Are your pages ready for an agent or editor? If you hesitated to say “yes” then you should get a professional opinion.

Mary Buckham is a national writing teacher, but more important – she’s a professional author. The best advice you can get is from an author who understands what it takes to get published. She’s also one of the two authors who created the highly-successful Break Into Fiction® program taught nationally. Mary works with both unpublished writers and published authors on a limited basis as noted below.

Mary tells you what to expect from this service:

As both a fiction and nonfiction author, she is respectful and aware of the effort we all put into our work. She believes in giving constructive feedback that is grounded in examples from your own manuscript, with potential suggestions of both craft issues and further resources for you to have options if the work is not yet ready for submission. She makes a point of:

Note - She will not do line edits or grammar though she can recommend services for both.

PROCESS for submitting your pages:

Before submitting your work or paying any fees, email Mary at .

Mary usually has several months of editing commitments and recommends scheduling well in advance – the reason for why you must first send an initial email. She will give you an estimated time for when to expect her analysis of your pages. If you need something quickly, email her and she will a) let you know if she can squeeze your work into her current schedule and b) tell you what the additional rush cost will be. So if you have revisions to turn in or a specific time frame for your completion date, please plan ahead accordingly.

Mary recommends a two-step process with either the first 5 or first 30 pages reviewed before moving to the entire manuscript evaluation. The major problems in most manuscripts are in the first chapters where set up is so important. If you send a full manuscript with set up issues then Mary will likely be marking the same mistakes repeatedly throughout your pages.

Once an agreement is made for consultation, follow these steps for submitting work:

Submission of the agreed upon document is done so via email in either a WORD or RTF format that Mary can download and edit on directly, as well as address any specific questions or concerns you wish her to look at [within the parameters of the service] in the body of an email.

*If you’d prefer to submit hard copy pages instead of electronically, note this in your initial email to Mary so she can give you the mailing address. You must include a return envelope with the correct postage in “stamps” (not metered) and follow the same manuscript format guidelines.

If your manuscript does not follow these guidelines, it will be returned so you can correct it:

Once Mary receives the manuscript pages and respective fee (listed below), she’ll acknowledge receipt and begin work.

TURNAROUND TIME:

Standard time for evaluation of your query letter and up to 2 page synopsis is three weeks unless otherwise agreed upon.

Standard time for evaluation of your partial manuscript is four weeks unless otherwise agreed upon.

Standard time for evaluation of your full manuscript is six weeks unless otherwise agreed upon.

Your pages will be returned via email. If you have a full manuscript reviewed that comes with a phone consultation, the phone consultation must be scheduled for a time no more than 2 weeks after return of full manuscript.

Mary respects your valuable time as a writer and trust that you will respect hers. Please understand that once she returns your material and completes any phone consultations your working arrangement is complete. She is always happy to chat with writers at events and signings, but she can’t “take another quick look” once you’ve revised your pages [unless, of course, you wish to purchase another critique].

CONFIDENTIALITY:

She respects your confidentiality, either in written form or verbal discussion. She never shares your work with others and will destroy any electronically-submitted material you have sent to her two weeks after she has confirmation that you have received and saved the pages.

LIMITS:

Mary is not an acquisition editor nor can she guarantee a sale of your material though if she is aware of an editor/or agent who might be seeking what you are writing she will share that information with you, if appropriate. She is not responsible for unsolicited material and if pages show up without prior arrangement they will be destroyed.

FEES:

All fees are noted in US dollars only

5 opening pages for $30 – Analyzed for Hooks in opening sentences, opening paragraphs and at key points in the pages, ending hook, pacing, character development

30 opening pages - $85– Analyzed for Opening Hooks, Pacing, Set-up. This is a professional critical read-through and assessment of your manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses

75 opening pages - $200 (Includes a 30 minute phone conversation if scheduled within 2 weeks after return of pages.) This is the most critical part of the story where the key introductory information is inserted, major hooks are set, story questions are established and pacing must be strong.

Full manuscript up to 70,000 words - $350 (Includes a 30 minute phone conversation if scheduled within 2 weeks after return of pages.) *If you had the 75 page partial of this manuscript analyzed within six months of submitting this full manuscript deduct $75 from the $350 fee.

Full manuscript up to 100,000 words - $485 (Includes a 45 minute phone conversation if scheduled within 2 weeks after return of pages.) *If you had the 75 page partial of this manuscript analyzed within six months of submitting this full deduct $75 from the $485 fee.

Phone consultation [If after you’ve had 5 or 30 pages critiqued you would like additional clarification email Mary to arrange a phone appointment] – 30 minutes for $35
(Available to USA and Canadian Clients Only)

Query letter: A query letter, consisting of a one-page cover letter (single spaced) for $25

Synopsis: Short or long [up to 10 pages] – Mary will analyze your synopsis and return her critique with a bonus set of templates you can use to repeat the process on your own (one review of synopsis for fee) - for $75

Combination Query plus Synopsis (based on above stipulations): $90

Time sensitive material with specified deadline (must be arrange ahead of time): add $30 for query/synopis/5-30 pages; for longer projects add $50 for rush fee

PAYMENT:

For 5 or 30 page analysis - Payment in full via either Paypal or by check prior to submitting pages

For all other manuscript pages – 50% of fee is payable prior to submitting pages and the 50% balance is payable when Mary notifies you that she’s completed the review of your pages. Upon receiving the final payment, she will send the pages. If a phone consultation is included, she’ll discuss a mutually agreeable time via email.