The other day a friend casually mentioned that she was looking for someone to help her prepare her manuscript, CV and proposal letter for sending to a publisher or an agent. I'm assuming she'd been advised to do that, because she said she was looking for someone with 'commissioning editing experience' – the quotation marks were hers. It's not bad advice. Writers should always give their manuscripts the best chance of being accepted.
I don't think she was specifically asking me for help. I would have been prepared to help a friend, but if you don't know someone it's quite an imposition. There are firms out there that offer the service, and of course they charge a fee. Here's one example, and you can check their prices for yourself by clicking on the logo.
I don't think she was specifically asking me for help. I would have been prepared to help a friend, but if you don't know someone it's quite an imposition. There are firms out there that offer the service, and of course they charge a fee. Here's one example, and you can check their prices for yourself by clicking on the logo.
It might seem a lot of money, but consider this: you're asking someone to give up a substantial amount of their time to read a book that, frankly, they might hate. Then they'll have to sweat over your proposal letter to see how to turn your sow's ear into a silk purse. And your CV might actually be rather underwhelming if you're an unpublished author. And you expect a report on your book, too.
OK, so that seems a bit cruel. But I reckon that this firm's prices are pretty reasonable given the number of hours spent reading your book alone. Consider this: how many hours would it take you to read a novel of 100,000 words, say 400 pages? Could you really do it in one and a half eight-hour days? Because any longer means that a £100 reader fee is illegal – it's less than the minimum wage. In practice you'd need to read the book on day 1 and leave the morning of day 2 for the letter, the report, the CV and sending the whole lot back.*
Bear that in mind when you send your book to an agent or publisher, too. They don't have time to read all of your book and if it doesn't hold their attention from the off, it's heading for the bin. (Chances are it's heading for the bin anyway because these people are so hard-pressed for time but that's another matter.)
Realistically, the first page counts most. Spend time getting that right at least. Get the proposal letter right, and above all make your synopsis short and sweet. Tell the story right through on one side of A4.
And don't get too disappointed if they still reject your book. It happens to all of us. And you're dealing with ordinary human beings, at the end of the day.
*I should make one thing clear, by the way: I've no idea who "Writers Services" are. Their fees might be reasonable for a decent job, but a decent job might not be what they actually do. I genuinely don't know. If you want to find out something about the quality of their work, I'd suggest you ask for testimonials and get in touch with people who have used them.
OK, so that seems a bit cruel. But I reckon that this firm's prices are pretty reasonable given the number of hours spent reading your book alone. Consider this: how many hours would it take you to read a novel of 100,000 words, say 400 pages? Could you really do it in one and a half eight-hour days? Because any longer means that a £100 reader fee is illegal – it's less than the minimum wage. In practice you'd need to read the book on day 1 and leave the morning of day 2 for the letter, the report, the CV and sending the whole lot back.*
Bear that in mind when you send your book to an agent or publisher, too. They don't have time to read all of your book and if it doesn't hold their attention from the off, it's heading for the bin. (Chances are it's heading for the bin anyway because these people are so hard-pressed for time but that's another matter.)
Realistically, the first page counts most. Spend time getting that right at least. Get the proposal letter right, and above all make your synopsis short and sweet. Tell the story right through on one side of A4.
And don't get too disappointed if they still reject your book. It happens to all of us. And you're dealing with ordinary human beings, at the end of the day.
*I should make one thing clear, by the way: I've no idea who "Writers Services" are. Their fees might be reasonable for a decent job, but a decent job might not be what they actually do. I genuinely don't know. If you want to find out something about the quality of their work, I'd suggest you ask for testimonials and get in touch with people who have used them.
