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Unsurprisingly, she was awesome!
I won a Ten Minutes with an Expert chat from a Facebook live first pages event and was thrilled to find a coveted meeting with Jessica available in July. Unsurprisingly, she was awesome! She didn’t mind working through technical issues with me to ensure I had her comments in front of me as we chatted (even though she was running behind schedule and had already had a long day running a Manuscript Academy event), and provided excellent feedback that helped me understand the strengths and weaknesses in my query letter. Now as I rework my blurb, I have high hopes that the finished product will be a lot better thanks to her notes.
Sarah Adler
October 8, 2020
She also answered my questions concisely and honestly
Ms. McDonald was amazing. She had a lot of insight on my first page, not only because she gave me suggestions but also WHY she felt those suggestions were necessary in order to help build a stronger hook. She also answered my questions concisely and honestly, which I appreciated.
Heather Cardona
October 8, 2020
I feel well-positioned and excited to finally begin the query process.
I enjoyed a very instructive chat with Caitlin. She expressed enthusiasm in the project, and pointed out several ways I hadn’t thought of to strengthen my query and help it better express the scope of the work. I feel well-positioned and excited to finally begin the query process, and would definitely recommend Caitlin as a wonderful source of guidance.
Carolyn Swanson
October 8, 2020
I came away from our meeting eager to rethink not just the first ten pages but parts of the whole thing.
I enjoyed talking to Caitlyn. She was highly analytical and professional. Her reading was astute–she picked out inconsistencies and unclear spots in a piece of writing I have read at least 300 times. She helped me see the writing from the point of view of the reader, which is not always easy to do. She clearly really thought about the piece and packed in a lot in 15 minutes. I would of course love to work with her as I came away from our meeting eager to rethink not just the first ten pages but parts of the whole thing.
Elaine Ostry
October 8, 2020
Objective and experienced
The greatest value of spending 10 minutes on the phone with an agent and former editor, was that I could get feedback from someone who is objective and experienced. Whitney provided a few nuggets of advice that were helpful in rewriting my first sentence. She was encouraging and kind. She also helped me think more about comp titles and how to categorize my manuscript.
Lori Narlock
October 8, 2020
I’m excited to proceed forward with confidence with the querying process.
I really enjoyed my 1-on-1 critique session with Stephanie Winter. I feel my manuscript 1st page has been “turbo-charged.” In a mere ten minutes, Stephanie combined her erudite literary insight, knowledge of the publishing industry, and experience as avid reader and writer’s advocate, while always displaying a diplomatic balance of both praise and criticism, for her succinct and powerful recommendations to improve the first page of my manuscript. Now that I see the result, I’m excited to proceed forward with confidence with the querying process.
Dave Elliott
October 8, 2020
She knew what I needed to move my story along!
Samantha was wonderful! She was very positive, and knew exactly what I needed to move my story forward.
Kathi Most
October 8, 2020
I will definitely be doing one of these again
Alyssa was awesome to talk with. I knew as soon as I saw her name on the list that I wanted to talk with her. It was so easy to ask her questions and an amazing help to hear a quick answer rather than deliberating for months about a certain aspect of my project. I will most definitely be doing one of these again and will also be re-reaching back out to Alyssa! Thanks for this opportunity!
Rachel DiNunzio
October 6, 2020
So impressed!
I’d heard Fiona on the Manuscript Academy several times over the last two years and always came away so impressed with her knowledge and her warmth, so I booked her for a 1st page review. I can say she is just as lovely on the phone as she seems on the podcast! Her advice to change my first sentence, because it didn’t match the rest of the tempo (or mood) of the first paragraph, was very insightful. A small tweak that had never occurred to me, but absolutely made sense. I had some questions for her about whether or not my first paragraph was starting in the right place and before she answered she asked me several things about the manuscript, so that she could give a good answer. Ultimately, I came away confident that I am starting in the right place, and that is what I was looking for.
Sabrina Vienneau
October 6, 2020
I can’t emphasize how nervous I was at the beginning, but I’m so glad I signed up!
Although I’d shown my adult sci-fi manuscript to a couple waves beta readers, including Meetups and a writer’s retreat workshop with an industry editor, this live session was a great experience. Foremost, Kiana Nguyen provided unique advice about starting the novel at a different point in the event timeline. She provided solid rationale, and even kindly offered a sentence stem to kick off with. Two days later, I had a first draft to show my Meetup, and seven out of eight readers– both new and old– preferred the new beginning. Apart from that, Kiana also offered detailed thoughts on weaker and problematic word choices, and how to get the story feeling more appropriate to the timeline. Unexpectedly, she also went the extra mile and sent written notes, including suggestions for my query letter. When Kiana’s recommendations conflicted with other beta readers, that was also really informative. A good reminder of subjectivity, and how agents have specific approaches. Mind you, she also said nice things about my premise and certain passages. She was extremely friendly, reassuring, emphasized the need to write frim the POV/style/etc. that one prefers rather than focusing on ‘the most commercially viable’ strategy. Also, she was communicative when we had technical problems at the start, and shared neat opinions about representing racial minorities in fiction. I can’t emphasize how nervous I was at the beginning, but I’m so glad I signed up!
Victoria Shi
October 6, 2020
The 10-minutes was packed with great feedback
Melissa is WONDERFUL! The 10-minutes was packed with great feedback I could implement immediately and then explained WHY she was giving me this feedback. It was so helpful and I’m feeling incredibly refreshed and excited. Thank you so much!
Isadora Brown
October 6, 2020
Money well spent!
Going into the query trenches is daunting no matter how many times you have edited, and re-edited your materials. While I totally respect the need for form emails when an agent feels your project is not the right fit for them, it does leave you wondering if something is WRONG with your query! Is something not up to par? Is that cuss word in the first chapter turning prospective agents off?! My Skype call with Alyssa was just what I needed. She gave some fantastic suggestions to tighten my query letter and it was great hearing from an agent in my field that the important things were there (she said the voice of the chapter was great 🥰) and that I’m not totally off track.Money well spent!!
Melanie Schubert
October 2, 2020