Jericho Writers, formally known as The Writers’ Workshop, is well regarded in the writing world and probably best known for hosting the annual York Festival of Writing and offering manuscript critiques. But actually, it does SO much more than that. And it caters for writers at all stages of their career. They are always happy to talk to writers, even without membership, but here are my thoughts on what they offer members.
What it is includes:
Cinema
This is an outstanding, truly unique and invaluable offering. It includes hour-long “feature films” with publishers, agents and authors, “snapshots” (around ten minutes) on a variety of topics and perhaps most exclusively, the “Orion uncut” three-hour trilogy, going behind the scenes to look at the publishing process. This is where you really get what you pay for with the membership. However, there are still topics I feel need to be increased. There is currently a lack of features with successful self-published writers for example. They could also add more genre features such as fantasy and the picture book market.
Video courses and masterclasses
These are excellent and a very high quality. The three video courses and most of the masterclasses are primarily aimed at unpublished (how to write a synopsis etc.) or self-published writers (how to set up KDP, pricing etc.), However given they are free within the membership, I can imagine many published authors watching some of the modules such as self-editing, creating author brand etc.
AgentMatch (formally Agent Hunter which I reviewed many moons ago here)
This database of literary agents does what The Writers and Artist book can’t – it gives an interactive, up to date profile of individual agents, what they are looking for, how to submit, who their clients are and links to relevant web articles. The search function allows you to hone in on the type of agent you want, even how established an agent is and you can also search by an author to see who their agent is. However, there is still room for improvement. I’d like to see a way for writers to store their “favourite” agents, so they could quickly go back and check for updates.
Conversations (aka Slushpile Live)
Members can submit work in advance to be discussed live with an agent and some members have got agent representation and publication as a direct result. These live sessions are available to watch back and are very useful for writers looking for an agent.
Townhouse
This is an online forum where members can ask questions, get support and also critique one another. It doesn’t seem to be used by many of the members and I wonder if something needs to be done to make this a more prominent feature.
10% discount on editing services and tutored courses
This includes manuscript critiques and submission package advice as well as copy-editing service primarily aimed at self-published authors. It’s a nice touch but often competitors such as Cornerstones do flash sales with 10% discounts – for me it doesn’t feel enough of a discount to make it a big selling point. The courses and the tutors look very credible (I haven’t done one myself).
What I’d change
Overall, I like the platform however they NEED a search function! It is so hard and quite frustrating to try to find the resources by topic. You may want to search for every resource they have on editing or picture books or women’s fiction, for example, and as it stands you have to scroll through multiple tabs and could easily miss something.
SO… is it worth it?
First, definitely sign up to their mailing list as Harry Bingham’s emails are excellent! Membership costs $295 a year of $39 a month.* I think as it stands it depends on the stage you are at in your writing career whether it makes financial sense. For me, if you are unpublished and planning to go down the traditional (agented) or self-publishing route, the membership would be money well spent. If you are already an established, published writer, there still definite benefits but as it stands, I don’t think there is enough to justify the membership and here is why.
The below Venn diagram shows how I would categorise the membership benefits it in terms of usefulness at stages in your career. Note these are generalisations (a traditionally published author may find themselves in need of a manuscript critique on book 10 or they might decide to move to being a hybrid author or switch genres). However, broadly speaking, in my view the split it as follows.
What it is includes:
Cinema
This is an outstanding, truly unique and invaluable offering. It includes hour-long “feature films” with publishers, agents and authors, “snapshots” (around ten minutes) on a variety of topics and perhaps most exclusively, the “Orion uncut” three-hour trilogy, going behind the scenes to look at the publishing process. This is where you really get what you pay for with the membership. However, there are still topics I feel need to be increased. There is currently a lack of features with successful self-published writers for example. They could also add more genre features such as fantasy and the picture book market.
Video courses and masterclasses
These are excellent and a very high quality. The three video courses and most of the masterclasses are primarily aimed at unpublished (how to write a synopsis etc.) or self-published writers (how to set up KDP, pricing etc.), However given they are free within the membership, I can imagine many published authors watching some of the modules such as self-editing, creating author brand etc.
AgentMatch (formally Agent Hunter which I reviewed many moons ago here)
This database of literary agents does what The Writers and Artist book can’t – it gives an interactive, up to date profile of individual agents, what they are looking for, how to submit, who their clients are and links to relevant web articles. The search function allows you to hone in on the type of agent you want, even how established an agent is and you can also search by an author to see who their agent is. However, there is still room for improvement. I’d like to see a way for writers to store their “favourite” agents, so they could quickly go back and check for updates.
Conversations (aka Slushpile Live)
Members can submit work in advance to be discussed live with an agent and some members have got agent representation and publication as a direct result. These live sessions are available to watch back and are very useful for writers looking for an agent.
Townhouse
This is an online forum where members can ask questions, get support and also critique one another. It doesn’t seem to be used by many of the members and I wonder if something needs to be done to make this a more prominent feature.
10% discount on editing services and tutored courses
This includes manuscript critiques and submission package advice as well as copy-editing service primarily aimed at self-published authors. It’s a nice touch but often competitors such as Cornerstones do flash sales with 10% discounts – for me it doesn’t feel enough of a discount to make it a big selling point. The courses and the tutors look very credible (I haven’t done one myself).
What I’d change
Overall, I like the platform however they NEED a search function! It is so hard and quite frustrating to try to find the resources by topic. You may want to search for every resource they have on editing or picture books or women’s fiction, for example, and as it stands you have to scroll through multiple tabs and could easily miss something.
SO… is it worth it?
First, definitely sign up to their mailing list as Harry Bingham’s emails are excellent! Membership costs $295 a year of $39 a month.* I think as it stands it depends on the stage you are at in your writing career whether it makes financial sense. For me, if you are unpublished and planning to go down the traditional (agented) or self-publishing route, the membership would be money well spent. If you are already an established, published writer, there still definite benefits but as it stands, I don’t think there is enough to justify the membership and here is why.
The below Venn diagram shows how I would categorise the membership benefits it in terms of usefulness at stages in your career. Note these are generalisations (a traditionally published author may find themselves in need of a manuscript critique on book 10 or they might decide to move to being a hybrid author or switch genres). However, broadly speaking, in my view the split it as follows.
Some aspects (such as the Townhouse and Snapshots) would be useful to all writers, however, you’ll notice that a significant proportion of the resources are geared towards unpublished writers than those already traditionally published. Indeed, there is nothing solely applying to traditionally published writers. What about a video on switching genres? Pen names and multiple twitter accounts? Getting the second book deal? What if your next book doesn't sell? What if you have bad sales and don't out earn your advance? Or what if you do? There is so much that could be explored here.
An alternative solution might be to consider offering a tiered membership – a bronze, silver and gold type structure. Bronze let’s you access a certain number of things and you can top-up if you choose. Gold is for those that want multiple critiques with higher discounts on editing services and tutored courses.
On a personal note, I went to the York Festival of Writing in 2013 and have spoken to Jericho Writers over the years about my writing. Their help was invaluable to me securing my agent and I cannot express how insightful and interesting I’ve found watching many of the feature films and Orion uncut this month.
*I was offered a year’s free subscription to Jericho Writers in exchange for an honest review.
An alternative solution might be to consider offering a tiered membership – a bronze, silver and gold type structure. Bronze let’s you access a certain number of things and you can top-up if you choose. Gold is for those that want multiple critiques with higher discounts on editing services and tutored courses.
On a personal note, I went to the York Festival of Writing in 2013 and have spoken to Jericho Writers over the years about my writing. Their help was invaluable to me securing my agent and I cannot express how insightful and interesting I’ve found watching many of the feature films and Orion uncut this month.
*I was offered a year’s free subscription to Jericho Writers in exchange for an honest review.
