LITERARY CONSULTANCY AND MENTORING
Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.
Virginia Woolf
I love talking to and helping writers achieve their dreams. I’ve worked with many authors, helping them improve their writing, inspiring them and challenging them to be the best they can be, as well as offering practical suggestions for how to plot, compose a scene, create realistic characters, as well as pitch their novel to publishers.
I offer manuscript consultancy and one-to-one mentoring. I specialise in helping writers with adult fiction, particularly thrillers (crime fiction, psychological thrillers) and with literary fiction.
‘Thank you so much for being there from the beginning of my journey with The Million Pieces of Neena Gill – for all your valuable feedback, your time, your support and belief in me. I couldn’t have done it without you.’
Emma Smith-Barton, The Million Pieces of Neena Gill, published by Penguin.
‘Sanjida’s input was a real game changer for me. She was able to strip the manuscript back to it’s component parts, and gave me amazing insight into how each bit contributed, which ones were already strong, and more importantly, the aspects that could be be tightened up. It’s no coincidence that after dozens of rejections, I was picked up by an agent a few months after her help.’
Robert Scragg, author of What Falls Between the Cracks, the first in the Porter & Styles crime fiction series, published by Allison & Busby
My experience has come from working with writers as a manuscript consultant for The Literary Consultancy, with teenagers for the charity First Story, as a writing coach and mentor for the Royal Literary Fund, and as a tutor for the Arvon Foundation – not to mention over thirty years (I started early!) writing and publishing my own work.
There’s plenty of FREE writing advice on my blog to help you get started – have a look at the posts on the right hand side.
‘I would like you to pass on my thanks to Sanjida for taking so much trouble over my manuscript. I am extremely grateful to her for both the encouragement and the criticism. Her comments appear fair and insightful. Most importantly for me they will act as a spur to get back to the story and try to improve it. I will now be able to approach it with renewed vigour and hope that in due course I will be able to produce a more rounded piece of work.’
Frazer Rixon
‘Sanjida is a pleasure to work with.’
Rowena Lloyd
Manuscript Consultancy
Literary Mentoring
Submission package: 10,000 words, letter to agent and synopsis
Manuscript up to 15,000 words
Manuscript up to 100,000 words
Work with you at your own pace (please contact to discuss and for a discount on more than one session).
Read and annotate manuscript.
Read and annotate manuscript.
Read and annotate manuscript.
Option 1: One hour consultation by phone, FaceTime or Zoom
Option 1: reader’s report plus 30 min consultation by phone, FaceTime or Zoom
Option 1: reader’s report plus 30 min consultation by phone, FaceTime or Zoom
Option 1: reader’s report plus 30 min consultation by phone, FaceTime or Zoom
Option 2: 30 min consultation by phone, FaceTime or Zoom plus notes on up to 1,500 words.
Option 2: 1-1.5 hour consultation by phone, FaceTime or Zoom plus bullet point notes
Option 2: 1-1.5 hour consultation by phone, FaceTime or Zoom plus bullet point notes
Option 2: 1-1.5 hour consultation by phone, FaceTime or Zoom plus bullet point notes
Fee: £200
Fee: £300
Fee: £550
Fee: £750
Testimonials
‘Sanjida’s approach is honest and direct with a true understanding of what your story is about. She takes her time to diligently read your work and makes valuable suggestions to improve your story, giving lots of precious insight into the world of commercial fiction with nuggets of information from her experience. She is full of bright ideas to make your story come alive without deviating from your original idea too much and besides this, she is a pleasure to work with.’
Rowena Lloyd
‘Thank you for the report, your helpful suggestions as well as all your positive comments.’
Margot Shepherd
‘Thanks for sending the report, and for your very useful suggestions.’
Catherine Pease