News – Writer's Edit

Can you believe it? In what feels like the blink of an eye, another year has been and gone. This year, Writer's Edit celebrated its third birthday and we hit more goals than ever before. Milestones Twitter Under the direction of our amazing Head of Tech, Dave Hickman, the Writer's Edit Twitter account now has over 65,000 followers. We've become an influencer in the industry on this platform, and we absolutely love getting to know our community. Image via Unsplash Courses If you've been following our story over the past few years, you'll know that we planned on launching an education platform for exclusive Writer's Edit members. This year, we created over ten courses for creative writers and soft launched them alongside a range of online tools such as a publisher's directory, a jobs board, and an array of workbooks and worksheets to help writers achieve their dreams. There's much more to come in 2017, so stay tuned - we can't wait to share our new developments. Image via Unsplash Reach Our readership and community has grown massively in the last twelve months, and we've made more new writer friends than ever before. While we can't share exact figures with you, we've been absolutely gobsmacked at how far our readership extends across the globe now. It's been a massive year, with 2017 set to be even bigger. Features & interviews Over the last 12 months, we've been lucky enough to be featured on a diverse range of wonderful publications. Image via Unsplash Check out our snapshot of our favourite interviews and features below... Interview with Kimberley Foster of Your Creative Life Podcast Interview with Zita Fogarty for South Coast Writers Centre Interview with Kayla Dean for Millennial Writers Series Interview with Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences (The University of Sydney) Expert Interview Series – On The Craft Of Writing And Content Creation With Media Shower Interview with Camilla Patini of Feminartsy Publishing and Editing Kindling III on Capital Letters I'm also so pleased to announce that I've been invited to be the keynote speaker at Society of Women Writers luncheon and workshops in early 2017. I'm super excited about this opportunity, and will no doubt be sharing the experience with you all in a few short months. Small press success In 2016, we published and launched the third volume of our creative writing anthology series, Kindling. You can read about our killer launch party here. It was another epic event, with readers and writers joining us from all over Australia to celebrate. And guess what? Our first print run sold out. We've had to order a second print run! As per previous years, we've also had some incredible Kindling author success this year... Kindling Volume I author Jenny Bravo has published her second novel, That Was The Year and Kate Liston-Mills, featured in all three volumes has published a short story collection The Waterfowl Are Drunk! with Aussie publisher Spineless Wonders. Kristin Prescott, also featured in all three volumes co-authored a middle-grade novel Into Tordon, published by Midnight Sun. Our very own Kyra Thomsen (nee Bandte) had an e-short published with Spineless Wonders, and Claire Bradshaw was shortlisted for the Newcastle Short Story Award and published in their anthology. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, our authors are constantly pushing themselves to achieve their goals and publishing dreams. We couldn't be prouder to have been a part of their writing journeys. The perfect way to celebrate: 'Kindling' cupcakes! Image courtesy of Yasmin Scheuerer While we've had an absolute blast creating the beautiful Kindling books, and publishing our talented authors over the past three years, we've decided that the third volume of Kindling will be the last. We're looking forward to bringing new projects to life throughout 2017 and beyond. Most popular articles It's always fun to have a look over our most popular articles of the year, and this year is no exception. We've had some incredibly resourceful articles published, here's a snapshot of some of our readers' favourites... The Complete Guide To Bullet Journaling For Writers Ultimate Guide: Structural Editing For Your Novel 7 Common Mistakes To Avoid In Your First Chapter Ultimate Guide: How To Navigate Genres and Subgenres Like A Pro 5 Essential Elements Every Fantasy Novel Needs Ultimate Guide: How To Write A Series You might have noticed we've published a lot more 'Ultimate Guides' this year... These are super extensive and resourceful articles that cover everything you need to know about a topic. There'll be plenty more where these came from in 2017. Our writers What would Writer's Edit be without our writers? We couldn't be more grateful for all the hard work and commitment our talented authors show throughout the year. Image via Pixabay In particular, we'd like to give a massive shout out to Kyla Bagnall and Claire Bradshaw - who are the masterminds behind many of our Ultimate Guides. Kyla and Claire write regularly for Writer's Edit and work incredibly hard to bring amazing content to our readers. You're two insanely talented women, and we're so thankful to have you with us on this journey! Dan Murphy and Zita Fogarty, who've been with us almost from the very beginning also deserve a shout-out for all their amazing articles. We'd also like to give a big warm welcome to some new faces to Writer's Edit: Maggie Doonan, Hannah Clarke, Mihaela Nicolescu, Amanda Fink, and Emma Johnson. It's such an exciting time to be joining the team, and we can't wait to see what you bring to the table. Welcome :) Our editors In a similar vein, Writer's Edit wouldn't be the amazing publication it is without the talented editors who work with us. Writer's Edit Deputy Editor, Kyra Thomsen, Editorial Assistant, Claire Bradshaw, and Founding Editor, Helen Scheuerer at the 'Kindling III' launch. Image courtesy of Yasmin Scheuerer I'd like to say a massive thank you to the Kindling editors: Rory J. Cole, Kelly Emmerton, Kyra Bandte and Claire Bradshaw. These wonderful individuals have stuck around for multiple volumes of our anthology and have offered their dedication, attention to detail and sensitivity over the years. We can't thank you enough for your contributions to our books. Thanks in abundance are also due to the Writer's Edit team: Kyra Thomsen (nee Bandte), Claire Bradshaw and Bernadette Mung. Our platform has grown at an incredible rate thanks to your talent, dedication and innovative ideas. Thank you. Also thank you to our book publicity assistant, Gillian Haines for her help over the course of her internship with us! 2017 and beyond We've had some major changes this year, and they just keep on coming. Firstly, our wonderful Editorial Assistant, Claire Bradshaw has stepped up into the role of Editor. She's been an invaluable part of the W.E. team for well over a year now, and we can't wait to have her working more closely with our authors. We'll be looking to take on a new Editorial Assistant early in 2017, so stay tuned for that! Our other Editorial Assistant, Bernadette Mung stepped down from her role earlier this year to take on a position at an incredible marketing agency - she's already doing amazing things, and we're looking forward to seeing what she does next. Our Deputy Editor, Kyra Thomsen has also stepped down from her role at Writer's Edit. Kyra will be focusing all her efforts on her first fantasy novel, The Crossing, which we're waiting for with bated breath. As I said - some major changes happening here at W.E. HQ, but I can't tell you how excited I am for 2017. 2017 is going to be the biggest year yet for Writer's Edit and our community. Here's what we've got in store for you... Courses In just a few short months, we'll be hard launching our new educational platform for writers. For a small fee, you'll gain access to a range of incredible courses and an exclusive, supportive writing community. We've been working on these courses for a year now, and I can safely say - we're super proud to be bringing them to you very soon! Jobs Board & Publishers Directory We soft launched these tools only a short six months ago and they've garnered a lot of attention and positive feedback. As a Writer's Edit member, you'll be able to search paid writing industry jobs and apply directly to them. This tool is perfect for freelancers and writers looking to support their creative writing with paid writing work. Our publishers directory is another awesome tool for authors looking to submit their work to relevant publishing houses. We've got thousands of publishers and their details all in the one place for you to search. Insider community As I mentioned above, we'll be launching an exclusive Writer's Edit community which will include advice forums and private Facebook groups for collaboration and author help. Image via Pixabay More books? This has been the question on everyone's lips since we announced that Kindling III would be the final volume in the Kindling series. The answer? There are definitely more books on the horizon for Writer's Edit Press. It's something we're incredibly passionate about, and we love sharing new writing with our readers. There'll be more news on this in just a few months. That's a wrap 2016 has been a whirlwind ride for myself and the whole Writer's Edit team, and we're so pumped for everything to come in the new year. However, for the time being, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's supported us over the last 12 months. Whether you've shared a post on social media, written an article for us, purchased a copy of Kindling or sent us a warm fuzzy email, your support means everything to us. To our readers all around the world, thank you. There would be no Writer's Edit without you. Your support and encouragement make our jobs rewarding in so many ways. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, and an incredible New Year! - Helen Scheuerer Founding Editor