About Sophie

Let me tell you about who I am now and who I used to be.

Now, I’m lucky enough to be published in 49 languages, and to have sold millions of copies of my books across the world. I’ve taught Creative Writing for more than twenty-five years — to students at Trinity College, Cambridge, where I was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts between 1997 and 1999, and at hundreds of schools, colleges, universities, libraries, literary festivals and residential writing centres (like the wonderful Arvon Foundation centres) all over the UK and also abroad. I’ve helped many writers to develop their ideas and find agents and publishers for their books.

I feel very lucky to have had more than twenty-five years’ experience (including many joyful moments and many painful ones) in the book-industry trenches, as a published author in many different genres — poetry for adults and children, general fiction for adults and children, crime fiction, self-help. I’ve also written two musicals, in collaboration with my genius composer friend Annette Armitage, one of which I helped to turn into a movie. I’ve learned so much since 1992, when I published Carrot the Goldfish, my first picture book for children, and I’ve put everything I’ve learned into the Dream Author programme so that you can learn from it too.

I wasn’t always as lucky as I am now, however. I used to think about my writing in a way that could make me seriously unhappy. In 2004, before I heard that Hodder & Stoughton wanted to publish my first crime novel, Little Face, I feared that no one would ever publish or read this novel that I loved so much and that I’d poured my heart and soul into. That state of fear was horrible — I still vividly remember how disempowered and confused I felt, how full of self-doubt. If I’d only known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have worried for a second; I’d have known that, as a writer yet to launch herself upon the crime fiction scene, I was in a position of great power and potential. If all my publishers dumped me tomorrow, I’d be sad that those relationships were over, of course, but I would not feel confused or disempowered. I would set a new goal, make a new plan and take steps to put that plan into action — and, crucially, I would believe that I could succeed. I would fully understand, after more than twenty-five years as an extensively published writer, that it’s what’s happens in my mind that matters most, not what happens to my books in the outside world.

I’ve created the Dream Author programme so that you can all have the opportunity to put yourselves in that same strong position: knowing you can cope brilliantly with temporary setbacks and even massive failures (I’ve had *so* many of these, and they’ve all, ultimately, been good for me) and still take steps towards achieving your writing dreams no matter what life throws at you. And if you don’t currently believe that’s possible, all I can say is that by the end of my fourteen month Dream Author programme, I bet you will believe it as strongly as I do. I’ll have fourteen months to prove it to you, won’t I? And let no one say that I don’t love a challenge!

You can find and follow me all over the internet:

Is Dream Author just Sophie Hannah? Is there anyone else involved?

I (Sophie) do all the coaching and content creation, but there are other people involved in helping to ensure that Dream Author runs smoothly! Kate Jones (my sister-in-law!), who has worked for the London School of Economics’ summer school, manages the administrative side of things, so some emails about the practicalities of Dream Author might come from her. And my website designer and marketing dynamo Faith Tilleray takes care of everything relating to the Dream Author website and mailings, helped by her assistant Naomi Adams.