My manuscript assessment service is suited to writers —
- Have one or two short stories, micro fictions, creative nonfiction essays or other literary experiments they want appraised, along with suggestions as to potential journals and other opportunities.
- Who want a highly experienced and empathic editor and author to read their work and respond with expertise, care and engagement.
- Have completed a longer manuscript (e.g. short story collection, creative nonfiction manuscript or novel) and want an appraisal before further revising and/or sending to agents, publishers, or competitions. This is an especially important role for me as a manuscript assessor, helping the writer judge when the manuscript is ready for sending out.
For short story or creative nonfiction essays, you can have your manuscript read before you send it in to a competitor or journal submission. For short works with a deadline approaching, try to make sure you leave enough time for me to read it assessment and for you to do further work on it if need be. And it’s highly recommended for a longer work that you’ve put years into, before submitting to an agent, publishers or competitions.
We begin with a friendly conversation via email or phone about your manuscript and what you’d like assessed, what your aims are for it, and how the work fits in with your other writing, and your publishing aims.
I then read the draft manuscript. I will make notes on the manuscript itself (digital; using comments). I will also provide a detailed report. For short works, I can also do a copy-edit and proof. For long-form manuscripts, I won’t copy-edit, but I will include comments about what’s required in my report. I pay close attention to the work’s genre (literary, hybrid, YA, romance, etc), and its intended readership. My goal is to understand the writer’s aims for their manuscript and to help them achieve those aims.
Start by contacting me to discuss your project.
After the manuscript assessment is completed and sent to you, there’s opportunity to further briefly discuss the report. You can then raise questions, and clarify anything you’re unclear about.
My report will be between 1,000-2,500 words long depending on the length of the original work; feedback for a short story or personal essay will be 1-2 pages in length, and will include in-text feedback. The report will appraise the work overall, taking consideration of its genre and intended readership/audience; structure of the whole and its parts (sections, chapters, scenes) ; characterisation; pacing; language etc. I will provide suggestions for further development of the work.
I’m as supportive of genre writers as I am of others aiming to be innovative and bring new ideas and approaches to established audiences. I gladly work with diverse writers and have a commitment to being a diverse ally.
Manuscript Assessment Rate
- Short story/creative nonfiction essays/chapters up to 3,500 words: $350.00
- 7000 words: $500.00
- 7,500-10,000 words: $600
- 10,000-20,000 words $700
- Novella, novel, long-form narrative, over 21,000 words: $750 + $250 per additional 10,000 words: <71,000 words is $2000; <91,000 words = $2,500; <100,00 words = $2,750.
Process
Start by contacting me. Let me know the kind of manuscript it is and your publishing history if you have published before. From there we’ll have a conversation via phone or email about the best format for sending the work to me; payment; time frames and any other questions you might have.