Professional Writing and Publishing on Creative Writing at Leicester

Over the years, we've published numerous articles on professional writing, publishing and other aspects of "employability" in relation to Creative Writing. So we thought it might be a good idea to bring some of these together. 

We embed professional writing skills at all levels (undergraduate and postgraduate) in our Creative Writing courses at Leicester. We believe it's a fundamental (and also fascinatingly varied) part of the subject. 

Below, you can find links to many of the features we've run on aspects of the professional writing world over the last few years. Some of these are general, some written by students and graduates, some by professionals beyond the university. Just click on the links to read more. 

Books by Students on Creative Writing at Leicester

Resources and Opportunities in the Media 

Some Useful Online Resources for Creative Writers 

The MA in Creative Writing: What You Can Expect

How Creative Writing Skills Can Make You A Better Copywriter, by Kristina Adams 

What Ghostwriting Taught Me, by Charis Buckingham

Five Years of Publishing Beyond the Mainstream: On Setting Up and Running Renard Press, by Will Dady

Pitch Perfect: Make Money from Your Writing, by Simon Elson

The Author as Promoter: A How-to Guide, by Charlie Hill

On Running a Literary Festival, by Charlie Hill

Reflecting: The Lessons I've Learned as a Writer, by Jenny Kane

Small Press Publishing: The Dos and Don'ts, by Isabelle Kenyon

In Conversation with Literary Journals, ed. Isabelle Kenyon and Charley Barnes

Our Future Storytellers: A Creative and Critical Writing Course, by Amirah Mohiddin

Writing for Games: Theory & Practice, by Hannah Nicklin

Multiple Middles: Storytelling in Games, by Hannah Nicklin

So You Want to Self-Publish? by Alicia Saccoh

Is An Internship for You? by Lisa Smalley

My Work Experience at Shoestring Press, by Sonia Tailor 

On Applications and Employability, by Jonathan Taylor

Creative and Critical Digressions: On the Creative Writing PhD, by Paul Taylor-McCartney

Red Flags and Green Flags in Publishing, by Anna Vaught

Do Too Many Cooks Spoil the Draft? Some Reflections On Amateur Hour's Second Zine and Group Feedback, by Nina Walker

Work Experience, Copywriting and Journalism, by India Wentworth

The Civil Service Fast Stream: Career Opportunities, by Gregory Wilson

Some Useful Online Resources for Creative Writers

By Jonathan Taylor

Recently, I've given a couple of short talks - one as a guest at Loughborough University, one as part of our own MA Creative Writing Dissertation Day - introducing online resources that might be useful for Creative Writing students. So I thought I might also share some of the main links here. 

There are, of course, huge numbers of useful websites on writing, publishing, and opportunities in the arts sector. What follows are just a few key starting-points. They include sites which feature listings of writing opportunities, sites which have useful electronic newsletters, and sites which list jobs in the arts sector. There are many more out there. It's worth noting that some of these sites are time-specific, so may well change in the (near-)future. 

Useful online resources for writers: a selection

Everybody's Reviewing, our very own review site, is always looking for book and event reviews.

Creative Writing at Leicester has a dedicated strand about writing in professional contexts, with lots of articles on the subject. 

Creative Writing at Leicester University Facebook group is constantly updated with news, opportunities, calls for submissions and job opportunities. 

NAWE Writers' Compass is an excellent listing site for writing opportunities, submission calls, events and jobs. 

Writing East Midlands is the public writers' agency for the region. They produce a newsletter, give advice, provide mentoring and training services, and run lots of events and competitions.

Leicester Writers' Club is a vibrant community of writers in and around Leicester. 

Arts Council England provide funding to arts organisations, as well as individual writers. You can apply for an individual grant to develop your work via the "Developing Your Creative Practice" scheme. Details of the DYCP scheme are here. 

Arts Jobs is run by Arts Council England, and lists job opportunities in the arts sector across the UK. 

Jobs.ac.uk is the central resource for all jobs in Higher Education, including postgraduate opportunities. 

BBC Careers is the central hub for all job opportunities and work experience in the BBC. 

BBC Writersroom is the first port of call for writers interested in writing for the BBC. The site includes lots of resources, information and opportunities. 

The Bookseller has listings of job opportunities in publishing. 

The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, both online and in hardcopy form, includes lots of advice alongside listings of publishers and literary agents. 

The Dots lists lots of current freelance writing opportunities. (Thanks to MA Creative Writing student Ayan Artan for this suggestion). 

Sian Meades-Williams provides a useful weekly freelance writing newsletter, including jobs and opportunities across the UK. (Thanks to MA Creative Writing student Kristy Diaz for this suggestion). 

Wordbox blog has monthly listings of writing opportunities, and lots of other information about publishing. 

Published to Death is an excellent resource which includes listings of agents, publishers and magazines looking for submissions. 

Short Stops website is no longer being updated, but includes excellent listings of literary magazines and other resources. 

Neon Magazine also has an excellent list of literary magazines in the UK and beyond. 

CLMP has a big directory of (primarily US) publishers.