Manuscript Evaluation Services as Your First Step in the Editorial Process

My manuscript evaluation services are usually the first step you will take in the editorial process.

As much as you may feel done after completing your manuscript, don’t let yourself off the hook. At this stage, an agent or publisher will typically provide their author with a dedicated editor to scrutinize the manuscript and offer comprehensive notes toward revision. Most unpublished writers, however, need to find this help independently.

If the details below don’t describe the type of professional editing services or analysis you think your manuscript might need at this stage, consult my other service definition pages for substantive editing, line editing, copy editing, and proofreading.

If you’re still unsure or would just like to see how I can be of help, contact me and we’ll determine your next best steps together. No more time and energy wasted second-guessing. I’ll show you what to fix and how.

My manuscript evaluation services involve:

a thorough read of your entire manuscript and
a multi-page critique that comments on the content (including characterization, dialogue, setting, believability, and research) and on the writing technique (including technical ability and style).

I’ll also suggest steps to further develop your manuscript, with an option to respond to three of the burning questions you may be worrying about.

Rated 5 out of 5

“An author who must drastically revise and rewrite her novel is usually an unhappy author. But Heather’s excellent 13-page manuscript critique, along with her thoughtfully considered comments in the entire manuscript, made my experience almost enjoyable. I made major revisions to Dear Alf, Love Betty—a War Brides Novel, including structure, characters, arc, and dialogue, according to Heather’s excellent suggestions. I had previously written and published two other novels and though in the past I had serious help from my writing groups, I did not have the considerable degree of assistance that Heather has afforded me.”

~ Jan DeGrass

Most recently Temptations and Travels and Dear Alf, Love Betty

Rated 5 out of 5

“You have torn apart my MS. THANK YOU! I see the amazing amount of work that went into this evaluation (and the bonus line edits) and am very grateful.”

~ George Jahn

Senior editor of European Voices; award-winning former international correspondent and bureau chief for The Associated Press; author of Blue Blossoms for a Blood Deed and The Sword, the Word, and the Witness

Rated 5 out of 5

“In our conversations and emails, Heather treated me in a professional manner, greatly encouraging for an as-yet unpublished writer. Her evaluation report was perceptive, her in-manuscript annotations incisive. She showed a deep understanding of and appreciation for my characters and was infallibly kind in referencing my writing foibles. In our online meeting, she proved a true collaborator, and I left the meeting with a clear roadmap to lift my story to a whole new plane. I’d work with Heather again in a heartbeat.”

~ Barbara Bell

The Possibility Suite