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Member only guide to the Australian book industry.
Have a first draft but don’t know how to improve it? Need help with structure or character development? Looking for professional support to strengthen your manuscript?
The ASA offers mentorships to all published and unpublished writers and illustrators with a work in progress. Creators work closely with their chosen mentor for a set number of hours within a fixed time period to help bring their work to a publishable standard. Discussion may take place via phone, teleconference and email.
Before you book your mentorship, we ask that you consider the reading time required of your mentor. Reading time is included in all mentorships and informs the chosen length of your mentorship.
For a build your own mentorship, you will be asked to submit:
If you are seeking a mentorship for a graphic novel, you will be asked to submit a 3-4 page outline of your story arc and ten pages of comics script. Thumbnails/roughs are optional.
In your booking, you will be asked to list the three mentors you would most like to work with, in order of preference. You can learn more about our mentors at our mentor register.
Once you have submitted your booking, you should receive an automated email confirmation from [email protected]. Please check your spam/junk folder if you don’t receive this email after submitting your booking.
Please note that we ask for upfront payment for all our mentorships. This is to ensure our mentors are paid promptly for their work. If this is difficult for you (especially in the case of a lengthy mentorship), please email [email protected] to discuss your payment options.
We will attend to your booking request within 2-3 business days. We will contact your preferred mentors (in order of preference) and notify you as soon as we have a mentor confirmed or more information available. You will receive email updates about your booking from [email protected]. Once a mentor and time frame is confirmed for your mentorship, your mentor will be in contact to get the mentorship underway.
Members: $625Non Members: $925
Members: $1,190Non Members: $1,760
Members: $1,695Non Members: $2,505
Members: $2,140Non Members: $3,160
Members: $2,525Non Members: $3,725
Members: $3,030Non Members: $4,470
Make sure you’ve included your mentor’s reading time in your time estimate. As a general rule, 10,000 words will take three hours to read, 35,000 words will take eight hours, and 70,000 words+ will take sixteen hours. If your manuscript is over 100,000 words, get in touch to discuss the best options for you.
Our current list of mentors includes specialists in diverse areas from genre fiction, to journalism, to illustration and beyond. They’re all highly credentialled, with multiple publications and at least five years of professional mentoring experience.
