the Hilary Johnson Authors' Advisory Service

*--- NEWS ---*
Katie Fforde Love Letters (Century 2009)
Gillian Philip 2-book deal with Bloomsbury First: Crossing The Line April 2009
Evelyn Foster The Bone Giant (Franklin Watts 2009)
Craig Hawes Pictures in The Dust shortlisted for 2009 Bristol Short Story Prize Short story Last Dance at Johnny's BBC Radio 4
Jean Fullerton A Glimpse At Happiness (Orion) November 2009
Lola Jaye While You Were Dreaming June 2009 HarperCollins Reaching For The Stars (HarperCollins) Chosen as a Quick Read for World Book Day, 05/03/2009
Karen Maitland New 2-book deal with Michael Joseph:
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Authors

You were the first person who gave me advice when I began my writing career all those years ago, so I value your opinions/views more than anybody else’s.

Richard Webber

We have advised these authors and in many cases been associated with the publication of their first books.

Leila Aboulela

Lin Anderson

Valerie-Anne Baglietto#

* W.H. Smith Fresh Talent choices
# Winners - Romantic Novelists' Association's New Writer's Award

Also, Pictures In The Dust, a story appraised by your reader last year, and which was originally written for an anthology that never went ahead, has made the shortlist for the 2009 Bristol Prize. At the very least I'll get £50 and a story in the anthology; at best, the top prize of £500 (I'm not putting my hopes up.) Another pat on the back from me for your reader. Craig Hawes

Competition wins:

Les Page: BBC Southern Counties Radio Competition prize for short children's story

Jo Cannon: Runner-up Fish International Short Story Competition with Insignificant Gestures.

Incidentally, did I let you know that a story she critiqued last year, New Look, (about a reclusive trans-sexual) was shortlisted for Fish?

Also recently/to be published:

Rosalie Warren : Charity's Child (Circaidy Gregory)

"I'm sure that this achievement is due in no small part to your wonderful advice and comments, which led me, apart from anything else, to consider exactly what market I was aiming at."

Judy Jarvie: Taking The Leap (Moonlit Romance)

"Your kindness and franknesscertainly kept me on track and focused me to think of myself as a 'real writer' from the off."

Jane Gordon-Cumming: A Perfect Family Christmas (Transita)

Wendy K Harris: The Sorrow of Sisters ( Random House, Germany, The House of Books, Holland, Blue Slipper Bay (Transita)

Lisa Andrews: The Marriage Bargain (My Weekly Story Collection/Ulverscroft Large Print}

Shanta Everington: Marilyn and Me (Cinnamon Press)
"Your reader's constructive comments on the early draft of my novel made me think hard about what worked and what didn’t. A while later, I completely changed the narrative structure, with an altered point of view and tense.
Soon after, the reworked novel was shortlisted in the Cinnamon Press First Novel Competition, with a publication contract to follow. Thank you, Hilary, for all your encouragement over the last few years."

David Davenport: Successful Photography for Writers (Robert Hale)

Keith Norcott: Chalk on My Shoes (The Book Castle)

We look forward to adding your name to this list! However, the market in general and that for fiction in particular is extremely tough, with intense competition for a relatively limited number of slots. In this situation, we cannot promise publication as a result of an assessment, but we can identify the strengths and weaknesses of a typescript and suggest ways of capitalising on the first and minimising the second and thus enable you to improve your chances.