Cambridge Evening News - August 24th 2004

A kind heart in the literary world is a rare thing, but Keirsten Clark is that rarity, someone who has quit one of the top literary agencies in the country to start her own company helping writers who get turned down.

`As an aspiring writer myself I began to get so frustrated with the limitations on an agents’ time and the lack of help or direction they were able to give to the writers they rejected,’ Keirsten says.

She started Writing Ltd four months ago from her home in Littlebury and has already been able to move into offices – next to Audley End Station – and take on her first employee.

Keirsten is 26 and a former pupil at St Mary’s Convent in Cambridge. She went on to take a degree at London in applied psychology, but says her true passion has always been literature.

This was nurtured through writing reviews for her mother’s online bookshop, anotherbookshop.com, a Cambridge-based business which offers discounted books.

After university Keirsten joined leading London literary agents, Curtis Brown on work experience, and was soon offered a job.

`I just kept turning up and after two months they gave me a job. I started in the media department, but wanted to get into the book department. Then I was offered the job of assistant to the managing director, Jonathan Lloyd.

`It was very hectic. I did it for two and a half years, and had started agenting my own clients. I found one book on the unsolicited pile, and it is now being made into a film.’

But this author has been a lot more fortunate than most would-be writers.

`It’s absolutely unheard of to find a new writer in the unsolicited pile,’ Keirsten says, adding that it is nonetheless a huge pile, with manuscripts coming in very day. `Most writers come via recommendation,’ she says.

Not so those who use the services of Writing Ltd. Keirsten will not offer to agent their work, or publish it, but she will offer advice, often from experts still working in the London publishing world, on how to have the best chance of getting into print.

`The big agencies get so many manuscripts coming in they are too busy to give a considered response, but it must be so disheartening for the writers.

`I tried to be a bit different when I was at Curtis Brown, to give some advice, but they just kept coming back for more and there was not the time, so I decided to set up a consultancy.’

Keirsten reckons the service she is offering is unique. She charges writers to assess their work, but also helps with advice on areas such as PR and marketing for books, knowing that most agents do not have the time for this.

She says Curtis Brown have been very helpful and the contacts she has made in the literary world are invaluable.

Writing Ltd also advises on ghost-writing, especially for successful businessmen who want to tell their stories, and has a pool of writers.

Illustrators for children’s books is another area where there is a pool.

The company is also helping European writers to break into the UK market, and screenwriting is an area now being developed.

`I want to build a reputation by improving the reputation of literary consultancies,’ Keirsten says. `There are other companies which provide reports, but they charge the writers such a lot of money.

`I want to help writers and not to fleece them. Trying to get published is hard enough as it is.’

Writing Ltd charges £40 to review a submission, £150 for an in depth report on the first 100 pages of a manuscript and 50p per page thereafter. www.writing.co.uk or 01799 544659