The Novelry reveals expansion plans after 'massive growth' in pandemic

Online writing school The Novelry has announced a series of expansions, including newly recruited PRH editors, plans to set up a US branch, outreach programmes and its latest partnership with Madeline Milburn Literary, TV and Film agency.

Founder Louise Dean told The Bookseller the company has seen “massive growth” during the pandemic. She said the school changed its offering to provide more live support, including writing sessions and live author sessions, and currently has 475 people writing novels with them at the moment. Including members, that figure rises to about 1,000.

This growth has enabled the school to create its new editorial department, poaching three editors from Penguin Random House so the school can “really hunker down and focus on making novels commercially successful”.

Dean told The Bookseller: “We are unapologetically interested in getting them published. That’s what differentiates us from an MA programme at a university—although they are quite good with that, we will take them all the way to finished novel manuscript, we will secure them literary agency representation. We are really focused on it. By hook or by crook, we’ll do it. So I suppose it’s the professional route to publishing and quite a fast track.”

She stressed The Novelry does not have any financial agreements with the literary agencies it works with. “All we ask them to do, is we’ll send them brilliant novels and they have got to come back to us within two weeks. That’s the only quid quo pro because we think our writers, after everything they have been through, deserve to know quickly and not be left in the dreaded slush pile... it’s all about publishing and story first,” she said.

But work won’t be submitted “until it’s of a really high standard”, Dean said. “We don’t want our writers to experience failure... we will show them why it’s not working and get it ready and we will submit when we think, 'This is as good as damn it, this is there'. So the figures are skewed really to show how much work we do to get it ready.

“I would say about 75%, when we submit, will get represented. But that’s skewed because of the work we do. But I wanted to make that figure 100%, a slam dunk, so hence we took the three publishing editors from Penguin Random House. Because it seemed to me, if they’re the gatekeepers at the back end, they’re the ones who purchase novels, they must know quite a lot about what is being published, and what works and what will sell. I thought, 'Let’s bring them in earlier in on the process to improve our submission rate'. That is probably our key indicator of success: what our rate is for our writers in terms of getting them represented.

“It’s just so exciting to have that behind-the-curtain expertise. So many writers have said to me, ‘It’s just a mystery to me what happens in terms of the process'.”

Looking ahead, Dean said: “We do have plans to expand our offering, and also we’re looking at setting up a Novelry USA in the not-too-distant future, because we would really like to offer something more specific. So much great fiction is coming out of the US.” She said the school would like to have a "roster" of American authors and American tutors "because there are slight cultural differences that are worth respecting and getting ontop of".

Back in the UK, she confirmed the school has recently agreed to work with Madeline Milburn's agency and will also be adding a new author "who is very well-known and exciting".

Speaking about efforts to democratise writing, and criticisms that many writing schools are too expensive, she said: “I have always looked at what others charge and thought we want to offer much better for a better price for people", adding that she "keenly studies" the prices of other courses to make sure The Novelry is providing more for less, such as one-to-one mentoring with a tutor, and editorial department expertise. She stressed that The Novelry is deliberately not selective and ensures all writers complete a first draft quickly, so they have six months to work hard on improving it in order to complete a novel within a year.

"We have huge ambitions as The Novelry to help the creative writing industry in the UK, and we’re looking at a special project at the moment, with part of the government, as an innovation again to democratise and bring more people into writing," she said. “Under the wire—we don’t publicise it—we offer bursaries and scholarships. We are very keen to find talent, and more on that front soon. But we have got some technology coming, and also a special outreach programme to bring more people to writing,” she said. “We will always move mountains to help people of talent.”