PatrickMumsnet asked us to review this course which I attended several weeks ago so here goes.
This was a two day course run at the Faber Academy, which seemed to be aimed at those who had written a book of any type, and weren't sure what to do next.
Something I hadn't anticipated was how much I'd enjoy attending a course with other mumsnetters. Although the amount of writing talent in the room slightly intimidated me to start with, it soon became clear that it was a supportive environment in which no-one need compete for attention.
The specialisms of the teachers were mainly literary fiction and thrillers, or at least these are what they referred to the most. For those writing non-fiction, or for children, or romance, etc... the information was less pertinent, and came with caveats of "this isn't really my area...". The genres we were writing in hadn't been asked in advance, and had they been, it may have helped the teachers.
There were apparently spaces for 30, but only 13 booked on. The teachers (a publisher from Faber and an agent) adapted their plan to better suit a small group. To be honest, if there were 30 people there I don't think I'd have learned much, given that I wasn't writing in their specialist areas. It would have stayed very general, with info on publishing that can be gleaned from websites. BUT, due to the small numbers (and the excellence of the tutors) it turned into an excellent opportunity. They drilled down into our individual works in several different ways; our first 2 pages, our title and a 20 word pitch.
The weekend culminated in a short individual session with the two of them (replacing the planned general Q&A) which for me was incredibly helpful and encouraging. I got two pieces of advice in particular, that I couldn't have read online as they are particular to my work/life. I've started to follow them since the course and it seems they could well lead to me landing an agent.
I've done several things of this type now, and this was definitely the best of them. I will consider other Mumsnet Academy courses in the future, though will check with Patrick first that attendance numbers aren't too high and that the material covered would fit in with my work/area of interest.