“Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.”
—Herman Hesse (1877-1962)
It’s often said that 95 percent of writing is rewriting –so it’s no wonder that revising is hard work! As an author, you are so close to your own writing it can be difficult to step back from your manuscript and read it from the perspective of a potential literary agent or publisher.
Manuscript evaluation is the heart of Black Swan’s business. Our readers work in the publishing industry—as writers, editors and book reviewers—and know what makes a good book great.
We give writers thorough and constructive feedback, including step-by-step editorial plans they can follow to improve their manuscripts and their chances of getting published.
When doing manuscript assessment, we consider a variety of factors including point-of-view, tense, tone, structure and intended audience. We offer feedback on diction, do a light edit of the text for typos and frequently repeated mistakes, note discrepancies and contradictions in the text, and suggest concrete ways to handle some of the more challenging areas of writing—such as dialogue, characterization and transitions.
Unlike literary agents, we will not try to help you market your book directly to a publisher, but if we feel your manuscript is at the point where it is ready to be published we will give advice on how to pitch your book to a prospective publisher or agent.
Because we care about the relationships we develop with our clients and want them to succeed, we will follow up with you to check in on the rewriting process and answer any questions you might have about our assessment of your manuscript.
THE PROCESS:
Books can be submitted to Black Swan through the post or by email.
We review your manuscript and team you with the reader who we feel best suits your book. (For example, all children’s books are read by a book reviewer who has a Masters Degree in Children’s Literature).
We review your manuscript and write a detailed assessment of your book, including an editorial plan you can follow to approach your revision. We also lightly mark up your manuscript for one-time errors (i.e. typos, incorrect word choice) and frequently repeated errors (spelling mistakes, incorrect punctuation). This will help you decide whether your book needs to be copyedited before you send it out to prospective publishers.
Once we receive payment, we will mail back your manuscript with our detailed report.
Once you’ve had an opportunity to review the manuscript assessment, we will talk with you on the phone to discuss any questions you might have about the evaluation and what steps you need to follow to take your writing to the “next level.”
RATES:
We charge a $100 administration fee + $2/page. Second drafts are 50% off, third drafts a further 50% off and all subsequent drafts are free. We accept submissions by email, but charge an extra 10¢ a page to cover our printing costs.
Manuscripts must be submitted in 12-point (or larger) Times New Roman font, double-spaced on single-sided paper, using standard margin widths.