Critiques for Books and Manuscripts 2024-

Winning Writers managing editor Annie Mydla oversees our private critiques of your books and manuscripts, published or unpublished, that have up to 200,000 words. Annie has critiqued over 600 full-length books and manuscripts through her work with the Winning Writers critique service and the North Street Book Prize. She has also evaluated over 8,000 self-published books as a North Street assistant judge. Annie is assisted by Paweł Zagawa, Ewa Stachyra, Mateusz Naporowski, Jakub Karolczyk, Joanna Lewandowska, Greta Rosenberger, and Cheryl Fish.

You can view a sample critique here, and read insights about what makes a prizewinning book in Annie's guest blog post for the Alliance of Independent Authors.

Our critique service is best for manuscripts that:

  • Are written with commercial intent (finding an agent, finding a publisher, maximizing sales in a self- or hybrid-publishing context)
  • Feel "stuck" or lack direction
  • Are over or under the recommended length for their genre
  • Keep getting rejected, but it's not clear what to do about it
  • Lack a distinct genre or intended audience
  • Are afflicted with "connected farmhouse syndrome", where many ad hoc edits have led to sprawl and disunity in the narrative
  • Might contain dated, clichéd, or exploitative content, which the author wants help in identifying and removing

This service is not recommended for manuscripts that:

  • Were written primarily to serve the author on a personal basis (i.e., to process emotions and memories, to serve as a family record, or to provide an artistic outlet without commercial intent)
  • Already feel finished to the author (the author has no desire to make substantial changes in a future draft)

Please submit a digital copy of your work. You may upload it as two files if your book and cover are separate files. It is acceptable to leave identifying information on your documents. We will keep your submission private, and we will provide your critique for your personal use (i.e. please don't publish our critique without our permission).

You can expect your critique to be 1,500-3,000 words long. It will include the following sections as relevant:

  1. Critique summary

  2. Two to three of the following areas, with subsections that incorporate examples from your book and craft considerations like: structure, character, theme, setting, physical and sensory immersivity, atmosphere, tropes, and more.

  • Page-turning energy (PTE): Where does the book's page-turning energy come from? What changes could strengthen the PTE?
  • Genre expression (GE): What can genre tell us about what belongs or doesn't belong in the book? About which parts are commercially friendly, and which need development?
  • Distinctiveness: Is your book's content likely to stand out with agents, publishers, and/or your target audience? How could it stand out more?
  • Scope: Does your book have "too much stuff" in it? How to figure out what to keep and what to prune back.
  • Target audience (TA): Who is going to buy your book? How can the book be made more enjoyable for them? How might the TA be widened or narrowed, depending on the author's goals? What effect might the TA have on agent considerations, and how to edit for agent success?

  3. Recommendations and conclusion

  4. Exercises to unlock creativity

You may also submit up to 3 specific questions to be answered within the critique.

After you order, we will follow up with a few additional questions to ensure we address your priorities.

We seek to provide perspectives that will provoke new ideas and directions for future drafts. You can expect your critique within eight weeks of your order. After delivery, we will welcome one round of follow-up questions from you.

Price: $299. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. If our critique does not deliver value for you, you can request a prompt refund from adam@winningwriters.com.

Customers say:

"I can't recommend this service enough. Annie's understanding of literature is truly impressive, and I was amazed at how much time and thoughtfulness she invested in my project. She took the trouble to understand who I am, why I want to write this book, and what kinds of skills and deficits I bring. And then she tailored her feedback and advice accordingly... I feel not only read but seen, not only helped but inspired. I highly recommend 'upgrading' to include a Zoom call with Annie...it meant that the ten-page final critique Annie delivered not only addressed exactly the questions I wanted answered, but also built in very helpful ways on what was already a very substantive conversation." -Sigrid Schmalzer   
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