Congratulations! You have a completed manuscript! Now what?
Some likely scenarios are:
- You’ve lost all objectivity and have no idea if what you once loved actually works.
- The thought of reading any of it one more time is unbearable.
- You’ve asked friends to read it and their input was wildly subjective and contradictory.
- You haven’t let anyone read it because you’re terrified of criticism.
But you’ve come this far. You owe it to yourself to take that next step and get honest and thoughtful feedback.
All critiques are subjective, but all stories require the same building blocks to be successful.
I will look for:
- Story structure. Does your story have a beginning, middle, and end? Does your protagonist go through a transformation? Is that transformation identifiable?
- Theme. Do you carry the thread of your theme throughout? Does your book have a takeaway message?
- Emotional connection. Are there any missed opportunities in your story? Do you summarize important moments? Have you achieved depth of character?
- Continuity and Factual accuracy. Does the story make sense? What questions are left unanswered?
- Pacing
- Use of dialogue and setting
- Point of view
- Use of language, including verb tense and unnecessary words
Are we a fit?
My favorite genres are memoir, contemporary fiction, women’s fiction, mainstream romance, and inspirational. Or, anything with interesting characters and high-stakes conflict! If I’m not the right person for your story, I’ll let you know. If I think we’re a fit, I’ll do a sample edit of 1,000 words so you’ll know what to expect.
To apply for a critique, please send me a one or two-sentence summary of your manuscript along with an excerpt of no more than 1,000 words. Turnaround for a full-length critique is between 4-6 weeks.
