MANUSCRIPT EVALUATIONS

Our stories become as important to us as a child. We love them unconditionally and believe them to be wonderful.
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But as you know, not everyone feels the same way about our children as we do. It's the same for our stories. Before you send your baby out for inspection by the gatekeepers, or to the printer to be printed, have an appraisal done to ensure it is ready. You only get one chance to make a first impression. If you discover an error in a self-published book after it is printed, it is a costly exercise to re-print.

Appraisal cost, $250 up 60,000 words and $5 per 1,000 words after that.  Contact Elaine or Ron from the contact page to get a firm quote.

We will go through the manuscript and check for the following things:
FICTION:
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a. Does the first page hook the reader

b. Is the main character introduced well enough that the reader will either love or hate them by the end of the first chapter

c. Is there a hook at the end of each chapter to keep the reader glued to the page

d. Is the story line interesting and relevant to the age group for which it is intended

e. Are the characters developed well enough that the reader will feel they know them

f. Do the characters act consistently all through the story

g. Does each chapter advance the story

h. Is the punctuation and grammar correct

i. Does the dialogue sound natural 

j. Is the tense consistent throughout the story

k. Do any minor storylines detract from the main plot

l. Is there a satisfying resolution
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And much more

NON-FICTION:
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Memoirs: 

a. Have you introduced the main character in the book in the first page

b.  Are all the characters introduced well enough that the reader will understand their personality

c. Is it written in a consistent tense

d. Does the story unfold in sequence in each chapter

 e. Are the punctuation and grammar correct

 f. Are all the facts about the people in the story consistent eg, (names or nick-names, ages, place of birth, marriage, children)

 g. Does the story flow in an interesting manner

 h.  Are all references to websites and books used for the research noted and their contribution mentioned

i. Are content pages correct 

j. Are all graphics (photos and scans of documents) of a size that will be accepted by a printer.

And much more.


TECHNICAL WRITING 

‘Technical writing’, as the name suggests, is writing about procedural things.

​The term ‘Technical writing’ can include instructions on how to fit a
flat pack table together, assemble and install a fold out clothes line, how to 
install a new program on your computer, or it could be writing text books for schools. If you are writing this type of book, this is what we look for:

a.  Has your manuscript made assumptions of knowledge that users may not have, and left out steps in between? 

b. Does it convey information a novice can follow and achieve success at the first try? 

c.  Have you put yourself into the head of the user and imagined every small step a novice will take in carrying out the process?

 d.  Does it give clear and specific instructions that are
matter-of-fact and don’t judge the person harshly if they can’t follow those instructions easily the first time. 

e. Does it have the appropriate use of graphics and enough of them? 

  And much, much more.
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