Critiquing Programme

Developmental Editing
The Editing Skills that Every Writer Needs

Saturday January 30, 2016, 10am – 4pm

As part of the January 2016 Workshop, writers will be able to have their work assessed by an editor in one-on-one sessions, where the editors share their evaluations with those who have submitted materials in advance. Participation in the critiquing programme is voluntary and will incur an additional charge to the workshop attendance fee. To participate in the critiquing programme, you must be a registered attendee for the workshop.

PLACEMENTS IN THE CRITIQUING PROGRAMME ARE NOW FULL

A list of participating editors can be found here.

Critiques of Manuscripts

Manuscript critiques will be for the first 5000 words (approximately 20 page, double-spaced, 12pt font) of any given manuscript, fiction and non-fiction. 10-minute one-on-one sessions will be conducted between the editor and writer. In addition, the editor will provide a written critique, which could consist of an overall review of the project (what works and what doesn’t), the quality of writing, and an assessment of character and story development. The editor will not line-edit your work, but will provide a written summary.

The cost of this is $20, in addition to the costs for the workshop. You must be a registered participant for the workshop to be eligible for a critique. This must be paid in advanced, along with your submission of manuscript, or your place will be offered to another.

A maximum of 15 one-on-one critiquing sessions are on offer. Note that each editor will be accepting only 5 manuscripts for critique. A list of participating editors can be found here. While you can submit to only one editor, you may select up to two editors, ranking them in order of preference, in case the spaces with your first choice are full.

Critiques of Query Letters

Writing a manuscript is only part of the journey on the road to publication. For traditional and small-press publishing, you still require a “kick-ass” query letter.

Query letter critique sessions will be offered at a cost of $10, in addition to the costs for the workshop. You must be a registered participant for the workshop to be eligible for a critique. 5-minute one-on-one sessions will be conducted, where editors will provide notes on their impressions with possible suggestions on how to improve the query letter.

A maximum of 15 one-on-one critiquing sessions are available, where each editor is accepting only 5 query letters for critique. As with the manuscript critiques, you can submit to only one editor, however, you may select up to two editors, in case the spaces with your first choice are full.

Query letter and manuscript critiques need not be with the same editor.

All workshop attendees wishing to submit materials for critique must do so by January 15th, 2016 along with payment.

Disclaimer: The publishing industry is filled with speculation and subjective views. The opinions expressed are that of the editor and not the express views of any agent and/or publisher, and do not constitute any guarantee of acceptance. Critiques are for the benefit of the writer only.