APPRAISING YOUR NOVEL 

. . . is a reading and critique service for first-time novelists

. . . providing editing advice and reaction

. . . toward helping beginning writers improve their first and final drafts.

LIKE ONE APPRAISING REAL ESTATE, I walk through your novel at least twice, noting areas of your manuscript needing light touch-ups, major renovations, or total replacement. I may do a little remodeling here and there to illustrate options or techniques that will improve the structure, style, or appeal.

NEW NOVELISTS ARE ESPECIALLY WELCOME.  My interests are broad and I'm attracted to works featuring Americana, ranching, farming, rural settings, Christian, young adult, traditional westerns or "new West",  men's adventure, outdoors and wilderness, baseball, music (classical to blue grass), aviation, photography, the arts, and arts and crafts. My favorite novelists? Willa Cather, Harper Lee, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jan Karon, and Rosamunde Pilcher.

Please make sure to visit the FAQ section.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY. . . . Thanks to those former clients for their trust in the past. Yes, Dennis, especially you and my congratulations on the publication of  Fallow's Field. Great work. Your persistence paid off and I'm pleased to have had a part in your success. Continued best wishes.

HERE IS A PORTION OF A LETTER I sent to a repeat client. . . . "For you've certainly come a long ways with _______. It is a very readable work and one that should start going somewhere. As mentioned in the critique, it's still subject to marketing whims and house preferences, but you now have a work that will stand with other entry-level works of its type. In fact, I'm willing to bet it would rank ahead of many first efforts. Now find a good high school English text or Strunk & White: The Elements of Style to correct and polish the mechanical parts of it. 

"As you have guessed, I am quite pleased with the work. Certainly every editor would have written passages somewhat differently or changed some elements of the plot or characterization. But that's the purpose of good critique: to hold on to the essential work of the creator while helping refine and elevate as much as possible."

Jim Cotton, noveledit2003@yahoo.com