Edit and Submit Your Novel
Expert industry insight and all the technical tools you'll need to take your manuscript from first to final draft.
Level
What do these levels mean?
Location
Length
- Start Date
- Time
- Tuesdays, 19.00–21.00
- Application Deadline
- Sunday 17 Aug 2025
Places available
£1495
£400 / month for 2 months and a £695.00 deposit
£1495
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Take your draft from finished to finessed
A first draft is a rough block of marble: there's a work of art in there, but to find it you're going to need some specialist tools. Over twelve weeks with an experienced editor and leading literary agent, learn the skills to turn your rough draft into an accomplished novel.
Is this the right course for me?
If you've written a first draft you might know that it can be better but not how. This course will give you the clarity and confidence to tackle an edit - not only for your first novel but for your future work too. Completing a draft is a great start; editing is what makes a professional writer.
By seeing your manuscript from the perspective of the publishing industry you’ll have a unique opportunity to hone it before submitting to agents. For eight sessions, former Editorial Director and experienced editor Rose Tomaszewska will lead a discussion on key ideas and strategies from plotting to characterisation to style. You’ll workshop your own writing with fellow students and examine the decisions you’ve made, exploring what could be made stronger in your novel.
Between classes, students will be asked read one short segment a week (around 3-4,000 words) of each others’ work and share feedback. Not only does this give every student a valuable range of reader responses, it also sharpens your eye for what works and what doesn’t, building the skill to critique your own work. There will also be homework assignments such as reading reviews and visiting a bookshop.
You'll then have four sessions with Literary Agent of the Year 2021 Nelle Andrew, who'll provide invaluable tips and tricks to help your manuscript stand out when it comes time to submit, before kickstarting your next steps.
As part of the course, you'll also receive one of our full manuscript assessments. This will be an honest, constructive assessment from one of our experienced editorial consultants, explaining what's currently working well and what could be stronger, and is designed to help you and Rose ensure you get the most out of the twelve weeks.
All graduates of our Edit & Submit programme will be eligible to attend one Faber Academy Industry Day, a speed-networking event where you will have the chance to finesse your pitch with a Faber editor before presenting your project to up to twenty of the UK's leading agents.
This course consists of twelve two-hour evening sessions, taking place on Tuesdays, 19.00–21.00, with a ten minute tea break. These will be held online via Zoom.
Course Programme
Session 1
Tuesday 30 September 2025, 19.00–21.00
Introduction to Editing...
Session 2
Tuesday 7 October, 19.00–21.00
Story...
Session 3
Tuesday 14 October, 19.00–21.00
Plotting...
Tutors
Rose Tomaszewska
Rose Tomaszewska has worked in publishing for over ten years, helped to set up riverrun, the literary imprint of Quercus, and is...
More About This Tutor
Nelle Andrew
Nelle Andrew joined RML in 2020. She previously worked as an agent at Peters Fraser and Dunlop for eleven years, and prior to that at...
More About This TutorHow to apply
Places on this course are limited and keenly contested, so you'll need to apply. When doing so, we'll ask you to provide two documents:
Your manuscript
Either your full manuscript or if you've yet to fully complete your first draft, as much as you have ready.
Covering letter
Reading your application, tutors are looking to get a sense of you as a writer and as a member of the group. As such, we don't have specific requirements from your covering letter, but it's a good opportunity to tell us what you want to get out of the course, what sort of writing experience you've had, what shape your novel is right now, why you've chosen us and why you've decided to do it now.
Submit your application
That's it! We'll aim to respond to all applications within ten days of the application deadline.
Browse the Reading Room
From author interviews and writing tips to creative writing exercises and reading lists, we've got everything you need to get started – and to keep going.
Recommendations from Faber
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