A North London-based publisher is addressing underrepresentation in the industry with a new, free writing course
By Damien Mosley

An Indie Novella talk at Ink@84 bookshop. Credit: Elizabeth Mayer

On 18th October we at Indie Novella are launching a nine-week writing course for new, aspiring and experienced writers. What makes our course different to those currently out there can be summarised as follows: ours is the only publisher and literary agent-led writing course that is completely free and available to anyone.

The story of Indie Novella and the Indie Novella writing course began when we contacted Arts Council England to discuss the lack of diversity in UK publishing. The industry talks a good game about inclusion and increasing opportunities, but at the grassroots level, resources are still swayed very much in favour of the wealthier members of society. Over the last ten years we have seen a glut of writing courses created by publishers and literary agencies with titles such as, ‘How to Hook an Agent’ and ‘How to Polish You Novel’, and each in turn offers valuable insight into the tricks and tips of the publishing industry. The only problem is, they cost a fortune and thereby largely attract a middle-class audience.

Some courses have started running bursaries and scholarships but have also been quick to pat themselves on the back for doing so, ignoring the fact that by creating this financial barrier in the first place, they are limiting inclusivity and accessibility in publishing and novel writing.

Indie Novella had other ideas. Arts Council England offered us funding to develop an online writing course that would promote diversity and make publishing more accessible for everyone. As a result, some amazing literary agencies have developed game-changing content for us, providing industry insight into how the submission process works, what an agent does, what they look for in an opening chapter and how to hone your characters. We have been thrilled to work with leading agency Watson Little on the production of this content. Through their guidance, new and even not-so-new authors will have the tools and knowledge to develop.

Many aspiring writers think that they have to attend expensive writing courses in order to be published. We want to demonstrate that this is not true. Publishing should be about storytelling, and we need diverse, unique stories told authentically by people from a host of backgrounds. That is what makes reading exciting.

Both Watson Little and Indie Novella are North London-based, giving our course a distinct North London provenance. The Indie Novella writing course also includes significant contributions from those across publishing, including literary agents David Godwin and Philippa Sitters from David Godwin Associates (who represent Booker Prize winners such as Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things). Indie Novella’s main aim is to create a partnership that involves other agents and publishers who all want to see the barriers to writing removed and work toward inclusion and diversity. Indie Novella is committed to making publishing more diverse and accessible and welcomes Haringey’s aspiring writers to our course.

Visit indienovella.co.uk/writing-course

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