Elevating Your Writing Project: A Guide to Manuscript Assessments

You’ve spent months (or maybe even years) pouring yourself into your writing project. You’re finally ready to share it with the world and take the publishing industry by storm. But wait! Before you hit that ‘submit’ button, have you considered a manuscript assessment? Manuscript assessments are an invaluable tool that can provide you with feedback from professional book editors, agents and publishers, and help your project stand out from the crowd.

Ensuring Your Manuscript is Polished:

What makes manuscript assessments so valuable is that they offer insight that you may not get from a beta reader or a critique group. Expert opinions, which hone in on the finer details of your manuscript, can help polish and refine your manuscript writing that can make or break your project once submitted. Manuscript assessments provide a fresh perspective on your work and are incredibly useful for identifying areas that need to be revised or tweaked. Addressing these issues, whether small or big, in advance greatly increases the chances of your project landing in the hands of an agent or a publisher.

Getting an Agent or Publisher’s Attention:

According to some estimates, literary agents receive approximately 200 submissions per month, and only accept around 1 to 2 percent of them. If you hope to stand out from the pack, your writing project needs to be exceptional. This is where manuscript assessments come in. A professional manuscript assessment provides useful feedback to help your writing and story develop in a way that's true to your vision while making it that much stronger. The assessment will highlight areas that are not working for your story and give you guidance on ways to improve. By the time you submit to an agent or publisher, you’ve maximized the strengths of your work, and reduced the chances of your manuscript being discarded without a second look.

Understanding the Publishing Industry:

Manuscript assessments and editing are an invaluable tool to aspiring authors because they offer insight into the publishing industry and the submission process. Writing a great story is only half the battle - understanding the industry is just as important. By having a professional editor assess your manuscript, you're given the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of what publishers are looking for in a great story, how to present your writing in the best way possible, and how to query agents and publishers to maximize your submissions. Ultimately, this education can't be understated when it comes to increasing your chances of getting published.

Improving Your Craft:

Writing is an art, and like all art, it can always be improved. Investing in manuscript assessments allows you to hone your craft and develop your skills as a writer. Assessments provide practical feedback that improves the specific project you submit for assessment, but can also help strengthen your overall skills as a writer. The critical feedback you receive will help you identify the areas you struggle with the most and build upon those; not to mention, when submitting future projects, you can guarantee that feedback gained from the previous manuscript assessment will be applied, resulting in a better manuscript.

You’ve spent a lot of time and energy on your writing, and the writing process doesn't stop when you reach the end of the manuscript. Investing in a manuscript assessment is a smart move, one that can make all the difference in your writing career and help your project stand out. The feedback gained from a professional editor is invaluable, and can be applied not only to the submitted work but future projects as well. Whether you are seeking industry validation or just looking for honest feedback to improve your craft, a manuscript assessment is a key tool for writers, who are serious about creating their best work and achieving their publishing goals.