Authors, you're not alone

As both a publisher and an author, I’m all too aware of how lonely the pursuit of writing can be—and that even once an author has made it to the holy grail of acquisition, the esoteric nature of our industry can mean the process continues to feel an isolated one. Even with the help and guidance of editors, publicists and marketers, from printing to proofs to publication there is a lot that can remain a mystery and leave authors feeling unsupported and alone. 

When we initiated the FutureBook Excellence Award-winning Orion Debut Writers’ Academy last year, our primary aim was to afford our début fiction authors a space for regular, friendly advice and information about the ride upon which they were about to embark. But what has struck me in the most surprising way is that—despite the stereotype of writers being solitary introverts—the Academy’s most beautiful effect is allowing our authors to forge a sense of community.

Our first cohort have published successful début novels this year and are already putting into practice the ideas we imparted about how to take their next steps as seasoned sophomores. But they’ve also created an online group of their own to continue supporting one another—sharing drafts, advice and support. It has really been heartening to see.

This summer saw the completion of our second annual Orion Debut Writers’ Academy, which allowed our 2025 début authors from across Orion’s fiction lists the opportunity to engage in an expanded series of online, hour-long lunchtime sessions. Exploring topics such as "How to Use Social Media Without Losing Your Mind", "The Difficult Second Album", and "Will I Find My Book in a Bookshop?", the nine weekly sessions featured a host of participants from around Orion’s business, as well as hugely inspiring contributions from authors including Sharon Bolton, Sarah Pinborough, Michelle Paver and even national treasure—and recent Orion Fiction début novelist—Lorraine Kelly.

Even once an author has made it to the holy grail of acquisition, the esoteric nature of our industry can mean the process continues to feel an isolated one.

But one of the most frequent pieces of feedback we had from authors over the two years of the Academy is around one of our most popular sessions, "Finding Your Tribe". Having a support system of people who understand what you’re going through as you continue to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) has proved essential. I’ve been struck by (and maybe a bit jealous of!) how much the Academy has allowed our début authors to band together amongst the tumult and creativity of the novel-writing and publishing process.

In light of this feedback, this year we expanded the support for début writers by launching an Espresso Mentoring scheme, pairing each of last year’s cohort of début authors with a more established Orion author, allowing them to talk through a particular topic or concern with someone who’s already been in their shoes.  Over the course of a couple of weeks this summer, each of last year’s début academy group had an hour-long virtual coffee meeting with another author, during which they could have a no-holds-barred conversation. I’ve been thrilled that not only have these sessions been hugely beneficial for our début authors, but that their established partner authors have also relished the opportunity for community-making.

One of the benefits of finding your tribe as an author is in sharing information and filling in gaps in knowledge that may seem obvious to some but a mystery to others. So in order to help share the wealth of the guidance that our début authors have been benefitting from, we’re excited to now be adding another string to the début writer’s bow with our recently-launched "Debut Writers’ Academy Diaries" on Substack. It’s a home for début authors to return to for tips, insights and knowledge from the course, with the aim of helping all writers, published or not, understand their craft and strive to achieve more out of their writing careers. You can sign up for the newsletter here: debutwritersacademy.substack.com/.

Our hope is that we can foster further community by sharing the information that may seem obvious to those already immersed in it but can feel mysterious and impenetrable for an author starting out on their own. If you’re looking to find other like-minded writers, you could try your local library or independent bookshop for outreach, or organisations like London Writers’ Salon and New Writing North—or something as simple as a call-out on your social media.

If I’ve learned anything from working on both sides of publishing’s coin, it is how vital that is—but also that authors are, by and large, eager to lend support, and to forge a sense of community among those of us who know what it takes to put our thoughts and ideas to the page. I’m so happy that, with the Debut Writers’ Academy, we’ve been able to help authors do just that.