Are you an aspiring writer? Or an established self-published writer? Or just a writer in general? Do you need someone to read your manuscript and give you honest, direct feedback? Are you too nervous to give your work to friends? Don’t have any friends who will make the commitment to read your whole manuscript in a reasonable amount of time? Or are they just stroking your ego, telling you everything you write is better than unicorns and starlight?

Then you need me.

I am now offering professional beta reading/manuscript critique services and content editing.

For manuscript critiques I will read your manuscript, in a reasonable amount of time, and give you honest feedback in a critique letter. In this letter I will give you my overall opinion of the story, tell you what is working and what isn’t. I will even give you suggestions to make your work stronger, tighter and more engaging. I will comment on pacing, characterization, voice and plot.

I warn you, I will not hold back – if there are problems with your manuscript, I will let you know because I believe a good beta reader should be honest with you. In this business, you have to have a thick skin and be ready for rejections. If you can’t handle honest feedback that might not be what you want to hear, then I am  not the reader for you. But hopefully I am.*

For content editing I will do all of the above that is included in a critique but I will also give you reader impression and notes about those impressions throughout the manuscript. Sometimes that will be a simple note to tell you I laughed/cringed/gasped or it may be a long paragraph about some important issue you missed/misrepresented/need.

I will spot check for those pesky typos, redundancy, and continuity issues, letting you know where you may have dropped a plot thread. I’ll tell you if that magnificent plot twist actually worked or if I totally saw it coming.

If there is a stronger way to phrase a sentence, I’ll suggest it. If you need to make major cuts to get that magical word count or you’ve gone on for pages about a sunset, I will be that tough love that shows you where to slash and burn the words. I will talk to you, in your MS, about how to make something work better and pose questions to help you make the story stronger.

Content editing is a lot like a critique, but it is much more in depth and detailed.

What I don’t do: Line editing. Yes, I’ll catch typos for you and point out grammar issues, but that’s it in the “Line editing” realm. I will not line edit–which means correcting your sentence structure and grammar for you. If you are lacking an editor (and if you want to self-pub, you MUST use one), I can recommend anyone, but especially Cassie, over at Joy Editing. Tell them Shauna sent you.

You may request a critique or content edit by emailing me at shaunagranger82@gmail.com – please click for  pricing!

Pricing: Manuscript Critique  || Content Editing

What I need from you: It is best that you send me your MS in a Word Document (sorry, no MAC here!), that way I can use Track Changes to implement my notes and comments and suggested changes. If you are unfamiliar with Track Changes, you should be – Track Changes is FANFREAKINGTASTIC.  With TC it will make it much easier for you to accept or reject any and all changes I suggest – you’ll be able to see what I’ve changed/noted/suggested without actually losing your original work.

Referrals/Qualifications:

California Lutheran University Writing Center Tutor: 2000-2004 – I was a writing tutor for all four years at university – at the time it was unheard of for a Freshman to be offered a position. I read, critiqued, edited and proofed works for Undergrads and Graduate students, ranging from technical papers to creative works.

BA in Creative Writing: California Lutheran University 2004 — I received my BA with honors in Creative Writing, a major tailor made for my goals, developed and guided by the Department Chair.

“It’s always great to get positive praise from your beta readers, but often times what we really need is honest feedback. Shauna Granger is definitely the person to go to if you want an honest critique of your work. She recently read my newest book and she not only gave me dozens of comments and concerns to address, but ways in which I could improve my characters and story. Her feedback was invaluable and it made my story better. “ – Claudia Lefeve

“Shauna not only helped me in a pinch with a short story that was hours away from deadline, she also gave nuanced, pointed feedback about everything from context to word choices, as well as (wisely) cutting things I thought were clever but actually diluted the effect I was trying to create. She did it all in an honest, diplomatic way that helped me improve the story and get it submitted in time.” – David Jón Fuller

“There I was – at end of the latest big edit of my first novel – and my word count was still much higher than I needed it to be. I cut, I trimmed and I pruned, but still I could not get my it down to where I needed it. I sent my novel to Shauna with the hope that her editing prowess would be able to help me tame this wild word count. What I received in return did more than fulfilled these hopes – it far exceeded them. Shauna not only provided me with numerous opportunities to trim words here and there, but she gave me recommendations on scenes I could cut and alter to improve the novel’s pacing as well. She also brought to my attention grammatical and formatting issues that I was unaware of and would have detracted the professional quality of my work. Beyond these technical corrections, Shauna also provided me with invaluable insights into my characters and plot. She gave me a much welcome and honest assessment of the characters and their relationships – what worked and what didn’t – all with well thought out reasons and rational. Her recommendations helped me reassess and reevaluate all aspects of my novel to make it a stronger work than it was before. If you are looking for a thoughtful, honest, punctual – and above all else – professional critique of your work, I wholeheartedly endorse the services of Shauna Granger.” – Brian O’Conor

*I reserve the right to reject any critique requests that do not interest me. I will only be accepting manuscripts in genres I find interesting and entertaining. A few reasons for this: 1, You do not want someone who finds your genre boring/uninteresting reading and critiquing it because their view would be skewed; 2, I am not familiar with every single genre, I would not be able to offer you appropriate comments on tropes, pacing, characterization if it’s a genre I am unfamiliar with and you wouldn’t get your money’s worth.