ELEVATE is an Arts Council funded scheme that pairs low-income and/or underrepresented writers with specialist editors to develop their work. Each month, we will offer three hours of mentoring with a specialist editor to two writers (we will select the best-suited editor from either our Core, Market, or Industry tier), supporting a total of twenty-four writers.

Applicants are invited to submit their opening pages and synopsis, alongside details of how they are suited to a scheme promoting inclusivity. Writers may be from a low-income background, identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour) and/or LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual), and/or have a disability. Successful candidates will receive a tailored one-to-one experience, where editors will review materials, workshop techniques, and answer queries about the writing, editing, and submissions process.

Those eligible will be writers of adult or children’s fiction and non-fiction, and, as with all Cornerstones projects, we will only take on manuscripts that are beyond the creative writing stage – these may be partial drafts or completed works. If you have previously worked with Cornerstones on a manuscript, please note that this manuscript will not be eligible for ELEVATE.

Selected writers will be paired with a specialist editor who will be able to review materials, workshop techniques, and answer queries about the writing, editing, and submissions process. Editors will be able to offer as much guidance as time allows; in any case, three hours will be enough time to review a writer’s query letter, synopsis/proposal, and first chapter. A further sixty mentoring hours are available to allocate to projects that could benefit from additional help.

Application windows: 1-21 February; 1-21 July (now CLOSED)