Is your writing rubbish? That's the provocative question posed above the Literary Consultancy's tent here at the festival and they are offering aspiring writers the chance to find out, for free. Would-be novelists and scriptwriters are invited to dump the first few chapters of their precious work into large metal dustbins in the tent. They are retrieved by a team of five readers – all published novelists or former editors in publishing houses - who then pass judgement with a one-to-one critique.

The Literary Consultancy was founded in 1996 by an ex-Virago editor, Becky Swift, to try to bridge the gap between writers and the publishing industry by offering a detailed, objective opinion on manuscripts. Normal charges for the service are upwards of £150 so it's a bit of a bargain on offer for Port Eliot scribes.

The tent was looking busy almost as soon as it set up this morning and I caught up with would-be novelist Natascha Wolf as she dropped the first few chapters of her 'street lit' novel Raatid into the bin. She's got an agent but has not yet found a publisher and wants advice on how to improve her work. She'll be back in the Lit Con tent at 11.30am tomorrow morning for her critique and has bravely invited me along to listen in. I'll report back on what the experts advised.