writing and Virago New Poets. I had also edited two books for Chatto & Windus, so I had seen the publishing process from several sides.

It was working in publishing, and seeing how many people did not get the kind of detailed editorial feedback they craved, that made me want to set up TLC.

What service do you provide, and for whom?

We provide a manuscript assessment service for anyone writing in the English language, with a manuscript at any stage of development. We do this by preparing an editorial report that is both creatively engaged and also assesses the project’s marketability. If the work is good and is likely to have a market, then we can provide links to agents.

In 2007, with help from Arts Council England, we launched an in-depth national mentoring service. This allows you to have work assessed and commented upon by an editor over a period of nine months, after which you can receive a full TLC manuscript assessment, and an invitation to an industry information day. The Arts Council also helps us provide a quota of free manuscript assessments each year.

How does it fit into the publishing world?

I set up TLC because agents and publishers never did and never will provide impartial, detailed editorial advice to all-comers. It is not in their remit.

What we provide helps the industry because it gives people detailed information about what an editor thinks of their work, and therefore helps to avoid inappropriate submissions to busy publishers and agents.

We help writers by taking the time to explain to them how their writing may, or may not, be working in an editor’s eyes. In the cases when work is publishable, we can forward it to an agent. This helps the author by saving time, worry and money.

What range of material do you receive from clients?

We cover work in most categories/genres – fiction (crime, sci-fi, horror, literary, etc), non-fiction, memoirs, self-help, poetry and comedy. We also receive scripts for TV, film, theatre and radio.

We have been sent some excellent work and helped to get it published – particularly books in the genres of literary fiction (adult and young adult), travel, self-help, scientific non-fiction and thrillers.

Best bit of your job?

It’s all been surprisingly good fun! When we were awarded the Arts Council grant it was a huge boost and gave us a stamp of approval. It also meant we could provide some free assessments – which was wonderful for finding high quality writers on lower incomes – and put us in touch with literature development officers throughout the UK.

It’s also great to help get people published. This year we saw the first Arts Council free-read recipients get their work in print – Jenny Downham with Before I Die and Bethan Roberts with The Pools. That felt particularly pleasing.

That said, when we got three boxes of delicious chocolates from a writer who was not publishable but loved their report, that also brought a big smile to our faces!

What’s the difference between self-publishing and vanity publishing?

The world of vanity publishing often sees people – many of whom don’t write very well – flattered by people posing as serious publishers, but who have little or no literary knowledge. Often, the sole aim of these people is to extract money from hopeful writers in return for producing copies of their books. They tend to overcharge hugely, produce quantities of books that will never be bought, and do nothing to help them sell.

Self-publishing is rather different. Here, the implication is of a writer who has taken their project into their own hands on reasonable grounds. In other words, they understand that they are either producing their own book because commercial channels have not been able to use the project, or simply because they want to see copies of their own work in book format.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Write, write, write – and then take a long, hard, detached look at what you’ve done. Try to get published if you wish, but be sure to understand the world that you are trying to enter.