Tom Witcomb

Tom has over a decade of experience in trade publishing, having worked as a literary agent at Blake Friedmann, and as commissioning editor at Orion Fiction. He has worked on a range of commercial and upmarket fiction and narrative non-fiction, from debuts to bestsellers, which have achieved commercial and critical success.

Tom has featured on panels at events across the world, and worked with several organisations to help aspiring authors develop their books and help them on their way to publication.

Specialises in: Commercial and upmarket genre fiction: crime & thriller, adventure & action, historical, SFF and speculative.

Tom provides tuition for our Mentoring Service.

There are many things standing in an author’s way – an exciting idea that needs working up into a novel. A creative impasse – writer’s block, creative anxiety, a character who’s not shaping up, a plot point that’s proving impossible to get to. An unwieldy draft that you can’t see what to do with. You might even have a finished manuscript in hand, but need some help fine-tuning and polishing and developing the perfect package for agents (getting that dreaded one-page synopsis done and dusted!)

I have spent over a decade working on both sides of the publishing fence – as editor and as agent – and have worked with authors at every stage of their journey. I love getting involved with an idea from the moment of inception and have worked with debut authors, Sunday Times bestsellers and prize nominees to build up ideas for their next works. I have sat with authors and helped them to break through when they’ve run up against problems they couldn’t see past and I have worked with them to hone their manuscripts before sending them out to agents and editors, and before sending them off to press!

I believe that there are practical ways for authors to improve their writing and that creative ability is not fixed. Someone who understands you and your aims as a writer, but who is able to step back and offer an impartial appraisal of your work and its market appeal offers a unique opportunity to guide and nurture your talent. As well as editorial guidance and advice, I can bring my wealth of experience to our sessions, helping you create the perfect package for agents and to demystify the publishing industry.

Every writer has different needs, so the mentoring I offer is bespoke. Together we will work out an initial strategy to cover your key areas of focus. Mentoring is a dynamic process and my approach offers the flexibility that you need at every stage. Mentoring usually takes place over a few months, but there is no time limit. Equally, if you’d prefer to use the twenty hours over a short space of time we can arrange for a more intensive schedule. It’s really up to you – my primary aim is to have each mentee complete their program having made significant, tangible progress towards their goals.