Feedback And Reviews
Fiona is thoughtful and honest. She has helped me hone my query and my first ten pages. She’s the greatest!
Having my work critiqued by Fiona was one of the best decisions I’ve made as a writer. She is kind, generous, and knowledgeable. Even more valuable is her ability to give specific guidance based on your strengths as an individual. After my consultation with her my children’s book author/illustrator goals are clearer. I have a definite direction and know precisely what to do next in regards to my current project. Fiona’s insights and infectious enthusiasm are just what I needed. If you have an opportunity to speak with her about your project, don’t hesitate.
Fiona Kenshole is extremely hard to book, but there’s a very good reason for that! Her enthusiasm will make any bodies day bright, she knows exactly how to deliver a critique and what way to deliver it. She’ll tell you all the things you’re doing wrong, as well as all the things you’re doing right! She’ll take you through the steps of discovering your main plot, ask you vital questions, and you’ll walk away with a new understanding of what you need to do.
Anjanette was professional, encouraging, and very helpful. I felt she was informed and genuine, gave me good information, and I feel inspired to put more effort into getting my book out there.
Erica was fantastic- really enjoyed working with her. Great critique and edits. Inevitably some of her suggestions were at odds with what I have heard from others, but I will try to incorporate everything.
Kaitlyn was so kind and helpful during our session! I got a lot of great tips and a list of suggestions of writers whose books are similar to mine. I will definitely be checking those out! She also encouraged me to not feel I have to follow any picture book formula if I don’t want to and told me her opinion on the manuscript layout. Kaitlyn is such a great resource! I will probably be talking with her again in the future.
Jennifer Wills was incredibly helpful. She was very encouraging and still very specific in her suggestions, which was the perfect combination. What a remarkable talent to be able to do those two things at the same time. I was too close to my query letter, and I was stuck ñ I am stuck no more! Sending SO much thanks to her and to Manuscript Academy!
I have had two consultations with Chelsey. The first came after I had spent a lot of time and energy sending out queries and receiving very little in response, other than form rejections. So, I decided to seek professional help. 🙂
I did the 30 pages plus query review plus 30 minute consultation first. Chelsey was kind and professional about telling me that my manuscript was 20-30k words too long. My query was way too long, too. She gave me specific feedback on how to fix my issues, while also encouraging me that my writing was good.
Of course, I didn’t want to “kill my darlings,” so I pouted first for a few weeks about the drastic word-count revision and then got busy. That’s just my M.O. I went from 124k to 99k, listened to Chelsey regarding the query, plus watched more MA recordings on queries and hooks, and managed to cut my query to 350 words. I also restructured my novel, based on something Chelsey said, added a new first chapter and decided it was time to try again.
I booked Chelsey again, this time for the query/first 10 pages/15-minute consultation. It went very well. She compared notes with the last consultation, told me what she liked and gave me a few more pointers. She encouraged me to carry on. So I am. With a lot more confidence this time.
And I agree after all that drama, I like my manuscript much better now, even without the darlings.
Dani was fantastic. She was incredibly kind, supportive, and had actionable advice for how I could improve my pages. It was comfortable, friendly, and so helpful. I wasn’t entirely sure how much to expect from this 15 minute conversation; suffice it to say it more than exceeded my expectations. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone, and certainly would recommend Dani!
Bibi was very easy to talk to and her advice was helpful and to the point. We went through a lot in 15 minutes! I will definitely follow her suggestions. I found this session very encouraging. It was great to get her professional feedback about my work.
My call with Larissa was the jolt I needed for my honestly kinda drained writer battery ?? Her comments were insightful and encouraging, and she was super willing to get in the weeds and talk through different revision ideas with me. Highly recommend!!!

Samantha was incredibly helpful! I appreciated her honesty and the intuition she showed in ìgettingî my characters. She offered concrete advice that will help me improve.
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