Get your manuscript ready, and find out who is actually open to it
Two things stop good writing before anyone reads it: a draft that looks unfinished, and a query sent to somebody who was never going to read that kind of book. We fix the first and research the second. You send the query yourself, in your own name.
The Audit
A close read of your pages for the things that get a manuscript put down before the story has had a chance.
Grammar and mechanics
Spelling, punctuation, subject-verb agreement, tense drift, comma splices and the small consistency errors that accumulate invisibly over a long manuscript. You get a marked-up copy and a plain summary of the patterns worth learning, not just the corrections.
Industry-standard formatting
Manuscripts get rejected unread for looking wrong. We check the things a submissions reader notices in four seconds: font and size, double spacing, first-line indents rather than tab characters, scene breaks, chapter openings, running headers and the title page.
A readable report
One document in plain English telling you what is already working, what a submissions reader is most likely to trip on, and what to fix first. No jargon, no score out of ten, no template paragraphs.
The Submission-Target Report
Research into who is genuinely open to a manuscript like yours, and exactly what each of them asks for.
Publishers who genuinely read direct submissions
Most of the largest houses decline unagented manuscripts as a matter of policy. Plenty of other real publishers and imprints do accept them, and some open and close their windows several times a year. We research who is actually open to your category right now.
Agents who represent what you have written
Agents are specific about category, length and voice, and querying the wrong one is the commonest wasted month in publishing. We identify agents whose stated interests match your manuscript and note what each one asks to receive.
Their real requirements, in their words
For every name on your list you get the current submission page, what they want in the package, the exclusivity terms if any, and their stated response window — so you can send a query that follows the instructions instead of one that ignores them.
Publishers open and close their submission windows through the year and agents change what they are looking for, so a list is only worth anything if it was checked recently. Yours is researched when you order it, and every entry carries the date it was verified.
What We Will Not Do, And Why
There is a well-documented pattern of companies charging writers to send their work to publishers. We are not going to be one of them, and it is worth being direct about where the line sits.
You submit, in your own name
We do not send your manuscript to anyone. A service that submits on your behalf inserts itself as an unrecognised middleman between you and a publisher, and writers’ organisations warn about exactly that arrangement. Your query goes out from you, so any relationship it starts is yours.
Nobody can sell you better odds
No editorial work, and no target list, changes whether a publisher wants your book. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something they cannot deliver. What good preparation does is remove the reasons to stop reading on page one.
We do not rewrite your book
The audit corrects grammar and formatting. It does not change your voice, your structure or your choices. Anything beyond mechanics and format happens only if you ask for it in writing, and only within the scope you set.
Your work stays yours
You keep every right in your manuscript. We claim no share of it, no percentage of anything it earns, and no say in where you send it. Your pages are used to do the work you asked for and nothing else.
If Your Manuscript Is Not Finished
Some people arrive with a draft that stops. That work is available, and it runs on your instruction rather than ours.
You tell us, in writing, what "finished" means for this manuscript — an ending, a missing middle act, a subplot that stops, or a full draft from an outline.
We quote that scope specifically. It is a separate piece of work from the audit and it is never bundled in or applied by default.
Anything written for you is delivered as clearly marked new material, so you can always see which words are yours and which are not.
You decide what stays. Nothing goes into your manuscript that you have not read and approved.
If you intend to submit the result anywhere, you should disclose collaboration where the publisher or agent asks about it. We will tell you when we think that applies.
Common Questions
How many pages should I send?
For an audit, the first three chapters or roughly the first fifty pages is usually enough to see the patterns that run through the whole manuscript. If you want the complete work reviewed, send the complete work and say so.
What file formats do you take?
Word documents, plain text and PDF. If you have written in Scrivener, Google Docs or Pages, export to Word or PDF first. Send the manuscript as you would submit it, not as a scan or a photograph of a printed page.
Will you tell me my book is good?
We will tell you what we actually think, which is more useful. The report separates mechanical problems, which are objectively fixable, from matters of taste, which are opinions and are labelled as opinions.
Do you publish books yourselves?
No. We are not a publisher and not an agency, and we take no share of anything your book earns. That is deliberate: a company that also wanted to publish you would have a reason to steer your decision.
What does it cost?
It depends on length and on which parts you want, so we quote per manuscript rather than posting a rate card that would be wrong for most people. Tell us the word count and what you are after and you will get a figure before any work starts.
How do I start?
Create an account on the application page, choose Manuscript enquiry, and tell us the category, the word count, whether the draft is finished, and what you want out of it. You can attach the pages themselves on the same screen once the enquiry is filed — PDF, Word or plain text, up to 25 MB each. You can also call the number at the top of this site.
Send Us The First Fifty Pages
Create an account, file a manuscript enquiry, and attach your sample pages on the same screen. You will get a straight answer on what we would do and what it would cost before anything starts.