Courses

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, NON-FICTION Una is a Rights Agent at Susanna Lea Associates and am starting to build a client list. She grew up in London and graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in English in 2021. At university, Una was particularly interested in contemporary West African and South Asian literature. She started as an agent's assistant at SLA London in 2022 and now handles some translation rights and provides support with editorial work and submissions. Una's favourite reads always set her at ease right away and draws her in with impressive and accessible storytelling, memorable characters or an original hook. Una enjoys writing which expands her worldview, makes her laugh out loud or keeps her on her toes with its twists and turns. She welcomes submissions from debut authors and would be keen to read across a wide range of genres and styles. She is looking for literary, upmarket and book club fiction, and is always drawn to stories that explores the challenges and complexities of love and relationships in all its forms —within families, between friends or in romantic relationships. Una loves the way in which familial relationships are dissected in The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright and the impact of the local community in Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson. She is always drawn to novels with a strong sense of community, whether they are unified by geography, culture, or in other unexpected ways. Una has always loved reading international and translated fiction and welcomes submissions from authors writing contemporary fiction that engages with cultures and traditions from around the world, such as in voices of the deities in Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi or the subversive tales of Sayaka Murata. She is not looking for children’s or YA titles, science fiction or high-concept fantasy, but is open to submissions from authors writing in the speculative fiction space, and books with fantastical or otherworldly elements, be that magical realism or supernatural horror, such as Mona Awad's campus novel with a twist, Bunny. Una would also love to read more writing that engages with the natural world and reminds us of the limitations of human understanding. In non-fiction, Una enjoys books that furthers her understanding of wider societal issues — nature and the environment, culture, and little-known history. Her recent non-fiction favourites are Eve by Cat Bohannon, Doppelgänger by Naomi Klein and Unearthed by Claire Ratinon. Una would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first three chapters or 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Una is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Wednesday 20th August 2025

🌿 Guided Minds: A 12-Month Meditation Journey Create calm, clarity & connection—one month at a time. Guided Minds is a year-long meditation programme designed to help you build a sustainable, enriching practice through monthly themes, supportive sessions, and practical tools for real life. Whether you're new to meditation or looking to deepen your experience, this programme will guide you with compassion and clarity. 🔁 Programme Format Weekly Live Sessions (Online & In-Person) Monthly Themes & Challenges Guided Meditations & Practices Supportive Community Access to Session Recordings Join monthly or commit to the full journey—the choice is yours. 🌟 Monthly Themes Overview July: Making Meditation a Healthy Habit Learn how to create a sustainable daily practice using breath, posture and science-backed techniques. ✔️ Relaxation response ✔️ Meditation for clarity & calm ✔️ Core practices: breath, posture, stillness ✔️ In-person Session 5: “Pulling It All Together” August: Meditation & Mindfulness Focus on the profound benefits of meditation: ✔️ Stress relief, heart health, immunity ✔️ Slowing ageing, boosting self-compassion ✔️ 3 Principles: Habituation, Wisdom, Openheartedness ✔️ Diamond Dedication Meditation September: Calming a Wandering Mind Tame your busy mind through simple, powerful practices. ✔️ Focused attention vs. mind-wandering ✔️ Thought loops & rumination ✔️ Colour, mantra & visualisation meditations ✔️ Mindfulness of thought October: Creating a Mindful Life Bring mindfulness into everyday moments. ✔️ Living in the now ✔️ Radical acceptance & surrender ✔️ Senses as anchors: sound, touch, breath ✔️ Showing up fully for life November: Meditation for Stress Relief Practical methods to manage stress & emotional overload. ✔️ Good vs. bad stress ✔️ The ego, fight/flight, and impermanence ✔️ Gratitude & visualisation ✔️ Overcoming obstacles to meditation December: Rest & Reflection Warm the heart and calm the mind before the holidays. ✔️ Body-based awareness ✔️ Reviewing your progress ✔️ Meditations for resilience ✔️ Peaceful practices for winter January: Meditation for Positive Emotions Start the year with joy, love, and purpose. ✔️ Heart-opening meditations ✔️ Gratitude & happiness ✔️ Intention-setting with optional cacao ceremony ✔️ Emotional healing & connection February: Meditation for Well-Being A holistic approach to health from the inside out. ✔️ Four foundations of mindfulness ✔️ Forgiveness (including Huna meditations) ✔️ Body-mind connection ✔️ Compassion and curiosity March: Deeper into Meditation Explore advanced techniques with renewed clarity. ✔️ Insight, wisdom, open-heartedness ✔️ Posture & Nine-Cycle Breathing ✔️ Concentration & mental clarity ✔️ Appreciation for life April: Meditation for Relaxation Recharge your nervous system with rest-focused meditations. ✔️ Body scan & breath awareness ✔️ Guided deep relaxation ✔️ Calming anxiety & overactivity ✔️ Rest as a radical act May: The Art of Living Live with intention and reverence. ✔️ Meditation on impermanence & emptiness ✔️ Self-love & emotional nourishment ✔️ Present moment awareness ✔️ Breath as a life companion June: Meditation on Inner Peace End the year rooted, spacious, and unshakable. ✔️ Letting go of resistance ✔️ Unflappability & mental resilience ✔️ Responsibility & self-awareness ✔️ Lasting inner calm and clarity 💷 Pricing Options Online sessions: £10 each In-person sessions: £15 each Join the Guided Minds Meditation Community for £28/month ✓ Includes all sessions (online & in-person) ✓ Unlimited access to recordings ✓ Bonus practices & group support 🌱 Ready to begin? Each month offers a new opportunity to reset, reflect and grow. Join any time, or commit to the full year and transform your relationship with your mind, body and life.

This is a gateway course for all further learning in FD&FA systems.

LOOKING FOR: MG, YA, ADULT FICTION, ADULT NON-FICTION, NON-FICTION FOR 7+ Megan Carroll is looking for writers in a variety of areas, and from a wide range of backgrounds – she is particularly keen to hear from Black, Asian, and LGBTQIA+ writers. Her main areas of focus this year are adult fiction and non-fiction, as well as non-fiction for 7+, and MG and YA fiction. In Fiction, Megan is keen to see high-concept love stories (think The Flat Share or The Lock In) for both commercial and reading group readers. She’d love to see those familiar romance tropes – enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, love triangles, forbidden love etc. – with underrepresented characters at the centre. She is also looking for historical fiction and gothic horror (think Laura Purcell, Stacey Halls and Silvia Moreno-Garcia) – anything that has a creepy, uneasy undertone is likely for Megan’s list. Megan is also actively looking for upmarket fiction and would love to see layered family drama, contemporary stories about life today and darkly comic novels that explore a specific time, place or experience. In Non-Fiction, Megan is keen to hear from experts in their field talking about topics relating to film, music, true crime, popular culture, history and issues from largely unrepresented perspectives. She is keen to see memoir, narrative non-fiction and essay collections. In Children’s and YA, she is keen to see contemporary YA with humour, and romance at the heart – fun and emotional stories that appeal to the interests and issues of the teenage readers. She’d also love to see thrillers and horror stories for this age group too. It’s unlikely that high fantasy novels for YA readers will be right for her, but she is keen to see stories with fantasy elements in a real world setting. On the younger end, Megan is looking for funny, contemporary middle grade – think Louise Rennison and Karen McCombie – and anything creepy and spooky for 8-12 year old readers too. She’d love to find something like Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and is keen to find original adventure stories in both fantasy and realistic settings. Megan would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first three chapters or 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Megan is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Tuesday 26th August 2025 at 9am UK BST

This course will develop knowledge from the FD&FA foundation BS 5839-1 module and/or industry experience and apply this to the design of FD&FA systems.

GDPR Practitioner

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION Marilia Savvides founded The Plot Agency in 2024. She began her career in publishing at Peters Fraser and Dunlop, where she spent eight years, first as International Rights Agent, and later as Literary Agent, building her own list of authors. In 2019, she joined 42MP, where she worked as Literary Agent for four years, helping to launch and set up the Book Division. She is particularly interested in fiction that is beautifully written and cleverly constructed, but still accessible to a wide readership. She is often drawn to darker tales that weave together excellent characters and an impossible-to-put-down story, from immersive book club novels with a splash of suspense, crime and thrillers, accessible horror, and speculative, genre-bending or dystopian stories. She also adores smart, witty contemporary rom-com in the style of Emily Henry. In the thriller, crime and mystery space she is interested in most areas, except military thrillers and organised crime/ mafia / mob stories. Big hooks and clever set ups are a big bonus! She adores Karin Slaughter (especially her standalone novels) and Gillian Flynn. In the book club / reading group space, she’s particularly drawn to fiction in the vein of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty and Celeste Ng, and absolutely fell in love with Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll, both for the incredible voice, and the exquisite use of structure and time. Complicated family dynamics, empathetic and smart approaches to controversial issues, stand out protagonists (like Elizabeth Zott in Lessons in Chemistry or Bernadette in Where D’You Go Bernadette), long buried secrets, complicity, the road to justice, and impossible decisions, are all themes she finds herself drawn to. In the horror space, she’s a sucker for amazing female-centric stories in the vein of Yellowjackets, and the kind of contemporary, accessible horror that Stephen King always nails. She wants to get lost in a world that feels within reach of ours. In the speculative and dystopian spaces, she’s interested in genius ideas that set up big questions or reflect the most broken (and sometimes hidden) parts of society. She loves Octavia Butler, Margaret Atwood, George Orwell, and also adored The Leftovers, Station Eleven, Wanderers, and The Power. The what-ifs of life and fiction fascinate her. In the grounded sci-fi space, she’d love to find a smart, immersive, and accessible story like The Martian. She doesn’t represent fantasy or romantasy. In regards to sci-fi, unless it’s very grounded and has crossover potential to a mainstream audience, it’s not for her. In the romance space, she’s particularly drawn to smart, complex and witty characters, where the chemistry is jumping off the page. She loves contemporary settings and all the tropes, though the voice and characters must come first to make the reading experience fully immersive. She wants to be cackling, and rooting for the characters with all her heart. She is very hands-on editorially, and loves working with her authors to shape their manuscripts, and brainstorm ideas. The best part of the job is discovering debut authors, and helping them find a home for their books. Marilia would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 - 2 page synopsis and the first 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single Word document.  (In addition to the paid sessions, Marilia is kindly offering one free session for low income/underrepresented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Wednesday 13th August 2025

Learners will develop knowledge from the FD&FA foundation BS 5839-1 module and/or industry experience and apply this to the installation of FD&FA systems.

Despite being a requirement under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017), in 2023/24 the SRA found that 19% of files reviewed did not contain a client and matter risk assessment (CMRA), with a further 12% of files containing ineffective CMRAs.  At best, the firms conducting these files were putting themselves at risk of regulatory action for failure to comply with the MLR 2017. More seriously, firms may have been facilitating money laundering through their failure to adequately assess and address the risks posed by clients and matters.  The SRA has issued a number of significant fines to firms with no, or insufficient, CMRAs in place. In the year August 2024 to July 2025, firms were fined over £950,000 where ineffective or missing CMRAs were noted.  Although a firm’s MLRO, MLCO or its managers bear ultimate responsibility for ensuring its compliance with the MLR 2017, it is the responsibility of all those working on behalf of the firm to conduct and document the appropriate processes and checks on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, it is imperative that all staff understand not only how to complete a CMRA, but also the importance of doing so thoroughly and correctly.  This course will assist fee earners and support staff in confidently and competently completing client and matter risk assessments, understanding the types of risks to be identified and the importance of correctly identifying these.  Where the SRA has found failings at firms in respect of CMRAs, it has almost unanimously also found shortcomings in other areas of AML compliance. Where concerns are raised regarding a firm’s compliance with any aspect of the MLR 2017, the SRA will probe further and look into all areas of AML compliance. For information about DG Legal’s full range of AML training courses, please visit https://dglegal.co.uk/training/upcoming-premier-training-courses/.  Target Audience This online course is suitable for staff of all levels, from support staff to senior partners. Resources Comprehensive and up to date course notes will be provided to all delegates which may be useful for ongoing reference or cascade training. Please note a recording of the course will not be made available. Speaker Paul Wightman, Consultant, DG Legal A qualified barrister, Paul graduated in Law from Birmingham University and was called to the Bar in 1994. He subsequently spent almost 20 years working for the Law Society of England and Wales, initially within the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors, then the Legal Complaints Service (LCS), and ultimately the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Paul is adept at undertaking audits and providing succinct reports on areas for improvement and can assist firms with advice on all aspects of SRA compliance and Anti-Money Laundering procedures.

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION Francesca Riccardi is a literary agent at Kate Nash Literary Agency. She has previously worked in sales roles at HarperCollins, Constable & Robinson, Atlantic Books (where she was recognised as a 2017 Bookseller Rising Star), and most recently was sales and marketing director for Canelo. She has worked with authors including Holly Seddon, Rachel Lynch, Cesca Major, Robert Fabbri, Marion Todd, M C Beaton, Catherine Ryan Howard, and Phil Rickman. Francesca is looking for character-driven popular commercial adult fiction across all genres. She loves books with a strong voice and sense of place, and is particularly interested in stories that are high concept, appealing to a millennial audience, and showcase lesser known experiences and/or female and diverse narratives. Francesca would like you to submit the first 5000 words of your manuscript, a synopsis and your cover letter in that order in one single Word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Francesca is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Tuesday 26th August 2025