Claire Wingfield Editorial and Literary Consultancy

“Thank you so much on behalf of the Edinburgh Writers' Club for your fabulous session with us! Normally at the end, people grab their coats and disappear into the night, but everyone was so enthused that they stayed chatting about it. It was great to have your personalised advice, and we also picked up new ideas for our own work from suggestions you made to other people.”

Olga Wojtas

"I took part in one of your workshops on how to pitch a novel. It was incredibly helpful for me and although the book I was working on then was never picked up, the one I went on to write next was - by Clare Alexander of Aitken Alexander Associates, with what she described as a very good pitch letter, for which, thank you!"

Mary Paulson-Ellis

“Thanks so much for today’s workshop. It was very supportive and extremely thought-provoking!”

Lari Don

"I am emailing to thank you so much for a wonderful day. I got so much out of your workshop. Not only did I collect valuable marketing advice and tips, you helped me develop my strategy and work out what to prioritise, as well as making me feel I can make a difference to how my book is received. I am ready for action! Additionally, all the other participants were wonderful and it was such a treat to talk to them and connect. So gratitude too for bringing us all together."

Noelle Harrison

I just wanted to send you an email to thank you for your nudge in the right direction (I still have the postcard you sent me with my intentions written in ink) at the SAW conference way back in 2018, and at your marketing workshop.

I am thrilled to say that Bombs and Bougainvillea was published on 21st July 2020, and within days it was No1 in 2 categories in the Amazon rankings. I have been and will be putting the marketing tips to good use! 

Linda Decker

I want to thank you for putting together such a brilliant workshop. Can it be possible: I felt like a much savvier writer after those four hours.

I got so much out of it, both your genius insights and the inspirational contributions of the other writers. 

Now I feel my pitch is finally right and is ready to go and face another round of agents while the skills you taught of analysing our book buying motivations and using those to shape our pitch will stay with me for the next book.

Fiona Thackeray

I attended Claire's three-day writing retreat, which I enjoyed immensely. I felt completely at ease, although it was something I had never done before. It was very constructive and gave me a new perspective and lots of ideas for completing my book to its full potential. There was also plenty of time for discussion and personal feedback, which I found extremely helpful. Thank you, Claire for inspiring me.

Jenny Balsdon, Cornwall Writing Retreat

My overriding emotion coming away from the event was delight at being bathed in the world of books – a world I've always loved, but throughout my working life put in second (at best) place because of the need to earn a living, sustain a marriage, raise my child etc etc. It felt like books were a bit of a luxury and had to be somewhat rationed. Whereas now I not only have permission to immerse myself in this world, but must, in order to make good my investment thus far. It's a joy.

So glad I entered the Scottish Association of Writers competition last year and got to know you, Claire! 

Helen Welsh

I attended one of your writers’ workshops last year, which was wonderfully  inspiring and full of positive feedback. I  left full of energy and buzzing with ideas. 
 
I have found, almost a year later, that your optimism and faith in my work has encouraged me when I felt rather like giving up: it is a tough publishing environment, lean times, with lots of really talented opposition, but I knew you had faith in me, which helped so much.

I found your readers’ service excellent: empathic reading which understood the flaws in the text; articulate, useful, objective feedback; indispensable words of encouragement; good value for money and excellent “after sales” contact and help.

Your editorial services have also been central to my success. You provided two edits, the first a comprehensive overview of an early draft. The second edit called for attention to detail, while at the same time you gave me the courage to restructure the narrative for a more exciting read, especially those crucial first three chapters. In large part because of your assistance with the manuscript, I have found an agent and a mainstream publisher, both of whom like my first book enough to take it on.

Fran Macilvey

"The beauty of Claire Wingfield's Book Marketing Toolkit is not just that the course material is bang up-to-date, or that you are set tasks to do that build up your knowledge, confidence and your own book marketing plan, but that you are given invaluable feedback on your progress. I highly recommend this course to any writer who wants to learn how to sell their books."

Andrew Marshall

Thanks for an extremely useful day. The course helped me in understanding how to use both traditional and social media to best promote my book. You gave us excellent tips and ideas, especially about how to create interesting pieces for the media. I think this course would be a boon for any writer, whether traditionally or self published.

Vicki Masters on Media Training for Authors with guest speakers Jill Brown and Jan Patience

"I really appreciated how much knowledge you managed to convey in such a short space of time and was surprised to come away feeling committed to making a business out of my dreams rather than seeing myself as a sometime writer."

Larraine Turner – Cornwall Writing and Publishing Workshop

"Inspiring. I enjoyed it so much. It made me think in a different way. So far, I have made more sales of my books, have lots more followers on social media and have even been offered more consultancy work as a result of Claire Wingfield’s Book Marketing Toolkit."
 

Children's author Ruth Young

Your recommended pitching approach works perfectly!
If I hadn't attended your workshop, my only option would have been to learn the 'hard way' i.e. by trial and error. There is no 'one size fits all' to the submissions process but your workshop was fundamental enough to apply to all of them (500 words, 1000 words, 2 sides of A4, 1 chapter, 3 chapters, 50 pages etc).
What was most useful was developing the skill to make the maximum impact with the minimum words, focussing on the key concepts in the pitch and synopsis. I think your notes on pre-submitted material were especially useful and tailor-made.

Iain Paton

On behalf of Angus Writers, thank you so much for the informative and thoroughly enjoyable workshop. I have had nothing but positive comments from members who learned invaluable tips on how to pitch and submit. Those of us who sent cover letters/synopses were especially appreciative of the annotations and feedback. 

Eleanor Fordyce, Secretary of Angus Writers' Circle