FORMER West End actress Charlotte Thornton has published her first book with tips on how to get to the top.

In ‘Talent isn’t Enough – Ten ways to enhance your chances of acting success and develop the winner’s mindset,’ the author comes up with the best strategies for acting success gained along the way from fringe festivals to the West End.

“It’s the book I wish I had had when I was 20,” said Charlotte, who lives in Haslemere’s Hammer Vale, and appeared in the 2006 romantic comedy ‘Confetti,’ starring Jessica Stevenson, Olivia Colman, Martin Freeman and Jimmy Carr.

“I had no contacts, no mentors, I didn’t even have an agent for a long period of time, so I took the long route to success.

“Now I want to fast track other actors, by sharing what I now know.

“The industry is tough, competitive and often unfair. There is no magic bullet,” added Charlotte.

“But, what I want to do is show actors how they can play the cards they have been dealt, better than they currently are, and empower them to take their career further than its current trajectory.”

After training at London’s Mountview Academy, she made her West End debut some 11 years later and has performed at the Vaudeville, the Apollo and the National theatres.

Charlotte also spent five years as an agent in a London co-operative agency and is now a coach and mentor for other actors.

The author is giving a motivational talk ‘Solving the Problem: You are Brilliant, but nobody knows you exist’, at the Actors’ Expo, which is being held at London’s Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, on Saturday, February 3.