Take care if you choose to have your manuscript assessed
Many manuscript assessment services are reputable and worth going through to get your novel polished up for publication. But be aware of the sneaky tricks being pulled on unwary authors by unscrupulous individuals looking for a quick buck.
Image by Inkswamp
Another name for a reading fee?
Tread carefully if you're advised that your manuscript needs to be assessed by a professional service before a particular agent will consider it. Although there are many reputable manuscript assessment services, this concept is fast becoming a variation of the reading fee issue.At first glance, this suggestion is not quite as blatant an upfront money-spinner as the reading fee. In fact it's often disguised as a service for the writer struggling to navigate the ubiquitous slush piles. In itself, a manuscript assessment service seems like a great idea - an experienced editor reads through your manuscript and gives advice on whether or not your work is likely to be accepted by a publisher, and what you need to change and work on in order to get it ready for publication.
My ethics-alarm starts sounding, though, when a literary agent recommends having a manuscript assessed, and mentions that using one certain manuscript assessment service in particular will guarantee you consideration, or even representation, by the agency. Hop on over to the proposed manuscript assessment service, and notice that the name of the experienced editor who will read your manuscript is the same name as the literary agent who will represent your manuscript to publishers.
In my opinion, the only difference between a reading fee and an agent-run manuscript assessment service is the price. A manuscript assessment service could cost you as much as seventy times what used to be charged as a reading fee. Remember the rule: money flows towards the author.
Image by Mark Kobayashi Hillary
What do you think of manuscript assessment services run by literary agents?
What about the slush pile?
What is the best use of a literary agent's time?
How many reputable agents can possibly afford the time to not only read all these extra manuscripts coming in from writers paying for an assessment, but also to critique them and suggest changes that would make them more publishable? Think about it. Would you really want to sign with an agent who spends their time critiquing newbie writers' books rather than pushing yours under a publisher's nose for a sale that may not happen?
Would you sign with an agent who also ran assessment services?
Do your homework
Another point of difference, of course, is whether the agency is a large organisation with many employees, or just a one-man show. Running a business by yourself is very labour intensive; running two businesses that both involve long periods of reading and concentration... I don't see it working very well. But a big company would be able to take the load off - I would just hope that when the assessment side says a qualified editor/agent will read the ms, they don't mean a "qualified" intern or the person who fetches the mail.
Try a peer critique instead
- Manuscript critique service
- A peer critique is a reading and critique of your manuscript by another writer: ie, someone who can tell you where the weak points in your story are and how to fix them.
Very few agents have experience as writers, especially fiction writers. An agent can only tell you what doesn't seem to work in your manuscript from a very experienced reader's point of view. He won't necessarily be able to tell you how to fix it because he has no experience of the writing craft that achieves a particular effect.
Similarly, an editor has a lot of great experience in fixing problems with a manuscript, especially spelling, grammar, continuity, and other errors, but often an editor will come up short when asked how to generate a particular effect using the writing craft.
Make sure you research the agents you intend to work with.
Or you may want to investigate How To Be Your Own Literary Agent by Richard Curtis, and bypass the agents altogether.
2007 Guide to Literary Agents
Amazon Price: $20.31 (as of 11/23/2008) 
How To Be Your Own Literary Agent: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published
Amazon Price: $11.20 (as of 11/23/2008)
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Manuscript Assessment Services run by Literary Agents
I really believe this is a conflict of interest. If agents are making money from writers before pitching the book to publishers, what incentive do they have to give it a really good push?
What do you think? Have you had experience with a MAS? Would you use one, or sign with an agent who pushed you to use their MAS?
Daoine has been a Top 100 Giant Squid since July 2008, and was chosen to be part of the first group of Squid Angels, blessing lenses from May 2007 to April 2008.
