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Stage 1 of 6 · Editorial Review

Manuscript Critique: An Honest Letter on Your Whole Novel

A critique is only worth having if it is honest, and most writers have trouble finding one that is. Friends are kind, readers go quiet, and a chatbot tends to praise whatever it is shown, which is the problem how to get honest feedback on your novel is about. Edith's manuscript critique is the Editorial Review, the first of her six stages: she reads your entire novel, up to 150,000 words, and writes you a letter on what works, what holds the book back, and where to start. Then you can answer it. It starts free, with a letter on your first 10,000 words and no credit card. The critique of the whole book is $15.

In short

A manuscript critique is an honest, written response to a whole draft: its strengths, its problems, and what to do first. It is also sold as a book critique or a manuscript review. Edith's is a letter on your entire novel, followed by a discussion of each point, up to 10 replies each. She suggests and never rewrites. Your first 10,000 words are free, the whole book is $15, and the $15 is credited toward the $249 complete edit.

Read my first 10,000 words, freeSee how it works

Edith reads your first 10,000 words and writes you an editorial letter, no credit card needed. The whole book, with every point open to discuss, is $15. Never used to train anything, and yours to delete.

What a manuscript critique is

A manuscript critique is one reader's considered response to your whole book, written down. It is not a line edit and it is not a proofread. Nobody marks your sentences. The critic reads the draft from first page to last and then tells you what the book is doing well, where it falls short of what it is trying to be, and what they would work on first.

You will see it under other names. A book critique and a manuscript review are the same service. Freelance editors often call it an editorial assessment, and the document they send is an editorial letter; the Editorial Review page explains that letter and its other names. What they share is the shape: a read of everything, then prose addressed to the author.

It is different from the three things it gets confused with. A critique partner or writing group swaps chapters with you, usually a few at a time, and responds as a fellow writer. A beta reader tells you how the book felt to read, which is real information of another kind; what beta readers can and cannot tell you covers that. A developmental edit goes further than a critique, into the manuscript itself, with notes on specific pages. A critique comes before all the paid work, because it settles what the book needs.

A good critique has three qualities, and you can use them to judge any you are offered. It is specific: it points at chapters and scenes, not at "pacing" in general. It gives reasons, so you can disagree with them. And it tells you what to protect as well as what to change, because a writer who does not know what is working will revise it away.

Who it is for, and when

Anyone with a complete draft of a novel and no trustworthy answer yet to the question "is it any good?" It belongs after your own self-edit and before you pay for editing or send the book out. If you are not sure the draft is ready even for that, how to tell if your novel is ready for an editor lists the signs.

A critique is the right step when:

  • Everyone who has read the book said they loved it, and you do not believe them.
  • Your readers disagreed with each other and you cannot tell who was right.
  • You are about to query agents or self-publish and want one straight read first.
  • You want to know what a developmental edit would focus on before you commit to one.
  • You have had praise from a chatbot and would like the truth.
  1. Before

    Your finished draft

  2. This stage

    Editorial Review

  3. After

    Developmental Editing

From a sample critique

Dear author,

Here's what's working, and I mean working: your sentences trust the reader. You rarely over-explain, and when Mara stands at the harbour in chapter two and says nothing at all, I understood everything. That restraint is the spine of the book. Protect it.

Edith

Overview point · to talk through

A voice worth trusting. This is the thing not to touch. Your prose earns its silences. Whatever we change in the pages ahead, we protect the restraint that makes the book unmistakably yours.

AgreeDisagreeDiscuss
Where the sample letter on The Salt Road says what is working, with the point about what to protect. The Salt Road is an invented literary novel written for the sample. Not a real author's book. The whole letter and its four points are on the sample page.

What Edith's critique covers

The story, and whether it works. She reads the whole manuscript first, keeping track of what each character wants, what happens in each chapter, and what the book promises its reader. Only then does she write. The critique covers:

  • What the book does well. Named specifically and first, because it is true and because it is what a revision must not break.
  • What is holding it back. In plain language, with the reason for each point and the place in the book where it shows.
  • Character and want. Whether the people in the book want things the reader can see, and whether that wanting lasts through the middle.
  • Shape. Whether the book is in the right order, and whether its ending answers the question it set up.
  • Where to start. One clear first move, so the critique ends in something you can do next.

A critique you can answer

Most critiques are a one-way document. You read it, you agree with some of it, you bristle at the rest, and there is nobody to ask. Edith's letter comes with its arguments laid out as separate points, and with the whole-book Review each one is open to discuss, up to 10 replies a point.

So when she says the middle sags and you think she has missed something, you tell her. She goes back to the page before she replies, and if you are right she says so and changes her position. If you settle it somewhere between her view and yours, that is what gets written down. The result is a set of decisions about your book that you made, with an editor's reasons beside them.

She is honest and she is not harsh. There is no grade and no verdict on your talent, and she never comments on how the draft came to be written. She also never rewrites: a critique from Edith contains notes and suggestions, and every word in the manuscript stays yours. An AI book editor that gives honest feedback, not flattery explains why she is built that way.

The letter is yours to download and keep. You can read a complete sample, with its points and a discussion, on the sample page, and see how one is put together in an editorial letter example.

How to use a critique once you have it

Read it once and put it down. The first read of any honest critique stings a little, and decisions made in that hour are usually defensive ones. Come back the next day and read it for what it says about the book, not about you.

Then sort it. Some points you will know are right the moment you read them; you half knew already. Some you will disagree with, and those are the ones to discuss, because either the critique has missed something or the page has not yet shown what you meant. A few will be matters of taste, and you are allowed to leave those alone.

Start with the largest problem, not the easiest. A critique is ordered so that the first thing to fix is the one the rest depends on. Fixing the story first and the sentences last saves you from polishing pages you later cut.

Three ways to get a critique

Described by shape, not by quality. A human critique and a software report both give you a document; the difference with Edith is that the document is where the conversation starts. We look at human editing in Edith vs a human editor and at the report tools in Edith vs Inkshift and Edith vs Red Ink Report.

  • What it reads

    With a human editor
    Your whole manuscript
    AI critique reports
    Your whole manuscript
    With Edith
    Your whole manuscript, up to 150,000 words, in one pass

  • What you get

    With a human editor
    A written critique or editorial letter
    AI critique reports
    A report you read alone
    With Edith
    An editorial letter plus its points, set out one by one

  • Answering back

    With a human editor
    Sometimes, a call or a few emails
    AI critique reports
    Usually not
    With Edith
    Yes, up to 10 replies on each point

  • What comes next

    With a human editor
    A separate edit, quoted separately
    AI critique reports
    Buy another report on the next draft
    With Edith
    What you agreed becomes the notes the next stages work from

  • Turnaround

    With a human editor
    Weeks, after a wait for a slot
    AI critique reports
    Minutes
    With Edith
    Minutes

  • Cost

    With a human editor
    Quoted per project or per word; varies widely
    AI critique reports
    A fee per report
    With Edith
    $15 per book, credited toward the $249 complete edit

What it costs

You can start without paying. Edith reads your first 10,000 words and writes you a letter on your opening, with the points she would raise. That is one free read per account, and no credit card is asked for.

The critique of the whole book is $15. It covers the full read, the letter, and the discussion of every point. It is refundable in full until the letter is delivered, and not after, because the letter is what you are buying.

If you want to go further, the $15 is credited toward the complete six-stage edit at $249 per book, which leaves $234 to pay. Two revision rounds per stage are included, and there is no subscription. The detail is on the pricing page.

A human critique is quoted per project or per word and the range is wide. For a sense of scale, the developmental edit that often follows one commonly runs $2,000 to $4,000 for a novel.

Sources:Editorial Freelancers Association, editorial rates (opens in a new tab)Reedsy, how much editing costs (opens in a new tab)

The guarantee. If you buy the complete edit upfront and the editorial letter does not give you something you can act on, tell us within 14 days and before Stage 2 begins, and we refund you in full. The details are on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

An honest written response to a whole draft: what the book does well, what is holding it back and why, and where to start revising. Nobody edits your sentences. Edith's critique is a letter on your entire novel, up to 150,000 words, followed by a discussion of its points.

Start with an honest read of your whole book

Every edit begins at Stage 1, the Editorial Review: Edith reads the whole manuscript and writes you an editorial letter. You decide what happens next.

Read my first 10,000 words, freeSee pricing

Edith reads your first 10,000 words and writes you an editorial letter, no credit card needed. The whole book, with every point open to discuss, is $15. Never used to train anything, and yours to delete.

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