Manuscript Assessment

A manuscript assessment can be a valuable step on the road to getting published. Your friends and family may not have the expertise or the time to critique your work. Our award-winning consultants have both.

We provide detailed readers' reports of fiction, non-fiction, scripts and poetry at all stages of development. We aim to provide honest and detailed critiques that will help you to look realistically at your work, so that you can approach it with fresh energy and vigour. Where weaknesses are highlighted, we will make constructive suggestions for improvements.

Where we have read an entire manuscript, and we firmly believe that work is of a publishable standard, we will approach agents or publishers on your behalf. Our recommendation will help you to short-cut the slush pile and get on to editors' desks. Our readers' reports can be a valuable tool in persuading publishers to read your work.

Our readers' reports vary in length as follows:
2 to 4 pages for short stories and poetry.
5 to 7 pages for a synopsis and sample chapters.
8 to 10 pages for entire manuscripts.

Our readers will annotate parts of your manuscript with pencil, and make comments on the text.  Our aim is to provide helpful editorial feedback and assess your chances of publication. However, we will not act as copy-editors or proof-readers on your manuscript unless this service is specifically requested.

We aim to respond to all requests for manuscript assessments within 6-8 weeks - this is a faster service than most other literary consultancies offer.

A fast-track service of either 1 or 2 weeks may be provided for an additional fee - although you will need to check on availability first.

Resubmitting manuscripts

A fresh fee is charged for reassessment of novels re-drafted after our professional critiques. However, we may be able to offer a 'speed-read' service costing 75 per cent of the standard fee.

We will try to ensure that the same reader reassesses the work to gauge the success of the rewrite. The subsequent report will not be as detailed or as long as the original, but will give a considered overview.

In some instances, a different reader may be more beneficial at this stage.

Copy editing & proof-reading

A good novel can be let down by spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. These can create a bad impression with agents and publishers. Sadly, your computer spell-checker and grammar checker won't pick all these mistakes up.
Our excellent copy editors and proof-readers will ensure that your manuscript is edited to the highest standard and presented in a professional manner.