Do you have an unpublished novel or a non-fiction manuscript ready for submission to publishers or agents, or maybe you’re considering self-publishing? Before you take the plunge and hold your breath, hoping for success, it is prudent to submit your manuscript for a professional objective critique. So why not take advantage of my fee-reduction offer for the month of September to provide a manuscript assessment of your writing project?
I am an experienced assessor of most genres, including Women’s fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Literary, Fantasy, Sc-Fi, Mystery, Historical and Crime* novels. I have also assessed a broad range of non-fiction, including memoirs, biographies and academic books. I keep up-to-date with publishing trends.
Please be assured that if you ask me to assess your unpublished manuscript, I will be your contact and undertake the assessment personally.
I do not engage freelance reviewers to read manuscripts sent to me and write appraisals because I believe it’s essential for me to develop a flow-through understanding of each writing project and the author’s writing style. This means that following the assessment, I can answer your questions with full knowledge. It also means you save money because I don’t have to pay someone else to do the assessment for me.
I am able to complete my assessment (as an electronic written report of approximately 3,000 words) and email it to you within two weeks if your manuscript is less than 85,000 words. Manuscripts that have more than 85,000 words could take up to three weeks.
My fee (Australian dollars) is based on the word count of the manuscript.
Manuscript Word Count Discounted Sepetember 2024 Fee
Up to 20,000 words $427.50
Up to 40,000 words $535.50
Up to 60,000 words $630.00
Up to 80,000 words $720.00
Up to 100,000 words $810.00
Up to 120,000 words $900.00
For all manuscripts over 120,000 words, the fee will be quoted on an individual basis when you contact me. In addition, if you require a critique of your synopsis (maximum 500) words and/or short pitch to submit to publishers with your manuscript, please add $175 to the fee.
The fee must be paid before my work begins. Payment is made by electronic transfer to my bank account, which is set out in the emailed invoice.
More details can be found in my Manuscript Assessment page.
I look forward to ‘hearing’ from you with details of your writing project. Either via my contact page or directly to my email address: denise@denisemtaylor.com.au
*Are you a crime writer? Then you may be interested in this extract from Jason Steger’s ‘The Booklist’ a few days ago. ‘What makes a crime novel “literary”?’
Steven Carroll [author of Death of a Foreign Gentleman] reckons the best way of defining literary crime is that it’s a question of style: “The storyline is crime — there’s a detective and a crime involved — but the way it’s told is in the way of literary fiction. It allows the writer to do the things that literary fiction is supposed to do such as in-depth characterisation and also dwell on crucial moments. Crime fiction is primarily narrative-driven and has a lot of pace whereas literary crime can often slow down so you can linger on significant moments in the way that literary fiction does. And it can have the complex structure that literary fiction does.”
[John] Banville would probably agree; he’s more interested in character and place. “The plot is secondary. It’s all about people, human beings and their failings, their secrets and their crimes.”
Mind you, Carroll also points out that this is only his definition, and he is aware that descriptions of literary crime can appear a bit condescending towards more conventional genre writing.
(Jason Steger is the Literary Editor of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald)
Featured image: William T. Howell Allchin (1844–1883), Still Life with an open Book and Spectacles, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
