I always wanted to be a writer…

When I was 15, my school careers advisor told me that writing wasn’t a ‘real career’ and I should give up on my dream and study French.

I did as I was told and studied French instead of English.

At the age of 20, the only thing I had published was a concert review in the university magazine.

Writing my first book – French Tarts

At the age of 21 I found myself alone, bored and lonely in a northern French town, teaching English to unwilling teenagers, living in a room without access to a kitchen.

I would spend my time off wandering the steep, grey streets looking longingly into the windows of the patisseries and learning to eat an entire brioche, baguette or camembert in a sitting.

But it was while staring at the lemon, apple and blueberry tarts that the idea for a cookbook came to me – French Tarts.

I didn’t have a kitchen, so I’d ask the people I did know (mainly shopkeepers and teachers) to invite me to dinner and make me a tart and in exchange I’d put their recipes in my book. In one fell swoop I had solved my loneliness, found a way to eat homecooked food and given myself a reason learn to type and write a book.

Each of those recipes as accompanied by a story about the people who gave me their recipes.

French Tarts was published by Octopus, the first publisher I approached.

I was 24.

It was translated into French and won an award for being one of the best French cookbooks of the year!

This was 1985 and the Quiche Lorraine was gaining popularity even if Arnold Schwarzenegger did famously say, “Real men don’t eat quiche.”

In that remote corner of Normandy I had awakened my writer within.

This taught me six things:

1. Start with a good idea
2. Have an idea that others want to read about
3. If you don’t know everything about your topic ask people who do
4. You don’t need qualifications to be a writer, you need passion
5. Ordinary stories of ordinary people are pure gold
6. You can learn all you need to know while you are writing

Setting up Summertime Publishing

Once French Tarts came out other publishers began to take me seriously and a few years later I was commissioned by Macmillan and McGraw Hill to write them some word processing handbooks.

They told me my first manuscript was rubbish and to start again, so I did.

Again, I learned on the job, discovering all there was to know about the publishing process.

By 1997 I had been living in Dubai, Oman and Norway and, on returning to the UK, decided to specialise in writing about living overseas.

I started Summertime Publishing in 1997 in order, A Career in Your Suitcase, now in its fourth edition.

Expanding into partner publishing in 2008, Summertime and its sister imprint, Springtime Books, have published over 200 books for worldwide clients with me as Managing Editor and Jack Scott, author of Perking the Pansies and other books, as Business Manager.

All our books can be found at the Expat Bookshop.

Between 2005 and 2020 I lived in the Netherlands and Malaysia but am now repatriated with my husband to the UK while our adult children lead their own lives in Europe.

Mentoring new writers and running online writing courses

About Jo Parfitt

I’m Jo Parfitt. I didn’t initially have the courage to be a writer, but after taking my first leap writing while on a lonely exchange in France I’ve gone on to publish 33 books, set up a publishing company and helped hundreds more people get in print or develop a passion for writing. 

I wanted to be a writer when I grew up..

When I was 15, my school careers advisor told me that writing wasn’t a ‘real career’ and I should give up on my dream and study French.

I did as I was told and studied French instead of English.

At the age of 20, the only thing I had published was a concert review in the university magazine.

writing my first book – French Tarts

At the age of 21 I found myself alone, bored and lonely in a northern French town, teaching English to unwilling teenagers, living in a room without access to a kitchen. I would spend my time off wandering the steep, grey streets looking longingly into the windows of the patisseries and learning to eat an entire brioche, baguette or camembert in a sitting. But it was while staring at the lemon, apple and blueberry tarts that the idea for a cookbook came to me – French Tarts. I didn’t have a kitchen, so I’d ask the people I did know (mainly shopkeepers and teachers) to invite me to dinner and make me a tart and in exchange I’d put their recipes in my book. In one fell swoop I had solved my loneliness, found a way to eat homecooked food and given myself a reason learn to type and write a book. Each of those recipes as accompanied by a story about the people who gave me their recipes.

French Tarts was published by Octopus, the first publisher I approached. I was 24. It was translated into French and won an award for being one of the best French cookbooks of the year! This was 1985 and the Quiche Lorraine was gaining popularity even if Arnold Schwarzenegger did famously say, “Real men don’t eat quiche.”

In that remote corner of Normandy I had awakened my writer within.

This taught me six things:

• Start with a good idea
• Have an idea that others want to read about
• If you don’t know everything about your topic ask people who do
• You don’t need qualifications to be a writer, you need passion
• Ordinary stories of ordinary people are pure gold
• You can learn all you need to know while you are writing

Setting up Summertime Publishing

Once French Tarts came out other publishers began to take me seriously and a few years later I was commissioned by Macmillan and McGraw Hill to write them some word processing handbooks. They told me my first manuscript was rubbish and to start again, so I did. Again, I learned on the job, discovering all their was to know about the publishing process.

By 1997 I had been living in Dubai, Oman and Norway and, on returning to the UK, decided to specialise in writing about living overseas. I started Summertime Publishing in 1997 in order , A Career in Your Suitcase, now in its fourth edition. Expanding into partner publishing in 2008, Summertime and its sister imprint, Springtime Books, have published over 200 books for worldwide clients with me as Managing Editor and Jack Scott, author of Perking the Pansies and other books, as Business Manager. All our books can be found at the Expat Bookshop. Between 2005 and 2020 I lived in the Netherlands and Malaysia but am now repatriated with my husband to the UK while our adult children lead their own lives in Europe.

Mentoring new writers and online writing courses through Jo Parfitt website

My love of ‘sharing what I know to help others to grow’ has led me to teach thousands to write articles, books and life stories. I teach and speak all over the world at schools, women’s clubs and international conferences. Several of my programmes are available for self-study, as books or to be learned in groups, online. My main focus is on teaching others to write how-to books, memoirs and life story.

I work as a mentor and consultant for new writers and take on a very small number of clients every year. I have worked with hundreds of new writers, most of them go onto to publish and sell their work. My intuition and my ability to see ‘the big picture’ and give concise, constructive feedback make me the natural first stop for all new writers in a range of genres, but inevitably mostly in the living and working abroad category.

In short, I help people to write their stories. I inspire my students to awaken their writer within. I do this in the following ways:

• Online classes
• Live classes
• Self-study classes
• Residential workshops and retreats
• Talks and keynotes
• Books and blogs
• Podcasts and videos
• One-to-one mentoring and consultancy
• With publishing through Summertime Publishing and Springtime Books

Jo Parfitt’s writing courses