It’s been an odd week to say the least!  I was going to a meeting in London on Monday and caught the 11.00am train from Manchester – not an unreasonable time for a 2.00pm meeting.  Unfortunately, the overhead electric wires went down and we sat at Leighton Buzzard for hours, then moved slowly on to Tring and sat there for what seemed like days and finally arrived in London at 4.30.  My meeting had already finished and there was nothing for it but to get straight back on the train to Manchester (yes, you’ve guessed it – also delayed).  I’m usually pretty appreciative of Virgin Trains – but they’ll have to come up with some pretty good compensation to make up for this one.

We’ve now moved on to our second 21^st Birthday competition – which gives you the chance to win our Complete Copywriter Course.  All you need to do is come up with a headline for our Comprehensive Creative Writing Course.  If the winning entry is good enough we’ll use the headline in our advertising.  So, not only do you win a great course but you might also get to see your work in newspapers and magazines around the world – certainly something to boost your career if you  have ambitions to earn your living as a copywriter.

Next week I’m handing over to one of our tutors, Esther Newton, as I won’t be here.  I’m off to Marrakesh for a long weekend of luxury and sightseeing. But knowing my track record, I just hope there won’t be any hitches or delays!

And before I go, I’d like to suggest that you check out Words with JAM – an extremely professional writers’ newsletter.  It’s beautifully presented, and has lots of interesting and well-written articles. It’s free and I just hope that the team will be able to maintain such high quality without charging.

Don’t forget, if you’re already a Writers Bureau student we’re still looking for submissions for the next issue of Chapter and Verse. The theme is ‘open’ and the editor, Rob, is accepting submissions until mid-October. Why not visit the Writers Bureau Student Area to read the previous two issues and get details of how to send your own work.

Whether you’re a published writer, or still aspiring to get your work into print, one of the most useful organisations is the Society of Authors. As you’d expect, they have some authoritative guides on agents, copyright, permissions, vanity publishing, rates and guidelines for writers (important when you’re asked to set a fee for your work), plus much more. The membership fee if good value, and with over 8,500 members they have the ‘clout’ to still do what they were founded for in 1884: to protect and further the interests of authors.

Last week I mentioned our new Proofreading and Copy Editing course, but we’ve been busy these last few months and have also made another addition to our range: The Complete Copywriting Course. As the name suggests, it explains everything you need to know to set up in business as a copywriter – whether you want to give up the day job, boost your existing income or top up your pension. In the September issue of E-zee Writer there’s a £60 introductory saving on the course. Even if we can’t tempt you to enrol, I think you’ll enjoy the ezine.

And finally, I’m relieved to see that I’m starting to get comments on previous posts. I was beginning to think that only my mum and her cat were reading my blog…

Until next time!

PS Don’t forget that the closing date for our Twitter short fiction competition is 30th September. It’s free to enter – so get exercising those writing muscles.