Hi! My name is Tolulope Popoola and I’m a Writing Coach and Publishing Consultant at Accomplish Press. I help aspiring authors to overcome their obstacles, clear their doubts and reconnect with their creative side, so that they can finally write and publish the book within them! I also help with structuring and publishing manuscripts after they’re done. I’ve been writing since I can remember, from when I was a little girl, about six years old. But I got teased in school by my friends who thought I was weird, so I stopped. However, I never lost my love for reading and I read anything I could get my hands on. I also continued to write in secret. I kept diaries and journals throughout my teen years, and writing was my therapy whenever I was upset.

Much later, I left school, went off to university and went down the path of Accounting and Finance in my career. One day in the middle of studying for professional accounting exams, I realised I was miserable! I started thinking about my long-term career path and I soon realised that I was not making use of my creative skills and doing the things I was passionate about. In 2006, I discovered blogging and my creativity and interest in writing was rekindled! From then on, I started writing short stories and flash fiction, and learning everything I could about the writing and publishing industry. I took a writing class, I bought lots of books on writing, subscribed to many writer’s groups and started attending literary events. I made a lot of mistakes and learned from them, until finally, in 2008 I quit my job as an accountant to become a full-time writer.

In 2009, I wrote my first novel (which was never published). In 2011, I finished working on my other novel titled Nothing Comes Close which was a spin-off from the series. I tried to get it published traditionally, but I faced rejection from mainstream publishers. Not because my work was bad, but because they thought it was “ethnic fiction” and therefore wasn’t commercially viable.

So I decided to do things my own way, and I founded Accomplish Press which is my publishing, consulting and coaching company. I published my novel successfully in 2012, and it got good reviews so I’m sure I did something right. In addition, I’ve recently published two collections of flash fiction stories; Fertile Imagination and Looking For Something. My writing has also opened many doors for me that I never imagined, including my stories being turned into short films. I’m now on a mission to help other writers like you to write and publish their own novels too.