Ive seen other editors who do their initial analysis for free. Why should I pay the Iowa Wordwrights for it?
Good question. First, you get what you pay for. Our clients have shown us complimentary critiques they received from other editors that looked like they were pulled right out of a how-to-write-fiction book. (In one case, it apparently wasnt even a good book.) Second, and more importantly, offering free work up-front creates too much of an incentive for some editors to recommend expensive follow-up services to a client even when none are warranted. Sometimes a manuscript is in great shape and only needs some light copy editing. Occasionally, the opposite is true: we may conclude from our initial analysis that a manuscript simply isnt likely to be publishable even with additional editorial services. In either case, we tell you exactly what we think your manuscript needs and provide a generous explanation for our opinion. We dont try to convince you to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on higher-level critiques and editing unless those services are really going to improve your manusc
