We are members of the New Zealand Association of Manuscript Assessors (NZAMA).
Please note: we do not assess poetry.
An assessment from TFS is an objective report designed to help you resolve any problems we see in your manuscript and offering suggestions on how to rework it.
We give positive feedback by indicating your strengths. Comments and specific points cover topics such as characterisation, structure and style. If your project is close to publication standard we will give you suggestions for selling it.
Comments and advice relate directly to the text.
A typical report on a book length work is 7 to 12 pages.
We deal with fiction and general non-fiction, including children's books. We do not take on specialised non-fiction unless we have at least minimum competence in the subject area.
You can send us part of a ms if you wish but if you do, there will obviously be certain aspects, such as overall structure, which we won't be able to comment on.
We have a limited number of places on our assessment programme. Please contact us before you send your manuscript. When you do send it, use the following guidelines:
You can find our postal address on our Contact Us page.
You can send a manuscript by e-mail, after checking with us first, but please note that there will be an additional charge for printing.
Even with email you should send return postage because our report will refer to the page numbers in the copy of the manuscript that we print off. These page numbers may be different from the ones in your copy. You might not get full benefit from your report unless you have our printed copy.
The cost of an assessment is based on the word count of each piece. As a rough guide, an assessment of an 80,000 word novel would be around $600 (plus GST if applicable). Use our calculator to get a better idea.
Collections of short stories have separate assessment rates, depending on the length and number. Send them to us and we will give you a quote.
Between us we have extensive experience in writing, teaching, publishing and bookselling and have in depth knowledge of business of writing in a New Zealand context. For further details see separate pages for Chris and Barbara.