Write and edit
Manuscript assessment services for authors who want the truth
A full read and a written report: what is working, what is not, and the order to fix it in. It is the cheapest thing we sell and the one we recommend most often.
What it is
The report you want before you spend real money
An assessment tells you whether your manuscript is ready for editing, for submission, or for another draft.
A reader with no stake in your feelings and no stake in selling you an edit reads the whole manuscript and writes eight to fifteen pages about it. Premise, structure, pace, character, voice, and the two or three problems that keep recurring. Nothing is softened, and nothing is cruel.
Plenty of authors take the report away, revise for six months and come back with a much better book, which then costs less to edit. Some discover the manuscript is ready and go straight to a line edit. A few decide to shelve it, which is also a result. If your book is fiction, this is usually the first thing to buy; if you are still deciding between routes, read self-publishing versus traditional publishing first.
- The whole manuscript read, not a sample
- An 8 to 15-page written report you keep
- A call to talk it through once you have read it
- A clear recommendation: edit, revise, or stop
In detail
What the report covers
Three layers, in the order they matter.
Does the book work
Whether the premise holds, whether the structure carries it, where a reader would stop. This is the layer most writing groups cannot reach, because it needs someone who has read the whole thing in two sittings.
- Premise, stakes and what the book promises a reader
- Where it starts, and whether that is the right place
- The chapters doing no work
Does it hold up page by page
Pace, point of view, dialogue, exposition, the balance of scene and summary. We quote your own text back at you — the passages that work as well as the ones that do not, because knowing what to keep matters as much.
- Pacing across the three acts or the chapter arc
- Point of view slips and tense consistency
- Dialogue, interiority and how much is told rather than shown
What to do next, in order
A numbered plan. Not forty notes of equal weight, which is how an assessment becomes useless, but a sequence: fix this first, then this, and leave the sentences until last because half of them will be rewritten anyway.
- Three to five priorities, ranked
- An honest view on whether it is ready to edit or submit
- A rough idea of how much work the next draft is
How it works
How an assessment works
Four stages, about three weeks end to end.
- 01
Send the manuscript
Day 1The complete draft, however rough, plus a paragraph on what you are worried about. Those worries are usually right, and knowing them makes the report more useful.
Your part: Send the file and be honest about your doubts.
- 02
The read
Week 1–2Your reader goes through the whole manuscript, taking notes as a reader first and an editor second, then re-reads the sections that gave them trouble.
Your part: Nothing. Go and do something else for a fortnight.
- 03
The report
Week 3Eight to fifteen pages, structured from the biggest issue down to the smallest, quoting your text throughout, with a ranked plan at the end.
Your part: Read it twice. The first reading is emotional; the second is useful.
- 04
The conversation
When you are readyAn hour on the phone to argue with it, ask what a note means, and work out your next draft. Some authors take this immediately, some a month later.
Your part: Bring your objections. A report you disagree with is still worth discussing.
You keep your rights
Full copyright and royalties stay with you
Fixed written quotes
The quote you accept is the amount you pay
Australian owned
Local team, AUD pricing, GST invoices
Work you approve
Nothing goes to print without your sign-off
Packages
What an assessment costs
An assessment is a standalone report, priced by word count, and the cheapest service here. Its cost is credited against your edit if you go on to book one within six months.
Manuscript
Get the writing right before you spend anything on design.
for a 60,000-word manuscript
- Written manuscript assessment
- One round of structural editing
- Line edit and final proofread
- Australian spelling and style sheet
- A call with your editor at each stage
Publish
Everything needed to turn a finished manuscript into a book on sale.
for a 60,000-word manuscript
- Everything in Manuscript
- Original cover design, print and ebook
- Typeset interior for paperback and ebook
- ISBN registration and legal deposit
- Retailer and print-on-demand setup
- A printed proof copy before you sign off
- You keep the rights and the royalties
Publish and launch
For authors who want readers to find the book in its first month.
for a 60,000-word manuscript
- Everything in Publish
- A launch plan with dates and owners
- Author website with an email sign-up
- Retailer advertising for the first 90 days
- Review and bookshop outreach
- Monthly sales reporting for six months
Every quote is confirmed after we read your manuscript. Prices in Australian dollars and include GST. Longer books and illustrated books cost more, and we will say so before you commit.
Related services
What usually comes next
Questions authors ask
Manuscript assessment: questions authors ask
An assessment tells you what to do; an edit does it. You get a written report and a plan, but no marked-up manuscript and no changes to your text. It costs a fraction of an edit and exists so you can find out whether the manuscript is ready before paying for one.
Honest, specific, and written to be useful rather than to be kind or unkind. It names what is not working and why, quotes examples, and says what to do about it. It also says what is working, which is not flattery — knowing which parts to protect in the next draft matters.
Yes. Some manuscripts need another full draft, some need a different book, and occasionally the honest answer is that this one has taught you a great deal and the next one will be the book. We say that plainly rather than selling you an edit that cannot fix it.
Yes, if you book within six months. The assessment fee comes off the editing quote, so taking the cautious route first costs you nothing in the end. We set it up that way because the alternative is authors skipping the assessment and paying for the wrong service.
We need a complete draft, even a rough one. Structure, pace and ending are most of what an assessment judges, and none of them can be judged from two-thirds of a book. If you are stuck partway, a scoping call about ghostwriting or developmental help may be the better use of your money.
An editor who works in your genre, and you are told who before the read starts. The same person writes the report and takes the follow-up call, so nothing is lost in a handover. If their take on your book turns out to be badly mismatched, tell us and we will have another reader look at it.
Still have a question? A real publisher will answer it.
Start your publishing journeyFree, no obligation
Find out if your book is ready
Send the complete draft and a note on what worries you. Three weeks later you will have a written report, a ranked plan, and an hour on the phone to argue with it.
- The whole manuscript read by an editor in your genre
- An 8 to 15-page report, yours to keep
- A ranked plan for the next draft
- The fee credited against your edit within six months
- 1. You send it
- 2. An editor reads it
- 3. You get a written price