story critique

the bard class

Story Critique and Beta Reading for Fantasy and Science Fiction Stories

​You want to bring your world, with all of its magic and mystery, gods and demons, starships and alien experiments, into a powerful, well-crafted, and polished story. To do this you need unbiased analysis of the impact of your story from a reader's point of view.
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As every bard knows, the best way to hone a story is to test it in front of an audience.  Story Critique (also called beta reading) is a way to see what a reader will think of your story. Instead of looking at your writing as an editor would (with a critical eye for mistakes and details) I'll simply read your story (as if I had picked it up in a bookstore) and use my professional insight to give you my honest, raw feedback on the impact ​and effectiveness of your book from your audience's point of view.

attributes of the bard class

a story critique covers...

​This is basically a light developmental edit of your story disguised as a beta read.
​I'll critique the of same subjects, but without the editing.
  • Structure, plot, and pacing of your story
  • Characters (what I thought of them, whether I liked them, and my observations on development)
  • Setting and overall feeling of world (including magic, world building, and believability)​
  • Your theme and my impression of it 
  • The overall style and voice of your writing
  • My engagement and interest as a reader (such as where it got slow and where I was hooked)
  • The emotional impact (whether I connected)

steps for a story critique

  • step one
  • step two
  • step three
  • step four
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Contact me to discuss your project. 

I'd like to hear about your story, genre, and what you'd like help with in your story critique or beta read. ​

After we've settled on the details and agreed to the contract terms, I'll send you an invoice for a 50% deposit.  All payments will be done through Paypal. 

I will then direct you to fill out a style sheet to help me in my critique of your piece. Th more information I have, the more effective my story critique and beta read will be. After you've filled it out, you can send me your story in a word document or pages file and we can get started. ​

I read your story. 

I go away for a bit and read through your piece multiple times, reviewing the elements of your story and giving extensive feedback. I use Microsoft Word track changes to comment on your story as I read it (though I don't do any actual edits). 

I'll keep in touch and contact you if I have any questions throughout the story critique process. The exact timeframe will depend on the the word-count.​

I'll email you feedback.

I will return your beta read story in a .doc or .docx file with comments concerning plot, structure, voice, characters, setting, theme, and pacing. This won't include any developmental editing, but it will go over some of the same subjects. 

You will also receive an reader's assessment: a written report in the form of a PDF detailing my comments and observations concerning your overall story, including what I believe is working and what needs your attention. This will simply be my report as a reader  (albeit, a reader with editing experience and knowledge). 

​The length of this report will vary depending on your story length, but will generally be between 6-15 pages long.​​​

​I will then email you an invoice for the remaining fee.

From better writing to a better writer. 

Similar to a developmental edit, the goal of the story critique (or beta reading) is to improve the overall structure, effectiveness, and impact of your novel. ​After you have reviewed my comments and feedback, you are welcome to ask me any remaining questions and I will do my best to answer them (this could be about my specific comments or an aspect of your story/plot/theme that you are unsure about how to fix). 
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​My goal isn't only to improve your writing in this single piece. Though you'll walk away with a polished, improved story, I hope you also take with you some insight and tools that will help push your writing skills to the next level. 

story critique prices

Short Story
Novella
Novel
​5,000 words for $50
20,000 words for $130
70,000 words for $300
​10,000 words for $80
30,000 words for $185
100,000 words for $330
15,000 words for $105
40,000 words for $250
150,000 words for $400

​​​These are estimates based on word-count alone.
Contact me to discuss the specifics of your individual story, or to get a free sample edit to see if we'd be a good fit!