HISSAC Highlands and Islands Short Story Association and Writing Competition

Mentorships

We strongly believe in encouraging new talent, and also that it is imperative for writers of all stripes to get an objective and critical view of their work before submitting it to agents or publishers, or going down the digital route to publication.
To this end our Chairperson, Man Booker nominated novelist Clio Gray, who was also Long Listed for the Bailey's Prize 2016, has agreed to take on a number of writers to mentor.
Places are limited, so please first send an outline of the project you want to work on, along with a brief sample of your work.

  • £75 for one long, or several shorter, short stories, up to a total of 10,000 words
  • £170 for a work in progress, up to 50,000 words
  • £299 for a novel up to 100,000 words

If accepted onto the scheme we will advise you on how to submit payment, which can be either by Paypal, BACs or cheque.

A good number of people who have completed HISSAC mentorships with Clio have gone on to be published.

See below for just a few, and do click on our Success Stories page too.


And here's what our Mentees have to say:

How HISSAC & the Mentorship Programme helped me to publication

What I Learned From My Mentor

Just published in 2019, Mrs Winchester's Gun Club by Douglas Bruton
Douglas is a several times previous HISSAC Winner and partaker in our Mentorship Scheme.


Buy this Book

To buy directly from Douglas's publisher
Click here



One of our proudest moments was when Emma Timpany won an award with her novella Travelling in the Dark



Click here for details



In 2015 Lyn Farrell's The Wacky Man was not only published by Legend Press, but won the Luke Bitmead Award

Click here for details
Click here for more on The Luke Bitmead Award



For an in-depth look at the mentorship process, here's an account of Lyn's experiences:




In 2014, Alex Morgan's quirky first novel Tandem won the prestigious Hookline Novel Competition which meant publication, the novel then short listed for that year's Guardian Debut Novel of the Year.




For details of Alex's book and others please visit our Success Stories page.


Joyce MacKenzie was in her eighties when she took part in our Mentorship Scheme, publication of her two novels a direct result








Please visit our Success Stories for details page.