Finishing your first book

A series of free writing and editing workshops for people in Scotland working on their first book

Details

As part of our mission to nurture new writing talent, Gutter is offering a series of free, small-group workshops for prose writers working on their first book. Participants will develop their editing techniques, receive feedback on their work-in-progress and get advice on submitting to agents and publishers. The aim is to provide mentoring to those who are almost ready to make the jump to mainstream publishing, and to help them hone the skills required.

Four writers will be selected from applications submitted through the form below. They’ll attend four online workshops, each lasting around ninety minutes. This small cohort of peers will together foster a supportive and creative atmosphere, with each writer helping to provide feedback on the others’ work.

The workshops will be led by Gutter’s managing editor, Malachy Tallack, author of two novels and three books of non-fiction. Malachy’s work has been published by Canongate and Penguin Random House in the UK, and has been translated into seven languages by publishers in Europe and beyond. He is an experienced writing tutor and mentor.

Who can apply?

  • Applicants must live in Scotland.

  • Applicants must be working on their first book of fiction or non-fiction for adults. These workshops will focus on late-stage skills such as editing, so applicants should already have a project well underway.

  • Applicants cannot have published a book of prose before, but can have published in magazines, journals and anthologies, or in another form, such as poetry.

  • Applicants can be signed to a literary agent, but cannot have a book under contract with a publisher.

  • If you have additional questions about eligibility, please email contactguttermagazine@gmail.com.

To apply, complete the form below, including details of your book project, and a sample of writing from that book. The deadline for application is 28th February, and the first workshop will take place in spring 2025.