When you approach me to enquire about an editorial assessment, we will first discuss what you’re looking to get from the process. It could be that you have just completed a first draft and are looking to get some big-picture feedback on your work. Equally, you may just want one last pair of eyes to look at specific areas or issues within the book that have been bothering you, or that have been highlighted by beta readers. This initial conversation will allow us to shape the assessment to your needs, providing you with the kind of feedback that will best serve the book.

I would then put together the report. This report would be between 2500 and 5000 words. It will cover key points of craft for fiction or non-fiction, offer suggestions for editorial development, and advise on where it might sit in the market. But it would also address any specific points of interest you raised during our initial conversations. I promise to be incredibly honest with you, but not to the point where your manuscript just gets put in a drawer somewhere and never looked at again. I always advise authors to take a few days after reading the assessment to let my feedback sink in. This kind of feedback, particularly on an early draft of a novel, can reshape the book entirely, and sometimes in ways not even mentioned in my report. And that change in your thinking won’t happen in the moment, but will instead gestate within you.

After you’ve had time to think through my assessment, we could then arrange a one-hour follow-up call where we could discuss any points you need further clarity on, and then talk through the next steps for your book.