BPA's Blog

Author and literary agent Q&As, plus advice ranging from submissions to how to improve your craft.

Mapping Your Story Arc: The Story Goal

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.

Peggy Lee

Jun 195 min read

How to Write a Synopsis

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.

Peggy Lee

Jun 193 min read

How to Write a Stand-Out Cover Letter

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 t

Peggy Lee

Jun 195 min read

How to Find Your Hook

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.

Peggy Lee

Jun 194 min read

Peggy Lee

Peggy manages Blue Pencil Agency’s editorial department, social media channels and blog. She completed a Master’s in Prose Fiction at the University of East Anglia, where she found a love for editing and decided to pursue a career working with words. Peggy has had stories published by Liar’s League, Every Day Fiction and Coffin Bell. She is currently working on two contemporary novels.

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Escapism in Fiction: What is escapist fiction and how do you write it?

‘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?

Tess

Apr 303 min read

“Micro” reports and mentoring

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.

Peggy Lee

Oct 6, 20247 min read

Why get a full manuscript assessment?

Peggy Lee

Sep 26, 20249 min read

The Seven Basic Plots

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.

Peggy Lee

Jun 13, 202411 min read

How to Write Emotion

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?

Peggy Lee

Nov 8, 20235 min read

Ask an Agent: Rebeka Finch from Darley Anderson

Rebeka joined the Darley Anderson Literary Agency as Darley’s Assistant in November 2019. She enjoys reading submissions, particularly new adult, contemporary romance fiction, and fantasy/romantasy fiction, and working on the Agency’s social media. Rebeka has started building her own list of contemporary romance and women’s fantasy fiction authors. In this Q&A, she shares her advice on crafting the perfect love story, writing a cover letter, and getting into BookTok.

Tess

Mar 31, 20234 min read

21 Motivational Quotes from Today’s Top Authors

“I’m always hoping that I’ll offer something that will help someone who is feeling lost or unseen or desperate. I think literature has a power, it can rescue people at the right time.” – Diana Evans

Tess

Mar 6, 20233 min read

How to Edit Dialogue

Dialogue is a crucial component of almost every novel and short story, but it’s rarely taught. Author Ayn Rand says, ‘The best, most natural dialogue is usually written as if the writer is listening to dictation. You might get stuck on any particular point and have to question yourself; but normally, dialogue writes itself.’ If you overthink dialogue, it’s very unlikely to sound realistic.

Tess

Feb 15, 20236 min read

Ask an Agent: Samantha Brace from Peters Fraser + Dunlop

Sam Brace is an Agent building a list of crime and reading group fiction. Alongside working on her own list, Sam looks after podcasts for Peters Fraser + Dunlop. At PFD’s digital-first imprint Agora Books, Sam launched the Lost the Plot Writers Competition as well as the Uncrowned Queens of Crime series, which celebrated forgotten female crime writers.

Tess

Jan 16, 20233 min read

What are Comp Titles and How do you Choose Them?

What are Comp Titles? ‘Comp’ is short for ‘comparable’. Comp titles are published books that would appeal to a similar readership as your novel. It’s a good idea to mention two or three comp titles in your cover letter when you submit a novel to a literary agent. It’s likely that a literary agent will then use comp titles when pitching the novel to publishers and that these titles – or new ones – will be used as the manuscript jumps through various hoops to secure a publishi

Tess

Jan 9, 20234 min read

Characterisation: BPA’s Advice for Novel Writers

Characterisation is everything in fiction. Readers love a compelling story, but only if a character’s emotional journey is at its core. Ray Bradbury says this: ‘Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.’

Tess

Dec 29, 20227 min read