Aki Schilz
@AkiSchilz
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Director @TLCUK / Vice Chair @englishpen / Founder @FoundationSwift & #BookJobTransparency / @museumhappiness Facilitator/ Ethical Editing trainer. (Hon) FRSL.
London
Joined January 2010
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Pinned Tweet
📢📢📢Are you a low-income writer interested in bursaries to access professional editing?
Register now for this FREE
@TLCUK
webinar to find out more about the
#ACEsupported
TLC Free Reads scheme, with alumni insights + top tips
✅BSL interpreted
🗓️27/6
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A little kid just got on this bus dressed as a pirate. The bus driver switched on the tannoy system:
'Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. This is to inform you that the second captain of this bus has just arrived. He in the front wearin' a wicked pirate hat.'
The kid is BEAMING
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Ok I am on a bus home and a guy on the phone just yelled YOU ACTUAL LIAR BRUV I SAW THE CARROT CAKE AT THE FUNERAL WIV MY OWN GODGIVEN EYE
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JUST GOT SOME AMAZING NEWS, if you are a woman writer, look out for something big coming soon for YOU!!! ✨✨✨
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When we think about jobs for those who love literature, creativity, and reading, we often default to publishing. It's a great industry but there are lots of other fantastic orgs in the space. What are your favourites? Here are some of mine. A literary industries thread 🧵/
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If you are advertising for an ENTRY LEVEL ROLE, asking applicants for 'current salary' isn't just bad practice, it's flat-out discriminatory. It's off-putting, unnecessary, and sets up too many barriers. That and no stated salary in a job ad is a closed door.
#bookjobtransparency
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Some NEWS 🎉🎉🎉
What a joy and a privilege to join the Board of
@englishpen
. I am very humbled to join esteemed peers to help drive the charity's mission into the future. Creative expression is a gift to be celebrated, protected, and used responsibly.
We are delighted to welcome Director of The Literary Consultancy Aki Schilz as a new trustee:
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Right folks, we have been let down by an agency and despite 50+ individual calls & emails not able to source available
#BSL
interpreters for a 19th Nov event in Norwich, it is now URGENT, we will pay fee + travel from ANYWHERE in the UK, please RT! DM for details
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Mama Schilz
21.02.56 - 29.04.22
We love you immensely and always. My heart is broken.
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Excuse me for the silence but I have been moving house! I am a home owner!!!
(Proper decor coming once we aren't so skint... Excited to make this place feel like home ❤️)
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Literary Twitter! Something positive for the timeline. Have you ever gone to a live reading by a prose (fiction) writer and been really inspired by their reading-aloud style? If so tell me who they are! Readings can be tricky and I'd love to celebrate writers doing them well.
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Last week a man on the bus chanted at me, 'The Chinese are the virus and they shall be purged from the earth, your days are numbered.' Today a man murmured at me, 'You Oriental yeah? You Oriental yeah?' And when I didn't respond, 'Rude bitch'.
Can we not, please.
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I am en route to catch a plane to Japan, to lay mum to rest in her beloved homeland. She's in my hand luggage*. Which is weird and lovely and sad and I can't stop crying thinking she won't be with me any more. But it's the right thing to do. 🏯🎌
(*Ashes, not y'know, body ⚱️)
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Catching a train into London, so I go to get my newly washed black cotton mask out of my pocket and *I have packed a black cotton thong*
Someone actually kill me right now
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How the hell is anyone supposed to apply to a role that doesn't advertise salary? How PRECARIOUS is that, how dependent on someone thinking; I'll be alright. This is a huge barrier, publishing, huge. I will keep saying this periodically. I won't stop.
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Feeling absolutely sick to my stomach waiting to hear about something life changing. I know good energy is in short supply but if anyone has any spare please send my way! Thank you x
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Anyone else feeling this? The first couple of weeks of lockdown for me felt like a panicked scramble, then we levelled out, stabilised, then did some fab innovative stuff which energised me, then a very knotty high-stress patch and now anxiety is bubbling. How is everyone coping?
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'I am Good!: Situating the Self in Crisis'
Worryingly, this sounds like something I would absolutely write. With the prefix and everything.
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Please enjoy my bookshelf which has absolutely no logic, organisational flow or colour coordination. Just books I love.
#shelfie
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37 doesn't quite look as I thought it might, but I am here, and grateful 🎈
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If you know a woman poet who wd benefit from £1k, mentoring, pastoral support, and creative opportunities (with NO expectation of having to perform or publish work), please encourage them to apply to the FREE
@FoundationSwift
#WomenPoetsPrize
d/l 23 July
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Well, this happened! It is a privilege to be signed in today as an Honorary Fellow of
@RSLiterature
. The work I do is never in isolation and I hold the work of those who have gone before, those who are doing the work today to uplift writers, and those who will shine even brighter
Just heard
@AkiSchilz
announced as an Hon Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
@RSLiterature
-congratulations, Aki!
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How to Respond to Challenge.
I've had a go at creating a template. It won't be perfect, but it's a start. I would love to hear what you would add, and will create a second, collective document. Feel free to respond here or by DM in confidence.
LINK:
The weaponising of 'good' & 'bad' makes me uneasy. 'I am not a good person' is a - to be blunt - a manipulative response to being challenged for doing harm.
I have been thinking about what we CAN do when challenged. Would anyone like to see/contribute to a doc I've written?...
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It's official. I can share our good news. Somehow, we have bought a house.
Bye, bye London. Hello Hertfordshire!*
Thank you everyone, your good wishes worked x
(*Well, once we exchange which... is going to take ages, isn't it?)
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Our little flat is back on the market after the buyer pulled out the day before we were due to exchange, and I am sending a prayer into the universe. Please please someone take it quickly so we can keep our dream house in Hertfordshire. Look! It's a lovely flat! 😭
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I saw my parents for the first time in almost a year over the weekend, outdoors. They are both double-jabbed, and we took and passed our lateral flow tests on the morning of the meet-up. Mama Schilz is still very poorly, but I think she is looking rather wonderful, don't you?
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Some literary agents have *always been open to all writers*. Here are a few to start (pls add your recommendations):
@emma_a_paterson
@nikicchang
@EliseDillsworth
@Nelle_Andrew
@nocturnalreader
@Catkcho
@mushenska
@jounwin
@julietpickering
@AbiRFellows
#WritingCommunity
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Mum was a teacher for her entire professional career. Almost 40 years. Her last school are planting a Japanese cherry tree in their grounds, in her memory. How bloody beautiful is that 🍒🌸
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Twitter, please send some luck and good energy my way if you can spare any. Tomorrow I meet a writer whose work means a great deal to me and I am terrified of making a complete tit of myself. Am as prepared as I can be I think. Early bed, clear head, a tiny prayer.
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The moment when you're in an online workshop and a participant's partner quietly creeps into the room to place a cup of tea on their desk, then quietly creeps out. A little spot of tender sunshine.
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I won't be joining Instagram. Or Mastodon. I don't have the appetite or bandwidth, frankly.
Does anyone maybe fancy being a postcard pal? I don't know if I can manage multiple letters, but postcards I can do. Let me know if interested 💌
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I have often wondered if there is a map of UK indie presses, and now there is! Well done Chris of
@saltpublishing
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So delighted to announce that
@TLCUK
has been officially rated OUTSTANDING in our delivery of diversity & inclusion, by
@ace_national
in our latest evaluation. We have worked so hard and there's still a long way to go, but we feel humbled, emboldened, and determined to keep going
Last night we had some really lovely news at
@TLCUK
that we can't announce yet but that made me feel really emotional and very proud. Can't wait to share but meantime incredibly grateful for all the amazing support from our brilliant writers, readers, and community. x
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Someone just shared this in a thread and - my fellow womynz - who can relate?
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I finally have a nice Zoom background! Just don't tell anyone that this isn't actually a bookshelf, and I'm not in an office as I don't have one. This little shelf is usually for pants and socks. Which are now in a crumpled pile off-camera.✌️
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Delighted to have made the
@EMpoweriB
Ethnic Minority Role Model Lists as one of the top 100 Future Leaders in the UK (no.46!). Proud to stand with inspirational people of colour making a significant contribution to ethnic minority inclusion, repping
@TLCUK
&
#BookJobTransparency
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Your regular reminder that for an entry level role based in London, your salary should reflect the current *London Living Wage* (£10.75/h)
USE THIS CALCULATION:
LLW x paid hours per week x 52 = £p/a salary
E.g., 35h week = £19,565 p/a
DO NOT ACCEPT LESS
#BookJobTransparency
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God's sake. Male authors. STOP THIS NONSENSE. And editors. Please have some boobs and stand up to rubbish like this. Even if your client is Veh Important. ESPECIALLY if your client is Veh Important.
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Mum's memorial cherry tree was planted today at the school where she worked for 23 years. Long may it provide shelter, berries, and inspiration to all who walk the grounds. 🍒
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35. Cosy vibes. 🎈
My only birthday wish is for good energy to be sent to Mama Schilz please, it's a big day in her medical journey. Please send ⚡⚡⚡
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I realise I am tweeting at The Time of Sportball so possibly no one will see BUT I am delighted to have been officially voted in tonight as the newest Trustee of
@Poetry_London
who are doing such fantastic things supporting poets and poetry. Pleased As Poetry Punch, folks ✨
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Whisper networks save lives, but they mean our safety is contingent on being 'in the know'. Stop employing known abusers. Stop platforming them. Stop commissioning them. Open secrets aren't just pub gossip. They HARM people. Often, women.
A few years ago, I was in residence at a festival. I was told by the director of the festival not to be on my own with a particular male poet, and to make sure the young poet I was working with as part of my job was also not on her own. Apparently the volunteers at the festival
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A reminder today that 'not staying silent' does not have to mean making grandiose statements online. It can mean doing the work challenging structures that actively marginalise, interrogating our own biases, and committing to making the changes we can make, even if they are hard.
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Um, so I have some news...
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Absolutely horrified and heartbroken today to hear from a client who was 'offered' a publishing contract with a £450/month fee attached. THIS IS PREDATORY BEHAVIOUR FROM A NON LEGITIMATE OUTFIT.
How To Spot a Scam 'Publisher' 🧵
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Baby Aki says thank you so much for all the wonderful birthday messages xxxx
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Now that bootcamp is over (I lost 9.7lbs but more importantly gained the tools to be more healthy in mind and body), I have turned my attention to our brand new loft bedroom!
A before and after.
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Libraries, and the good souls running them, are a blessing to us all. This posted on one of our local community groups has warmed my heart. Thank you, SK x
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This is Ozzy the Cockapoo puppy at 2 weeks and 3 weeks. At 10 weeks he will be coming home with us. We can't wait 💞
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Hello writers. Would you be interested in a webinar on how to write an application for Arts Council funding? Is this something anyone is struggling with or would like to learn more about?...
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Who'd be up for a 'My Journey in Earnings' series from writers and/or people working in publishing?
It would (probably) have to be anonymised but I think this is the kind of thing we could really benefit from seeing and sharing to understand the landscape a bit better?
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Julie, the scheme is for low-income and marginalised or underrepresented writers who have *demonstrably* not benefited from the same opportunities. I am very proud to run the scheme and sorry that our offer to just 5 writers during
#PrideMonth
is so personally offensive to you.
@TLCUK
@mlanganwriter
I fail to understand why there is a free reads scheme which directly relates to sexuality. I thought free reads were about income/means
NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU DO IN BED!!
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Re-working two client synopses readying them for agent pitches and GUYS I LOVE DOING THIS, it's so rewarding.
I know some writers find this part hellish. So...
I'm thinking about writing a quick (Novel) Synopsis Top Tips, would anyone be interested?...
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Hello good afternoon I have finally created a website for
#BookJobTransparency
and it is here:
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Please continue to send good vibes , folks. We have a fight ahead. 💜
(Photo taken pre lockdown)
Folks, I would really appreciate it if you could send some healing energy to Mama Schilz who isn't very well. We are feeling optimistic but it's a really shit time not to be in good health. Good energy very welcome! 💜
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The first email I received this morning was in 20-point font and I still haven't recovered.
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Hello everyone, please can I ask you to send good thoughts for Papa Schilz? Don't want to embarrass him but he does occasionally check my Twitter and he could really do with lots of healing good wishes please after a nasty accident today. Thank you x
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Am I alone in absolutely loathing this quote?
I love books more than the average person, but equating having a big TV with somehow being less trustworthy, less literate, less interesting or maybe .... a bit thick? ... makes me go a bit rage blind.
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I am taking down yesterday's angry tweet because let's face it, we don't need any more anger. But know this. My company is my life. Come at me or my staff or my writers and I don't forget it. What I will also never forget? The amazing support. You guys are the best. Thank you x
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Folks, I would really appreciate it if you could send some healing energy to Mama Schilz who isn't very well. We are feeling optimistic but it's a really shit time not to be in good health. Good energy very welcome! 💜
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To the client who wrote me an entire email and signed of I AM SO SORRY FOR THE CAPS LOCK I DON'T KNOW HOW TO TURN IT OFF, I thank you, most sincerely, for a much-needed moment of levity. The sun always makes its way through. 🌞
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Making Digital Content Accessible.
Lots of people are doing this but here's a few things we do, feel free to add your tips!
*Live caption events
*Subtitle video content
*Provide podcast transcripts
*Add alt text to all images
*Accessibility notes for digital events
What else?
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I am currently doing training with
@MuseumHappiness
to become a Happiness Facilitator. I'm planning to use my learning to support writers and bring this into
@TLCUK
's programmes. Would anyone be up for a free Happiness For Writers session once I'm certified?
#WritingCommunity
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Now into month 4 of chasing a £50 (!!!) freelance payment from a university, where the university has claimed I need something which HMRC have directly confirmed with me I do NOT, in fact, need. Jesus people. Pay your feckin' freelancers. And know what you actually need from us.
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Your friendly periodic reminder to unclench your jaw, unstick your tongue from the roof of your mouth, relax your shoulders, straighten your spine and open your chest.
Deep breath in.
And out.
You've got this.
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UM...
👋
Hugest of thanks to
@benedictepage
for such a wonderful, wide-ranging chat and the opportunity to spotlight our work
@TLCUK
over the last 25 years with, and for, writers everywhere
The latest issue of
#TheBookseller
is out now ⬇️
With a lead story on Audiobooks, a company spotlight on
@TLCUK
(the amazing
@AkiSchilz
takes our front cover) we have an author interview with
@LukeKennard
, PLUS children's previews, charts and MORE:
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Does anyone else who's Asian (or belonging to any kind of so-called 'minority' community) REGULARLY get people saying, a propos of *absolutely nothing*, things like:
I visited Tokyo once when I was 20
My son LOVES Japan
A marvellous people, the Japanese
I love matcha!
🤔🤔🤔
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I have three quite intense work calls in a row this morning and my partner's mum (who we're staying with) is creeping around doing the cleaning as quietly as she can, giving me periodic thumbs-up and mouthing 'GO GIRL!' at me from behind the laptop screen. 😂❤️
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@jounwin
I am her lawyer and have advised her to no-comment any and all further enquiries until I arrive to prove her INNOCENCE.
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The news was LATE but GOOD!
Now feeling exhausted and relieved and grateful and can start a new, important chapter of my life. Thank you for your amazing good wishes and energy, I will keep them close in the coming months as I navigate x
Feeling absolutely sick to my stomach waiting to hear about something life changing. I know good energy is in short supply but if anyone has any spare please send my way! Thank you x
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Gosh. Three years ago I delivered my first keynote as Director of
@TLCUK
at the National Writers' Conference in Birmingham. I cried on the way home because I wished so much I could call Becky and tell her it went well. We are still here, doing the work. What a blessing.
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Here's a thing that still feels very strange, but it's what I am proudest of. Almost 2 years. Who'da thunk. Little old me. Here's to you, Becky,I hope we are doing you proud! 💕
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Your periodic reminder:
Work exp = learning a skill
Internship = practising skills
Anything beyond = employment
Minimum wage = £8.20/h (statutory 21+)
National Living Wage = £8.72/h (statutory 25+)
Real Living Wage = £9.50/h
London Living Wage = £10.85/h
#BookJobTransparency
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No YOU'RE crying because you have received the most amazing email from a writer who had all but given up, and has decided to give it another shot. Keeping going is deciding to put one foot in front of the other. Keeping going is deciding: yes, my voice has value.
Keep going.
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Some good news about Mama Schilz who remains poorly but is responding well to latest treatment. Still a tricky time for us but she is being A Champion. 💜
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.
@orionbooks
has launched a fully paid (£23.5k, pro rated) REMOTE work experience scheme, with one-month placements available for the next 6 months as a pilot scheme. A true industry LEADERSHIP moment from
@HachetteUK
whom I admire more and more each day.
#BookJobTransparency
We're delighted to share details of our new work experience scheme, designed in response to the lack of cultural, class and regional diversity in publishing, along with the challenging job market young people are facing this year. Full details:
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Good morning, this year marks my 10th year at
@TLCUK
and today is the first day of my 3 month career sabbatical. I will be seeking an organisational coach qualification, but mostly, this is my creative reset. 90 days to reconnect with myself, my creativity, my joy. Let's go 🙌
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PUBLISHERS. Advertise your salaries you fucking cowards.
Especially those who said you were absolutely committed to salary transparency following our lobbying, then quietly reneged. You, in particular, I am squinting at in a displeased fashion.
#BookJobTransparency
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My family is experiencing a really, really tough time right now. Ever since we got some Terrible News a crow has been visiting me when I go to walk Ozzy on the common in our village. Today the crow flew wherever I went.
If there was ever a time to believe in guardian angels...
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What a gorgeous surprise to be a new entry on the
#Bookseller150
list! Especially alongside such luminaries as
@SharLovegrove
@KishWidyaratna
@mushenska
@kesp
@BernardineEvari
@KitdeWaal
@fionafmcm
@_KnightsOf
& Jamie Byng's luscious hair.
Vive
@TLCUK
and
#BookJobTransparency
*Drumroll*... Unveiling our annual run-down of the British and Irish book trade’s top movers, shakers and innovators—see this year's
#Bookseller150
list here:
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Just seen a post by a woman who was in my Creative Writing MA, giving writing 'advice'. This woman routinely tore apart other writers' work in group. Because of her I wanted to quit writing. CW institutions, and indeed courses, NEED to look at peer feedback frameworks more.
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We have no dining table, chairs or bookshelves in the new house yet, but we have treated ourselves to a thing
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Might have to delete this later but my bf installed an outdoor camera to keep an eye on his motorbike (some pillock keeps nicking his cover) AND LOOK AT THE FIRST VIDEO IT CAPTURED
I can't
even
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Hello! I'm not a journalist but this is a (kind of)
#journorequest
as it's for an article.
Are you a
#woman
#writer
? Have you faced barriers to
a) writing itself
b) publication?
*because of a lack of TIME?*
Would you be willing to answer a few questions? My DMs are open! Pls RT
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Um. So I have been nominated for an
#H100awards
in the Publishing & Writing Category, alongside some industry folk I really, really admire. I have never had to ask for people to vote for me and I'm dying inside about it but, if you fancy, here's the link:
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Hello, did you know that 92% of charity Trustees in the UK are White British and aged 60-62, and men outnumber women on Boards two to one?
We need more women, people of colour, and younger people on Boards. And more training on governance in general. (Governance can be fun!)
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Celebrating
#BookJobTransparency
wins today.
From 2021 both
@HachetteUK
and
@PRHCareersUK
have pledged to commit to salary transparency. This is HUGE NEWS.
We have been fighting this fight since 2017. It isn't over. But it's working. Change is coming.
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Unpopular opinion alert: some people work irregular hours. If they email you during those hours *and expect you to respond* outside of your schedule, then they are (obv) an idiot. But if you interpret the timing of their email as inherently disrespectful...Maybe the idiot is you?
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I once had a huge crush on someone I vaguely worked with. A man just sat down at the bus stop next to me, wearing the same cologne, and I felt immediately physically dizzy. My stomach flipped and my skin tingled. How can a sensory memory hold so much power?
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I once accidentally poisoned my eyes watching a fridge burn in a field. I was treated at the eye hospital by Bashar al-Assad.
What's your most tenuous claim to fame? My dad's godfather was Bruce Forsyth's dentist....
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