Community Learning Hub
Join a supportive community of storytellers
Develop writing craft, receive critique on your work from peers and kid readers, pitch your manuscript to agents, and learn from and network with industry experts through monthly workshops, webinars, and chats. Most importantly, foster life-long friendships with fellow writers.
Become a member of WriteMentor’s community learning Hub, an online platform for children’s writers at any stage of their writing and publishing journey.
“The WriteMentor Hub feels like a library of knowledge and a year-round party rolled into one“
Tracy Curran, author and Hub member
Level one membership
For only £15 a month, access…
Level two membership
For only £25 a month, access all of the above, plus…
2023 Event Programme
Every day is a writing day on the Hub. As a member, take part in daily initiatives to interact with and learn from fellow writers, plus explore the world of children’s writing and publishing via our programme of monthly events. Sign up to the Hub today to access our entire video archive of event recordings.
Calendar
January: Theatre Techniques in Storytelling
February: Introduction to Social Media
March: Preparing for a debut
April: Starting a writing business
May: Public speaking techniques
June: Money management skills
July: Creating an author brand
August: Handling rejections
September: Capturing voice in your story
October: Debut guide
November: Developing good habits and balancing writing with life
December: How to design promotional material on Canva
Calendar
January: Holly Bourne, Times bestselling young adult author
April: L.D. Lapinski, middle grade author of The Strangeworlds Travel Agency series
May: Catherine Doyle, author of award-winning and bestselling middle grade Storm Keeper trilogy
August: Hannah Gold, author of The Last Bear – winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize & the Blue Peter Book Awards 2022
Calendar
February: Aisha Bushby, author of A Pocketful of Stars
June: Rachael Davis, author of I am NOT a Prince.
August: TBC
November: TBC
Calendar
January guest agent: Charlotte Colwill of Colwill & Peddle
11th-12th May: Pitch your novel to guest agents during a pitching contest: Maddy Belton of Madeleine Milburn; Rachel Mann of JULA; Lorna Hemingway of Bell Lomax Moreton; Chloe Davis of Darley Anderson; Alice Williams of Alice Williams Literary.
July guest agent: TBC
October guest agent: TBC
Calendar
March: BookTok with Rosie Talbot, whose debut Young Adult novel Sixteen Souls became popular on TikTok (generating more than 250,000 views) and garnered the attention of publisher Yasmin Morrissey at Scholastic, securing her a two-book deal.
July: Screen adaptations of books with Holly Race, an author used to work in TV and film script development, for companies like Red Planet Pictures, Aardman Animations and Working Title.
September: The role of a publisher with Kirsty Stansfield, Publishing Director of multi‑award‑winning, independent children’s publishing company, Nosy Crow. Kirsty has worked in children’s books for over 20 years. Her first job was at a literary agency before she moved to Scholastic Children’s Books, doing every editorial job there was before becoming Editorial Director. After a stint heading up Orchard’s fiction department at Hachette, she joined Nosy Crow in 2010 to create and develop its fiction list.
December: TBC
Calendar
February: Traditional Publishing Weekend. Find out more.
April: Self-Publishing Weekend
June: Novel Weekend
August: WOWCON, WriteMentor’s annual conference for children’s writers
November: Picture Book Weekend
Meet our 2023 Writers-in-Residence
Karl Newson, Picture Book Writer-in-Residence
Author of the multi-award winning picture book I Am a Tiger, the best-selling I Really Really Need a Wee and The Same But Different Too, the chapter book The Hat Full of Secrets, the board book Little Owlâs Bedtime, and most recently the picture books Iâll Be There and The World at Your Feet, plus many more! Karl’s stories have been translated in 29 languages around the world.
Karl grew up in Norwich, England, and was inspired to write his first story when his children were small⦠heâs been writing stories ever since. When Karl isnât writing he enjoys a walk in the woods, listening to music and reading other biscuits. He lives in London.
Karlâs stories have been shortlisted for the Booktrust Storytime Prize (twice, for I Really Really Need a Wee and I Am a Tiger), the Sainsburyâs Childrenâs Book Award (The Same But Different Too), the Alligatorâs Mouth Award (The Hat Full of Secrets) and Oscarâs Book Prize (I Am a Tiger), and he is a winner of the Georgia Childrenâs Book Award, the South Dakota Childrenâs Book Award, the Leicester âOur Best Picture Bookâ Award and the West Sussex Picture Book Award for I Am a Tiger, and a âBookstaGrammieâ for The Hat Full of Secrets.
Karl is represented by Jodie Hodges at United Agents.
Eloise Williams, Novel Writer-in-Residence
Eloise Williams grew up opposite a library in Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, where she spent much of her time reading in the ruins of a castle.Â
Â
Eloise’s middle grade novels have won the Wales Arts Review Young Peopleâs Book of the Year, the Wolverhampton Childrenâs Book Award, the YBB Book Award, and have been shortlisted for the Tir na nOg, the NE Book Awards and Wales Book of the Year.Â
She has an MA in Creative Writing with distinction from Swansea University and was the inaugural Childrenâs Laureate Wales 2019-2021. Â
Eloise now lives in West Wales, very close to the sea, where she wild swims, collects sea glass and ghost stories, and walks on the beach with her cairn terrier, Watson Jones.
Hear from our Hub writers…
“I love the Hub. It’s a great community. Supportive and inspiring. The events are great – the workshops are an incredible gift. Highly recommend being a member.”
“Finding WriteMentor has been a revelation to me. The Hub opens many doors and friendships I never had before. The Hub offers an excellent variety of courses and the monthly cost is outstanding value. I don’t know if the team at WriteMentor realise how fantastic they are. They are like fabulous fairy godmothers and fathers, sprinkling magic and making dreams come true every day.”
Michelle R.
“The Hub is a wealth of amazing resources. I’ve learned from craft webinars and had my work critiqued by Writers in Residence. My pitch was been sent to an agent who gave feedback on what worked well. Plus the regular writing sprints have encouraged progress on a new book. All this and a fantastic community of writers to share the writing journey with.”
Marie D.
“The WriteMentor Hub has become an indispensable addition to my writing toolkit. Packed with enthusiasm, knowledge, experience and wisdom, it inspires and encourages me daily.”
Ian J.
“WriteMentor offers so many incredible opportunities to writers at all stages of their journey. Support, advice, education, fun and much much more! A true virtual community.”
Tara P.
“The WriteMentor Hub is such a warm, friendly and supportive place to be, with lots of opportunities to connect and learn from each other, as well as from industry experts. There’s so much going on you feel spoilt for choice.”
Elizabeth F.
“The WriteMentor Community Hub is one of the best resources out there for writers, no matter where you are on your journey. I would be lost without the support and camaraderie of the Hub, and I’m so grateful to the team and community!”
Vicki M.
“The WriteMentor Learning Community Hub provides a wealth of craft and industry advice. I’ve also found it to be an incredibly kind community of people keen to help and support others at every stage of their writing journey.”
Alex A.
“The WriteMentor Hub has been an invaluable aid to my writing and wellbeing. Being able to connect with a community of writers and have access to learning opportunities without having to leave my house has been a life changer as a chronically ill disabled writer who is housebound much of the time. Thank you for helping me feel part of life and a wonderful community.”
Katina W.
“The Writementor hub supports writers at ever stage of their writing journey and there is something for everyone. I can dip in and out of modules as and when I need to and there is always lots of support, advice and encouragement from the whole community.”
Jenny C.
“WriteMentor is the most inspiring, exciting, useful, friendly, supportive and KIND community for writers there is – I would be lost without it!”
Claire L.
Become a member of our writing community
- Includes writing modules, critique groups, book club, pitch hero, industry chats and more*
- Enjoy additional benefits of kid beta reads, monthly webinars and monthly workshops*
- Save 2 months (£24) compared to monthly by signing up to an annual membership
- Save 2 months (£48) compared to monthly by signing up to an annual membership
*There is no fixed term for the monthly membership – you can stay for 1 month or 12 (or longer, hopefully!)
Please note that the Hub will be based on Slack. If you are unsure how to use Slack, read our WriteMentor guide to using Slack.