I’m now offering a professional manuscript assessment service, providing feedback on partial or full manuscripts to assist aspiring writers to develop their novels.
Have you started writing a novel or a short story but you’re not sure if it’s ready for publication? Writing is a complex craft, and the market is diverse and demanding. The professional feedback of a manuscript assessment can be of significant value to you and will help you revise and polish your work. A manuscript assessment provides advice on writing style, structure, pacing, viewpoint, characterisation, dialogue, setting, and world-building.
Drawing on more than fifteen years of experience in writing, publishing, research and teaching writing, I’ll provide honest, specific and encouraging feedback tailored to your needs, whether you’re just starting out in writing, or have a manuscript or story you’d like to submit to publishers.
I have a sound knowledge of contemporary commercial fiction and publication processes and specialise in contemporary romance, romantic suspense, historical romance, women’s fiction, and crime.
My Qualifications
I have six romantic thrillers published with Hachette Australia, and a historical romance independently published in July 2019. All of my books have been shortlisted for or won major awards. As Darkness Falls won the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart award for an unpublished manuscript and two books were shortlisted for their prestigious RITA award for romantic suspense. Three books have won the Australian Romance Readers Award for Favourite Romantic Suspense, and Storm Clouds was the first romantic thriller to be short listed for the Sisters in Crime Davitt Awards. My Regency romance, The Clothier’s Daughter, is currently a finalist in the Australian Romance Readers Award for historical romance. I have also written and published a novella, and had several short story commissions.
I have a BA (Hons) in English and History and I have taught at university level in digital media, writing, and genre. I have taught writing workshops for NSW Writers Centre, New England Writers Centre, Brisbane Writers Festival, Australian Writers Centre, and the Jane Austen Festival.
How does the manuscript assessment work?
Submit the query form below and I’ll get back to you within 3 days to let you know how long the assessment will take. Please note that I’m currently only accepting a maximum of two novel-length manuscripts per month. I’ll also send you a brief questionnaire that asks you a few more questions about your writing journey so far, your goals for your work, the market that you’re aiming for, and any specific uncertainties that you have about your manuscript. This will help me to tailor my feedback to your needs.
If the proposed time-table works for you, you email me your manuscript in a Word .doc or .docx file, and the completed questionnaire, and I’ll send you an invoice. Once this invoice is paid, I’ll schedule your assessment and notify you when to expect it.
Your assessment will include your manuscript returned with markups and comments throughout relating to written expression; story structure and pacing; viewpoint, dialogue and characterisation; and setting and world-building. Please note that an assessment isn’t a detailed line edit, but I will mark in your manuscript the first few instances of grammatical or punctuation errors so that you can see what types there are.
You’ll also receive 5-10 pages of notes with overall feedback and suggestions for further development of your manuscript and your writing craft.
Pricing is in Australian dollars and is based on manuscript length.
| Manuscript length | Price |
| First chapter/short story – up to 6,000 words | $130.00 |
| Partial – up to 30,000 words | $300.00 |
| Novella – up to 50,000 words | $425.00 |
| Novel (short) – up to 75,000 words | $600.00 |
| Novel (long) – up to 100,000 words | $750.00 |
| Additional words – each block of 10,000 words | $75.00 |
Phone Discussion
As an optional extra, if you wish you can schedule a phone discussion of up to one hour after you’ve received and considered your assessment to discuss your ideas or plans to further develop or polish your manuscript based on the feedback. The cost of the phone consultation is $80.00. (Overseas clients to pay for call costs).
Enquiry Form