Get published: Retreat. Reset. Rise! – A Writing Magazine Article
Do you want to equip yourself with the skills to make publishing your book into a genuine success story? Read on to find out about Cornerstones’ exciting new Professional Writers’ Retreat.
Could a week change everything?
Cornerstones’ Professional Writers’ Retreat is designed to do just that. It’s a premium experience, tailor-made to prepare writers with all the skills they need to navigate publishing pathways and turn their writing dreams into solid, professional achievements.
A reset as much as a retreat, the Professional Writers’ Retreat is an invitation to invest not only in your creative, but also your commercial potential. Whether you’re looking to be traditionally published or wanting to find out how to maximise your indie-publishing opportunities, the Retreat will equip authors with the professional mindset and industry knowledge that will set you on the path to commercial success.
‘I want authors to start thinking about their writing commercially,’ says Cornerstones’ founder and director Helen Corner-Bryant. ‘This Retreat will be intensely productive, but also a well-earned treat for our writers, relaxing in beautiful, inspiring surroundings.’
Taking place in the glorious Scottish Highlands, the Retreat will be led by Cornerstones’ editorial consultants Helen Corner-Bryant and Monica Chakraverty as well as leading US literary agent Lisa Gallagher of Gallagher Management LLC and former agent at De Fiore Literary Agency, New York, and a former Big-5 publisher.
Nested in the idyllic comfort of Pityoulish House, Scotland’s ‘Home of the Year,’ authors will spend intensive mornings workshopping, with keynote insights from bestseller writers and industry speakers. As well, they will have time to write and perfect their submission package with the help of one-to-one mentoring sessions with tutors.
‘The value is in the training that we’re offering, the keynote speakers and the industry-led practice pitch panel at the end,’ says Helen. ‘We have a formula. We know a writer will arrive and by the end of the week, they will leave knowing how to indie-publish well, how to be trade published well and how to get their book up to standard.’
In the afternoons, writers who want to keep their creative flow going can write by the side of Pityoulish private loch or inside the house, beside a roaring fire if it’s cold. If they’re in need of inspiration or rejuvenation, they can head out to explore the stunning highlands on foot or by bike, swim in the loch or stroll around the nearby town of Aviemore. In the evenings, they’ll be treated to aperitifs and chef-cooked dinner with drinks.
By the end of the Retreat, each attending writer will have not just a professional proposal, but direct access to Cornerstones’ list of agents who are open to submissions from their alumni. They’ll have established key industry contacts and made potentially lifelong connections with other writers. The time spent in the amazing setting, away from their everyday lives and concentrating on maximising their creative and commercial potential, could genuinely be a life-changing turning point.
Cornerstones has a deserved reputation as the gold standard in editorial consultancy for writers. Helen Corner-Bryant first had the idea to offer professional-level editorial services 30 years ago, when she was working at Penguin. ‘I remember, specifically one evening, going through the slush pile and finding John Matthews, and then taking it to Michael Joseph the following day. They published him, and he went into the best-selling charts. So I knew that there’s gold in the slush pile, and I felt that there was a space for editorial and publishing services, even though the concept didn’t exist back then.’
The transatlantic company now draws on the skills of more than 100 editors in the UK and US to offer one-to-one workshopping, developmental edits, line edits, copy-editing and proofreading.
‘Editorial services are so important for authors, because whilst you can’t teach talent, you can definitely shape it,’ says Helen. ‘There are some techniques that we can explain to authors in five minutes, which might have taken them years to perfect on their own.’
Cornerstones’ core activity includes a longstanding scouting programme that reaps bestseller successes, headed by editorial director Monica Chakraverty. Monica also writes the essential monthly column ‘Ask A Literary Consultant’ in Writing Magazine. The roster of Cornerstones authors who have attracted literary agents and major publishing deals is long and impressive, including Helen Hawkins, Julie Ma, Leo Vardiashvili, Ayisha Malik, Tom Benjamin and many, many more.
‘We keep a keen eye on manuscripts with potential and all our editors are primed to alert us to a manuscript that could be ready for our scouting programme,’ says Helen.
Training is at the heart of Cornerstones. Over 30 years of critiquing manuscripts of all genres, Cornerstones has developed a proven method of teaching writers the self-editing skills they need to turn a rough draft into a polished manuscript ready to present to editors or self-publish in an impressive, professional fashion. Their book, On Editing by Helen Corner-Bryant and Kathryn Price, and their flagship online course How to Edit Your Novel the Professional Way, give students vital insights into the skills they need to turn their writing into a publishable manuscript.Content continues after advertisements.
The How to Edit Your Novel Course is a deep dive into transformative techniques. ‘It’s five and a half-months long,’ says Helen. ‘10 hours a week and tutor-led. We take authors through an intensive programme of applying self-editing techniques using their material and relying very much on peer-to-peer feedback. As an author, you get feedback from your cohort, in a really supportive environment, and you learn how to give feedback. There are one-to-ones with the tutor, and we have just added a pitch panel for authors to test the waters with supportive agents and publishers. I don’t think there’s anything else like it out there. One of the authors who did it has said: “It changed my life, I’ve since been published, and I’m now an editor.”’
Helen and Kathryn spent a year and a half writing the course. ‘It’s based on our book On Editing, and the course was shaped as a Masters-level, CPD-accredited learning experience by Professional Writing Academy, PWA, world-leading experts in creative learning who work with universities and publishers including Granta and Bookouture. We only take 15 authors maximum and we run two courses a year,’ says Helen. ‘The outcome is a polished submission package, with access to our agents who are open to our alumni. Applications for the next course in October are now open, and authors just need to apply via our website www.cornerstones.co.uk. Cornerstones sponsors the internationally acclaimed Bath Novel Award and Bath Children's Novel Award and, each, year offers two places from the longlist onto their EYN course.
Helen is passionate about the value of editing and how, by learning it, a writer can turn their chrysalis of a rough draft into compelling and powerful storytelling. ‘Editing is so fundamental and important – understanding techniques empowers the author and enables them to speak the editor’s language and to make effective revisions,’ says Helen. ‘It’s different from the creative writing space. The editing space is highly creative as well as critical so a creative technician’s space, if you will. It is also collaborative, and it’s rare an author can perfect their writing on their own. I think if you ask any editor, and any writer, they’ll say the same thing: everyone needs an editor. I can’t edit my own work. I can get it to a level that I think is as far as I can take it, but I will always need an editor to give me feedback and adjust things.’
What makes Helen so driven to help writers and give them the opportunity to learn the techniques to enable them to take their writing to levels they might only have dreamed of?
‘It’s because I’m a writer!’ she exclaims. ‘I set up a service I needed, with professional editors whose direction I can trust with direct access to being published if the manuscript is ready. I also wanted to help writers, and my ethos hasn’t changed in 30 years. Any writer can contact us with any query with no obligation to use our services. If we can help a writer in five minutes, with something that might take them a long time to find out, that is a good thing.’
Cornerstones has helped enough authors for Helen to see very clearly how editing can make all the difference between a good manuscript and a publishable book.
‘Authors think they should get it right from the off, that it’s just a question of channelling some divine inspiration,’ she said. ‘And we know that that’s a part of it. You do need talent. But talent alone is not enough. Professional editorial know-how and guidance can save the author time and money in the long run and keep the revisions on a productive path. And because at Cornerstones we project manage the process, the relationship between the author and editor, and the experience overall, it should not only be a smooth and enjoyable one but also transformative.’
And right now, Helen’s eagerly awaiting the talented international attendees whose writing lives will be set on course for success at the Professional Writers’ Retreat in September.
‘We’ll be revisiting what we do at Cornerstones, in a beautiful, escapist setting. I’m really excited about having authors in the room, getting them as quickly as we can in the best, most intensive way to where we want them to be. Next year we plan to hold more retreats in Scotland and in our new venue on the Devon and Cornwall border. We’ll run retreats on the craft of writing, editing, as well as on professional publishing pathways, with leading consultant trainers and star keynote speakers. Authors just need to email us for a programme and apply.’
To find out more about the Professional Writers’ Retreat visit:
https://www.cornerstones.co.uk/cornerstones-professional-writers-retreat
Interest-free payment plans are available
You can also find a copy of this article on the Writing Magazine website here.
