What should I expect?
This is an opportunity to discuss your work-in-progress with an industry-experienced assessor. Feedback may cover topics such as plot, structure, character development, dialogue, pace, point of view, voice, tone, style and/or readership. Your synopsis is provided as a guide for the assessor, and the assessor may provide feedback on it if relevant.
You will receive a brief written summary of the assessor’s key feedback points; however, you will not receive edits on your manuscript submission. This one-on-one meeting is a chance to discuss issues and potential solutions, and to ask questions.
These assessments are carried out in person, or via Zoom or a phone call if you are not able to attend in person.
Is my manuscript eligible?
Laurel Cohn will accept adult fiction manuscripts in any genre, as well as narrative non-fiction including memoir, biography, and travel. Please note, short story collections are not eligible.
Submission requirements
You will need to provide the following in one document at least 10 days before your assessment:
- the first 4000 words of your manuscript*
- a one-page synopsis, up to 300 words
- a brief writing CV including a statement of goals for this manuscript, no more than one page
*Please note that if your manuscript excerpt exceeds the word limit, it will be truncated at 4000 words before being forwarded to the assessor. Please respect the time the assessor is dedicating to reading your work by sticking to the industry standard formatting and word limit. Thank you.
Submitting your work
Once you have paid for your appointment, you will need to submit your materials at least 10 days before your assessment as one document in MS Word format. Your document must be formatted to industry standards, as follows:
- Line spacing: 1.5 or double
- Font: Times New Roman
- Size: 12 pt
- Margins: minimum 3 cm all round (Word default margins are fine)
- Paragraphing: indent all paragraphs except the first paragraph of a new chapter or section; only put spaces between paragraphs where you wish to indicate a section break
- Text should be range left (which means the right edge is ‘ragged’), not justified
- Page numbers: consecutive from beginning to end
