Our consultants are professionals in publishing, broadcasting, journalism and film. They are authors, scriptwriters and editors. Many of them have won prestigious awards or prizes and lectured at Oxford University. Others are highly-regarded editors and proof-readers with many years of experience in major publishing houses such as HarperCollins, Bloomsbury, Hodder, Macmillan, Mills and Boon, Michael Joseph, etc. We pride ourselves on our reputation for excellence and friendly service.

Stephanie Hale is an award-winning author, with 15 years' experience as a journalist and broadcaster. She is former Assistant Director of the Creative Writing Diploma at Oxford University's Department of Continuing Education. She has taught creative writing at Oxford University's Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies, Ruskin College, and at Oxford Brookes University. She was Director of various literature festivals in Buckinghamshire from 1994-97. She was a literature advisor for the Arts Council of England and Southern Arts from 1990-2001.

Michael Bangerter has written for both stage and radio, is a reviewer, and has published four collections of poetry. He studied at the RADA and Lancaster University (MA), and has appeared many times in the theatre, in films, and on television. A qualified teacher, he has taught in HE. Book reviews: Freezing the Frame: 'the book is a rarity… a satisfying collection that I will read again’ (Envoi). ‘He uses language effectively and sparingly… his immense talent’ (The Journal). The Fat Lady Sings: ‘Bangerter’s fluent, supple, musical and never contrived poems are a pleasure to read’ (NHI Online).

Graham Bishop has 40 years' experience teaching languages in secondary schools, Further and Higher Education. He's written several French text books for these levels and written critical reviews of submissions for publishers. He's been a Chief Examiner for French A level, marked GCSE for many years and been Deputy Director of an Examination Board. He spent 12 years at the Open University as a lecturer, course book writer, and teaching on the Summer Schools in Caen. He is author of two detective novels.

Justin Bowyer has more than 15 years’ film and media experience, including a decade of review and feature writing for film magazines. Aside from expertise in the area of South-East Asian cinema, Justin has written and sold numerous screenplays, including an adaptation of Ivan Turgenev’s classic 19th Century Russian novel On the Eve and a recently commissioned South African-set political thriller. Justin is editor of The Cinema of Japan and Korea (Wallflower Press), and the author of the acclaimed Conversations with Jack Cardiff.

Alison Boyle is a children's author, and a book reviewer for The Times supplements' early years magazine. Her books include Baby Bear Beware! (Scholastic), Wishing Bird (Puffin), Where is Little Croc? (Walker Books), The Dance of The Eagle and The Fish (Milet), and How Bees Be (Milet).

Julia Copus received an Eric Gregory Award for her poetry in 1994. Her first book The Shuttered Eye (1995) won a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. Her second book In Defence of Adultery (2003) is also a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Her play Eenie Meenie Macka Racka was broadcast on Radio 4 in 2003. She has won a host of other awards including a Writer's Award from the Arts Council of England and an Authors' Foundation grant from the Society of Authors. Julia has tutored on prestigious courses at the Arvon Foundation, Ty Newydd, BBC/Gulbenkian Foundation, Bolton Institute and Oxford University. She has also been appointed Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Exeter University.

Helen Coyle is a ghostwriter and editor with seven years’ experience of freelancing for publishers including Hodder & Stoughton, Penguin, Sceptre, Canongate and Hutchinson. She is the co-author of two New York Times number two bestsellers and has edited numerous UK bestsellers in practically every genre from literary fiction to self-help. She specialises in structural editing, and loves mentoring authors. Helen previously worked as a non-fiction commissioning editor at Hodder & Stoughton and for a rights agency in Paris.  

Frances Cross has been writing professionally for about 15 years, mainly for children. Recent titles include the Blobber Trilogy (Ransom Publishing, 2006). Other publications include English second language books for Macmillan UK, and an autobiography, Life is a Sweeter Song (U.S.A., 1996). She has extensive experience within educational writing and editing, mainly in Southern Africa, and taught Creative Writing for the Department of Continuing Education for the University of Wales for a number of years. She was also a member of the Arts Council of Wales' Writers on Tour scheme, running writing workshops and courses to participants in North Wales.

Leigh Ferrani is author of Indigo Flats. She ghost-wrote the autobiography For Crying Out Loud, a harrowing account of domestic abuse. She trained at The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts and went on to run Theatre Unlimited with two colleagues. They produced an Alan Ayckbourn play at the Mermaid Theatre, Blackfriars, and toured with a comedy/musical revue, Clutching at Straws, which she co-wrote. She has written scripts for Radio Inc., worked in television, written voice-overs and has been a journalist, columnist, travel writer and astrologer. She also edits manuscripts, film and TV scripts, and websites.

Robyn has worked as an editor for adults’ and children's non-fiction books for over 25 years, working for publishers including Michael Joseph, Oxford University Press and Phaidon. She's also worked with literary agencies, advising authors on their manuscripts prior to delivery to the publisher: Raymond Blanc is one of the many authors she has helped over the years. She’s also been a reviewer for The Good Book Guide.

Jonathan Hayden has 14 years’ editorial experience working for a diverse range of leading publishers including: Cambridge University Press, Constable, Andre Deutsch, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Random House, Serpent’s Tail and Verso. He has worked as a Literature Officer for Arts Council England. A poet in his own right, he has also published poems in leading literary journals such as London Magazine.

Julie La'Bassiere is a marketing and special events professional with 10 years’ diverse experience in the film, music and fashion industries. She has worked as a consultant, publicist and event planner for various independent film production and exhibition companies developing publicity and marketing campaigns. La'Bassiere has also provided strategic and creative consultancy for filmmakers and producers that has included script development, rough-cut evaluation, and international co-production advice. La’Bassiere most recently contributed celebrity profiles for a book called Hip Hollywood Homes (Clarkson Potter, September 2006). She is COO, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships, for indieIN. Inc.

Sam Jordison devised the best-selling humour book Crap Towns I which has sold 120,000 copies in the UK. He is also author of Crap Towns II and The Joy of Sects. He has worked as a freelance journalist for newspapers including The Guardian, The Independent, The Times and The Telegraph. He has also worked as a copywriter and sub-editor for Channel 4's website.

Dr Pauline Kiernan is a screenwriter, script editor, author and award-winning playwright, a Shakespeare scholar and former journalist. She has written five screenplays, including one commissioned by an independent Hollywood producer which is now in development, and has been a freelance script reader for several UK film companies. Pauline has an MA and Doctorate in English from the University of Oxford, where she taught for several years, and has an MA in Playwriting from the University of Birmingham. Her academic books include the acclaimed Shakespeare’s Theory of Drama, and her most recent book Filthy Shakespeare was an Observer Book of the Year. Pauline is a member of the Royal Society of Literature and The Society of Authors.

Jenny Lewis is a poet, playwright, songwriter, screenwriter and children’s author. Her poetry collections include Fathom (Carcanet, 2007) and When I Became an Amazon (Iron Press, 1996). Her children's books include The Lonely Skyscraper (Walker Books) and A Handbook of Family Monsters (Dent). She's written children’s musicals for the Polka Theatre, London, and the Leicester Haymarket Theatre. She's also co-written a 26-part children’s animation series, James the Cat, and run interactive writing clubs for Thomas the Tank Engine and the Roald Dahl Foundation. Jenny has worked extensively with directors, actors, musicians, dancers and video/ film installations. She's been poet-in-residence for Coral Arts, Channel 6 TV and BBC Wiltshire Sound. She teaches poetry at Oxford University.

Frances started her career working as a bookseller for Waterstones before becoming a freelance editor and writer working for some of the UK's largest publishing houses. She’s worked at Simon and Schuster, mainly on the adult list, and Hachette. Prior to going freelance, she worked in children's editorial for three years at Orchard Books on everything from picture books to YA. She's also worked part-time for an adult fiction publisher, editing short stories.

Marina McCarron is a trained editor and an extensively published non-fiction writer. She has worked as a manuscript evaluator, editor and proof-reader for established publishing houses including Harlequin, and Mills & Boon, for over 13 years. She made many recommendations on which manuscripts to purchase, most of which went on to become bestsellers. She has also been the main reader for Spice, the erotica imprint of Mills & Boon, from its inception. She specialises in literary fiction, romance, erotica and young adult fiction, as well as non-fiction genres such as memoir, biography and spirituality.

Over the past 20 years, Anna Swan has worked on a wide range of books, including fiction (literary, commercial, historical and young adult) and non-fiction (especially biography and memoir). Publishers she has worked for include: Hodder & Stoughton, Hutchinson, Arrow, Verso, Persephone Books, and Liontree Publications. Anna's memoir, Statues without Shadows (published by Sceptre), won the Biographers’ Club Prize and was shortlisted for the J.R. Ackerley Prize.

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