I will need a service soon when I am through with my novel, yet I am not sure who does this service. It could be the copy editor, but perhaps not.

When you write your own novel, you are too close to it and you can’t make judgements about how the reader will react to each scene. You can’t use friends or family, because they will never give an objective judgement. You need someone who is independent, who has no reason to flatter you or punish you.

I need to know what chapters or scenes are slow or boring or too short or too long. I need to know if I have enough buildup before a major climax to make it believable. It’s that rhythm of the story, I need help with, not the story itself.

What is the title of a person who does this sort of thing.

Who do you give your work too for this sort of thing?

Thanks
Azel

Depends on whether you are prepared to pay for it or not Azel.
There are companies who, for a fee dependent on word count, will write a report on your manuscript - as other members can attest to on this site.
Don't be too ready to dismiss friends and family out of hand. Yes, they are quick to tell you what is right about a ms, but their embarrassed silences can help too
If you are on a Creative Writing course, your tutor may be persuaded to assess your work.
If any of your friends or family are members of reading groups, ask if you can give the members copies of your ms to assess and discuss.
It is also worth putting out a plea (& synopsis) on WW for someone to read the complete story, and offer to read theirs in return.

- NaomiM

I've just used an editorial agency, Azel - they look at all aspects of your book - plot, characters, quality of writing etc - but at a cost, several hundred pounds.

Cornerstones, the Literary Consultancy, Hilary Johnson - they all offer this service, and many more - why don't you browse through the Directory Forum?

Casey

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For individual scenes, even chapters, depending on the length, why don't you join a group?? This costs nothing and i have found the comments from my group invaluable.

Go on, give it a go! You can always leave a group if you find it doesn't suit you. And you can learn a lot from critting other people's work.

Thank you NMott and Casey for your suggestions.

I am wondering if ‘most’ writers even use such services, or do they just let their agents handle this job.

I suppose, or guess, most published writers just send in their manuscript and let the publishers and agents send it back with suggestions for changes they want made to the manuscript. At least, this is what I have read. I don’t know if it’s done this way.

For those of us who are unpublished, this becomes a problem that has to be solved in some other way. I mean, what if, my first manuscript is a real stinker. It’s better to be told now by a professional book doctor, rather than keep wasting time on it. The sooner one finds out they have no talent for writing fiction, the sooner they can move on to another book or try some other category of writing. (Non-fiction perhaps)

I don’t mind spending the two hundred pounds one time, if these editorial agencies can answer this question truthfully. What I am leery of is an industry out there that makes it’s living off of unpublished writers. You all know what I mean. The self-publishing side of the book industry.

Thanks
Azel

For up to a couple of hundred pounds you would get your first three chapters assessed, (a couple more for the whole manuscript). Some Literary Agents recommend sending your ms off to an editorial agency first - which is useful to put on your covering letter (although some may disagree with me on that).

Don't dismiss self-publishing out of hand. Obviously the vanity publishers are to be avoided, but DIY publishing (where you set yourself up as your own publishing company), or Print On Demand, have their place if the editorial agency says your manuscript is well written but niche market - or if they say it is well written but still gets rejected by the Agents.

But first, you should follow Casey's suggestion and join a group.

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I see from your earlier posts, Azel, you are based in the US.
Maybe there are some American WW'ers around who can give you some advice - if it varies from our experiences in the UK.

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Actually, Azel, I see from another of your posts that you are planning to self-publish. In which case I can highly recommend you send your ms off to an editorial service first. Following any rewriting they recommend, you will then need to send it to a copy editor for any grammar and typos to be corrected.

hi azel

please disregard anything i say but i feel i have to give you a little advice on 'giving writing time to settle' before going off to publishers...and i hate to tell you that TIME can be longer than you think or wish. i know what i'm talking about. when i first started writing i threw poems out there at literary mags, and some fools actually published some of them! when i look back on some of the work i've had published i cringe. and, half of them have disappeared from my files because i've either re-written them or scratched them completely!

if you've never been part of a writng group of have much experience of people reading your work; if you've been writing in a void, now is the time to get real feedback: not tackle publishing. don't publish until you are sure your work is absolutely ready; you'll regret it.

good luck. i hope you join a group.

irene

Azel, The Literary Consultancy seem to have a good reputation. I looked into them a little because I've just embarked on being mentored through them.

It seems well worth getting a professional opinion when you've done all you can yourself. The money, if you can find it, is peanuts compared with all those hours of work you've put into writing a novel. Far better to be told by a professional who's (at that point) working for you, do something about the problems and then have something better to show agents, than to show it to agents first and get it rejected without knowing why.

Deb

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"their embarrassed silences can help too"

This made me laugh, Naomi! But I agree - even if someone can't tell you why it does or doesn't work, they can usually tell you that it does or doesn't.

Azel, you're right: this is the kind of help that published writers get (or hope to get) from their editor, and sometimes from their agent.

The input you'll get from friends and family will depend hugely on the friends and family: for a start, you need someone who reads your kind of book, and someone who will be honest.

But in the end, you're probably going to have to pay for this, if you want it to be thorough and to a professional standard. The agencies that have been mentioned all do things slightly differently, and a browse in their websites will give you an idea of the possibilities, and the likely costs. I'm sure there are equivalent agencies in the US: 'editorial agency' seems to be the most common name for them, or 'editorial assessment service'. The going rate over here for a full MS seems to be around £350, depending on the length, and they vary what kinds of shorter assessment they do for less money.

Emma

Thank you everyone for your helpful answers. I have a few more chapters to go, and then months of rewrite/revision to do before I will need a Editorial Agency. At least now I know what to do when I finish.

Thanks
Azel