Philippa completed Debi Alper and Emma Darwin’s Self-Editing Your Novel course in 2016, and shortly afterwards attended the York Festival Of Writing, where she met her now-agent Sarah Hornsley. Her debut novel ‘Little White Lies’ sold at auction to HQ/HarperCollins and her second book, ‘Safe and Sound’, was published in February 2021.

With some thanks to Eve Seymour’s thorough assessment, John went on to secure a two-book deal with Ballantine Books. His first novel ‘Steel Fear’ was published in 2021 and had praise from many big names including Lee Child who described it as “Sensationally good – an instant classic; maybe an instant legend”. The title was also optioned for a potential TV series.

Neema took our acclaimed Self-Edit Your Novel course, attended our Summer Festival of Writing as well as being a Jericho Writers Premium Member. Her debut novel ‘Kololo Hill’ was published by Picador in February 2021. She said “I’ve had loads to do with Jericho Writers and they’ve been a really key part of my journey.”

Steffanie was the first recipient of the bursary for our Self-Edit Your Novel course in 2018. She has since signed a two-book deal with Bookouture without the help of an agent and her debut ‘This Other Island’, came out in May 2021. Her editor Isobel Akenhead called her ‘a truly exceptional new voice in fiction’.

Paul’s confidence grew after a series of Jericho Writers Manuscript Assessments with Liz Garner. He also attended the York Festival of Writing and was shortlisted for Friday Night Live in 2013. His debut novel, ‘The Actuality’ was published by Sandstone Press in 2021 and was optioned by BBC Studios.

After reading at Friday Night Live at our Festival of Writing in 2016, Claire was approached by a number of agents and received five offers of representation in 2017. Her debut, ‘The Rapture’ was published by Faber & Faber in 2019. It was a Sunday Times Book of the Year and was shortlisted for The London Magazine Prize for Debut Fiction. Claire received several offers from TV and film production companies and the option was bought by Hillbilly Films.

Mandy has been a loyal attendee of the Festival of Writing for several years and took our Self-Editing course with Debi Alper and Emma Darwin. We’re delighted that her book ‘Home’ was been published by Penguin Random House.

‘Friday Night Live’ shortlisted author, Felicia Yap, was snapped up by Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown soon after our 2015 Festival of Writing. Her brilliant high-concept thriller, ‘Yesterday’, was bought by Headline’s Alex Clarke for a six-figure sum. The book has since been optioned for film. Felicia attended our Festival of Writing 2015 and said, “it made a huge difference!”

Kerry won the best opening chapter competition at our 2011 Festival of Writing. Now she has sold over a million copies of her titles ‘A Silent Wife’, ‘The Woman I Was Before’, ‘After The Lie’, ‘The Mother I Could Have Been’ and ‘The Secret Child’.

Eleanor won the Best Opening Chapter competition and subsequently secured her literary agent, Jenny Saville of Andrew Nurnberg Associates, at our 2016 Festival of Writing. Eleanor’s debut novel, ‘A Perfect Explanation’ (2019) was published by Salt Publishing in the UK. It was longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize, both in 2019.

Margaret won the Beryl Bainbridge Award for Best First Time Author at the People’s Book Prize, for her historical novel, ‘Turn of the Tide’. At the time of writing, the book has an average 4.9-star rating on Amazon. Margaret attended our Summer Festival of Writing.

Claire said that our Self-Edit Your Novel course was “life-changing” and has gone on to win the Good Housekeeping First Novel competition with ‘The Choice’, a book now published with Orion. It has since been a Good Housekeeping’s book of the month and Times audiobook of the week. She won the East Anglian Book Award in 2020.

Hamish’s whirlwind journey began just before joining our community. In 2023, Hamish secured a three-book deal with Pan Macmillan India and sold the film rights to ‘The Muziris Empire’.

After being a Premium Member for over six years and completing our Self-Edit Your Novel Course, Helen secured a three-book deal with Boldwood books with the help of her agent Clare Coombes, who she connected with through our editorial services.

Liz Webb is a Premium Member and the author of two thrillers with publisher Allison & Busby. ‘The Daughter’ was published in May 2022 and ‘The Saved’ followed in January 2023. Liz continues to use our resources as a Premium Member as an author today.