<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Blue Pencil Agency]]></title><description><![CDATA[At Blue Pencil Agency, we take your work personally. There are many literary consultancies offering editorial feedback and mentoring. ]]></description><link>https://thestartuplab.wixstudio.com/blue-pencil/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2026 19:39:38 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.bluepencilagency.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Mapping Your Story Arc: The Story Goal]]></title><description><![CDATA[A story goal – often called a quest or mission – is a key component of any novel’s story arc. It is what drives the narrative forward and keeps the reader turning pages. Most stories open with a stasis (a sense of what the protagonist’s life is like ordinarily) and an inciting incident or trigger (an event that comes to upset the balance of the protagonist’s life). This trigger will leave the protagonist wanting something. ]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/mapping-your-story-arc-the-story-goal</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a35355d3306f881e521f893</guid><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 12:27:56 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_d836e9265c874e41866e27d3131ef6d2~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_932,h_622,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Write a Synopsis]]></title><description><![CDATA[A synopsis is a functional document summarising the story of your novel. It usually fits on a single side of A4, but always check the agency/competition website for specific requirements.]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/how-to-write-a-synopsis</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a35350d217d21f7fb627b01</guid><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 12:25:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_794c8fa9e4964911a03583aedb4a6365~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_932,h_622,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Write a Stand-Out Cover Letter]]></title><description><![CDATA[SO, WHAT IS A COVER LETTER? Literary agents and many literary competitions require a cover letter along with your sample chapters and synopsis. This is a formal introduction to you and your novel. Note: It is not a CV, a bio or a blurb for the book. It’s a letter, written from one professional to another, that should make the agent or judge want to read more. The biggest mistake entrants to the BPA First Novel Award made this year was getting the balance off, either writing too much about the...]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/how-to-write-a-stand-out-cover-letter</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a353419bfacb36e353e64d1</guid><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 12:22:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_5a0d5241c0d84b0eb91d2001acbf5725~mv2.webp/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Find Your Hook]]></title><description><![CDATA[Pitching is one of the final skills you have to learn as a novelist. Many gatekeepers look for a strong ‘hook’ when deciding whether to give a submission serious attention, which means proving your story’s worth in the cover letter, before they’ve read a word of the novel.]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/how-to-find-your-hook</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3533863306f881e521f386</guid><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 12:19:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_18cc7c97d6eb43039bd5e15109c3b4b1~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_894,h_596,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Escapism in Fiction: What is escapist fiction and how do you write it?]]></title><description><![CDATA[‘Escapism’ is one of the publishing industry’s favourite buzz words at the moment, and we’ve heard many literary agents using it when recounting their chats with publishers at the London Book Fair 2023. It seems a lot of commissioning editors, and therefore agents, are looking for novels that provide readers with an escape from ordinary life. But what is escapism in fiction and how do you write a novel that readers want to escape into?]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/escapism-in-fiction-what-is-escapist-fiction-and-how-do-you-write-it</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f336db3e77ce9ce8a510db</guid><category><![CDATA[BPA Blog]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:04:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_239ec5e416d349498dec7b9211fc28a6~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_990,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Tess</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[“Micro” reports and mentoring]]></title><description><![CDATA[Twenty years ago, editors at publishing houses had time to work with an author on their manuscript, if they saw promise. As the market has become more and more saturated, this job has moved to literary agents. Now, agents are so busy they often don’t have the time either. Literary consultancy agencies have formed to give authors the possibility to receive industry-level feedback and increase their chance of being noticed. ]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/micro-reports-and-mentoring</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f31facc99eb1cb510a4481</guid><category><![CDATA[BPA Blog]]></category><category><![CDATA[Peggy's Articles]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 06 Oct 2024 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_637a70d3cf514bd497c73452a929769c~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Why get a full manuscript assessment?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Twenty years ago, editors at publishing houses had time to work with an author on their manuscript, if they saw promise. As the market has become more and more saturated, this job has moved to literary agents. Now, agents are so busy they often don’t have the time either. Literary consultancy agencies have formed to give authors the possibility to receive industry-level feedback and increase their chance of being noticed. ]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/why-get-a-full-manuscript-assessment</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f229e5bc2ce3253fd25731</guid><category><![CDATA[BPA Blog]]></category><category><![CDATA[Peggy's Articles]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 26 Sep 2024 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_c817132679e44c93ac62f27be52eea7b~mv2.webp/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Seven Basic Plots]]></title><description><![CDATA[In 2004 Christopher Booker published his momentous book, The Seven Basic Plots. It is reputed to have taken him 34 years to complete. Through an extensive analysis of stories originating from around the world, he stipulates that all stories can be reduced to seven fundamental narrative structures. He claims that these seven plots are embedded in our collective unconscious and the human psyche.
]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/the-seven-basic-plots</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f32f036ab422d828742e48</guid><category><![CDATA[Peggy's Articles]]></category><category><![CDATA[BPA Blog]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 13 Jun 2024 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_3ec0e10b193f44deb2f7ffb05c92d626~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ask an Agent: Maddalena Cavaciuti from David Higham Associates]]></title><description><![CDATA[Maddalena Cavaciuti joined David Higham Associates in 2017 as Junior Agent Assistant to Lizzy Kremer, now Managing Director. After two years of working with Lizzy on her author list, Maddalena became an Assistant Agent and began to take on her own clients. ]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/ask-an-agent-maddalena-cavaciuti-from-david-higham-associates</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f33022446046829039a9b8</guid><category><![CDATA[Ask an Agent]]></category><category><![CDATA[Peggy's Articles]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 02 May 2024 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_a4c56ced849d4ccbbe90eb5717a83bf3~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Author Q&#38;A: Lindsey Mellon &#38; Philippa Ronan]]></title><description><![CDATA[We recently discovered that, by coincidence, two BPA clients, Philippa Ronan (right) and Lindsey Mellon, were both to be published by the same independent publisher Northside House within only a few weeks of each other. They were happy to share their experience of going indie in our latest Author Q&#38;A. ]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/author-q-a-lindsey-mellon-philippa-ronan</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f330b56ab422d8287432c0</guid><category><![CDATA[Author's Q&A]]></category><category><![CDATA[Peggy's Articles]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_dfebb7a5f7e445b0bbf603c581d5dc22~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_900,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Author Q&#38;A: Julia Kelly, 2021 First Novel Award Winner]]></title><description><![CDATA[Julia Kelly won the BPA 2021 First Novel Award, coming first out of more than 1,000 entries. She then signed with that year’s competition judge, literary agent Hellie Ogden. In 2024, Julia signed a six-figure publishing deal with the publishing house Harvill Secker. Her debut novel The Fisherman’s Gift comes out today, Thursday March 6, 2025. We caught up with Julia to congratulate her on her success and to find out more about the different stages that lead to publication.]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/author-q-a-julia-kelly-2021-first-novel-award-winner</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f2097c829c52805ba8e3f9</guid><category><![CDATA[Author's Q&A]]></category><category><![CDATA[Peggy's Articles]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 03 Mar 2024 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_b2407184d41443eab91b6dda1424bbb8~mv2.webp/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Author Q&#38;A: Triona Campbell]]></title><description><![CDATA[Triona Campbell worked closely with Blue Pencil Agency’s head editor and founder Sara Sarre on a YA novel, after which she successfully acquired an agent and a three-book deal with Scholastic UK. In this Author Q&#38;A, Triona describes working as a film producer, the steep learning curve expected of the newly-signed author, and how the budding writer might handle the industry and land a publishing deal.  ]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/author-q-a-triona-campbell</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f332c6446046829039b0cc</guid><category><![CDATA[Ask an Agent]]></category><category><![CDATA[Author's Q&A]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 07 Dec 2023 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_d9fecf0829aa4d74a27822ab346c1c25~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_900,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Should Fiction Writers Use a Thesaurus?]]></title><description><![CDATA[At secondary school, teachers often encourage students to use a thesaurus to find more interesting options for their creative writing and expand their vocabulary. If you study the craft at university level, though, most tutors will tell you not to use one, to simply use the words that come naturally. Fiction should be true to the author’s voice, not striving for a preconceived – probably elitist – idea of good writing. ]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/should-fiction-writers-use-a-thesaurus</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f338a4c99eb1cb510a85de</guid><pubDate>Tue, 14 Nov 2023 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_4bec30521daa48ac8451f404397bb84c~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Tess</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to Write Emotion]]></title><description><![CDATA[Reading is above all else an emotional experience. We read to connect with characters, to experience their emotions and to compare them to our own. Nailing emotion is therefore essential to writing compelling fiction. But how to be sure to write emotion in a way that is realistic and relatable?]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/how-to-write-emotion</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f333686ab422d8287439d0</guid><category><![CDATA[Peggy's Articles]]></category><category><![CDATA[BPA Blog]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 08 Nov 2023 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_3f0c31ecf26b4634b2a5623e6f1886dd~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ask an Agent: Olivia Maidment from Madeleine Milburn]]></title><description><![CDATA[Olivia Maidment joined the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency in 2020. Previously, she worked with award-winning authors and global literary brands during her time at The Blair Partnership and United Agents. As well as representing a list of literary, upmarket and book club fiction as a literary agent, Olivia was recently promoted to Head of Books, working closely with the directors to implement wider agency direction and strategy. In this Q&#38;A, I ask Olivia to explain more fully exactly what book]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/ask-an-agent-olivia-maidment-from-madeleine-milburn</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f3344a446046829039b43a</guid><category><![CDATA[Ask an Agent]]></category><category><![CDATA[Author's Q&A]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 08 Oct 2023 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_fbdb550085da4efe8969123a19e8048f~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Author Q&#38;A: Saloni Surah]]></title><description><![CDATA[Saloni Surah worked closely with Blue Pencil Agency’s head editor and founder Sara Sarre on an Early Reader book Flora Investigates: The Case Of The Missing Gold Eggs which she has recently self-published. We were curious about her self-publishing journey – an option which continues to grow in popularity within the writing community – and asked Saloni if she would accept to do an Author Q&#38;A so that we might glean some insider tips on the dos and don’ts of a more hands-on approach to publishing. ]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/author-q-a-saloni-surah</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f334fd6ab422d828743dca</guid><category><![CDATA[Author's Q&A]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ask an Agent]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 29 Aug 2023 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_89f074802dd04b279ca022dcd14af192~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_900,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How Film Techniques Can Improve Your Writing]]></title><description><![CDATA[Imagine you were brushing your teeth or daydreaming on the underground this morning when suddenly you were hit with an amazing story idea. How might that story first come to you – in words and sentences or as images, like a film?]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/how-film-techniques-can-improve-your-writing</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f336343e77ce9ce8a50f0c</guid><category><![CDATA[Peggy's Articles]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 04 Jul 2023 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_8b54e23ebaac4b258af1497bfde1d529~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Peggy Lee</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[#BPAFavouriteLines: Why We Chose Them]]></title><description><![CDATA[Many of our BPA First Novel Award and Pitch Prize judges say they’re looking for an attention-grabbing opening and a stand-out first line. The first line of your novel is undeniably important, but terms like ‘attention-grabbing’ can be easily misconstrued. That’s part of the reason we decided to start sharing our favourite opening lines from your entries on Twitter. Some of these sentences are subtle and some are bold. Some are simple and others are lyrical. Some are long, some short. ]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/bpafavouritelines-why-we-chose-them</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f337653e77ce9ce8a5129a</guid><pubDate>Mon, 08 May 2023 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_6d08f4a82a104c06ada6beed82e7b84a~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Tess</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[BPA’s Practical Tips for the Social Media Shy Writer]]></title><description><![CDATA[Some of us love connecting with other writers and readers on social media, but if you use it purely to maintain a presence as an author, you’re not alone. For those who find social media can be a struggle, here are some tips to help you build a following without adding stress to your life. You might even find you get a real buzz from it!]]></description><link>https://www.bluepencilagency.com/post/bpa-s-practical-tips-for-the-social-media-shy-writer</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f337fa3e77ce9ce8a5144c</guid><pubDate>Thu, 30 Sep 2021 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/97e897_9539a247e6f341e8afe6a5bc99c34edd~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Tess</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>