Spotlight: HarperCollins Author Academy

The HarperCollins Author Academy is a brand-new initiative offering free training to support writers from underrepresented Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. 

The Academy is a six-week programme built to equip students with the tools to succeed in the publishing industry. It aims to help writers from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds to become commercially successful in the publishing environment.

The full enrolment criteria can be found on the HarperCollins Author Academy website, but its aim is to discover underrepresented voices with stories to tell. 

‘If you have a story to tell but think voices like yours aren’t heard…

If you’ve been writing for years but can’t get a foot in the door…

If you know there’s an audience for your words but don’t know what the next step might be…

… the HarperCollins Author Academy may be the right place for you.’

The Author Academy courses will run twice a year, launching initially in January 2021, with a second intake in September 2021. 

Beginning the week of January 18, 2021, the courses will run remotely for 6 weeks, with weekly live-streamed tutorials. Students will be supported by a mentor throughout and there will be additional on-demand masterclasses. 

Three live teaching streams will divide the forty-five places in the Academy. There will be fifteen places each in the Writing Fiction Course, Writing Nonfiction Course and Writing for Children Course.

The application deadline for the January course is 6pm on the 15th November 2020. The application and exact course dates for the Autumn course are yet to be released. 

Once students have completed the Author Academy course, they will know how to deliver a solid pitch for publication and, hopefully, participate in the publishing industry.

You can apply for the HarperCollins Author Academy here. Both the application, and the course, are completely free.