Not quite two weeks ago I sent the first 60 pages of Indigo to a critiquing service
for a paid manuscript review. I will not be promoting this service by giving
out their name here, but if you would like to know who it is, feel free to
message me personally. The service was to notify me that:
- they received my manuscript;
- who it was assigned to for the critique; and
- the turnaround time.
I did not receive that information as promised. When I followed
up within a week of submission, I was told they don’t give out the name of the person
performing the critique “due to other work agreements that they have,” and that
the turnaround time was 4-6 weeks. That was last Thursday.
In the interest of full disclosure, and as you may be able
to tell from my tone – the review was not good.
I received my critique in less than a week, and the critique
itself had spelling errors in it. I’m still shaking my head that a paid editor
doesn’t know the difference between desert
and dessert. Really? And I paid real
money for this? Also, the anonymity of
this so-called editor is still bothering me as well – what were their credentials?
How am I sure they even have an interest in the genre I’m writing? How do I
know they have any credentials at all?
The service was to include the following:
- 12-16
pages of detailed notes on premise, plot structure, pacing, characters,
dialogue and marketability
- A graph-based
"Emotional Response" chart
- A
rating on the "Pass, Consider, or Recommend" scale
- A
one-page synopsis to use as a "leave behind" when you get that
all-important meeting
It was NOT
to include this:
- Rewrite
or revise for you, except in the case of providing an example of how to
revise on your own.
- Correct
grammar, mechanics, and spelling. (Our *** service does correct
grammatical errors, including punctuation, capitalization, verb tense,
spelling and sentence structure.) However, the story analyst will point
out any patterns of surface-level error that may pose a significant
problem for you.
- Correct
for Industry-Standard Formatting. However the story analyst will point out
general and repetitive formatting errors throughout the manuscript.
- Provide
any fact-checking.
- Provide answers or advice on legal issues
What I did receive:
- Barely
12 pages of notes, 4 of which
were lists of minor grammatical errors
- Instead
of a one-page synopsis to "leave behind" when I get that
all-important meeting, I got a two page book report giving a blow-by-blow
account of each chapter
- One
paragraph on concept
- One
paragraph on pacing
- Absolutely
nothing about marketability
Disappointed? You betcha.
Mind you – they did have some good points in their critique.
In my constant changing of PoV and tense, some grammatical mistakes were left
in. Okay – mention it and move on – don’t give me four pages listing out each
one.
There were a couple questions/suggestions regarding the
storyline and characters that were worth my consideration – but not worth what
I paid for this crap.
I think the main problem here (and I could be wrong because
I’ll never know who the editor is), is that the person who read this was
expecting a full-blown science fiction story, when I clearly stated in my
submission that it was ROMANCE/sci-fi/fantasy. It’s barely even sci-fi really,
as it’s a character driven suspense story,
not a science driven story. They even
say in the overall notes: “…the romantic tension between our hero and heroine
is palpable (and very satisfying for readers).” DUH! That’s the point of a
romance novel you twit!
When I first read the critique I was pretty devastated. My writing is crap yet again. The second
time through I noticed their grammatical
errors, and the apparent haste at which the critique was prepared. As I
continue to analyze it, I see that what I’ve written is completely outside of
their element and experience. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not completely
dismissing their review because it was negative. As I mentioned, there were
some good points given, and they’ve been duly noted. I just don’t feel that I
received what I paid for. And that is truly disappointing.
With all that being said, my writing may still be crap – but
I don’t think the person that got paid to critique my work was necessarily the
best to judge that.
Oh, and by the way – here is my ‘graph-based "Emotional
Response" chart’:
 |
| Not bad for the beginning of a suspense novel I’d say… |
