This is the most underrated editorial service.
A fraction of the cost of a full manuscript edit. Get expert insight where it matters most without investing thousands in a full edit before you’re ready.
Get feedback in weeks, not months. No waiting for a full-manuscript turnaround to find out whether your opening is doing its job.
Two layers of expert feedback. Receive detailed in-text developmental and line-level edits plus a personalized written assessment created specifically for your manuscript.
Get an industry expert in your corner. Benefit from 15+ years of professional publishing and editing experience without committing to a full manuscript edit.
Your first chapter has a big job.
It has to make readers care. Establish the right expectations. Create curiosity. Introduce your voice and your world. And, most importantly, give readers a reason to keep reading.
That’s a lot to ask of a few thousand words.
A First Chapter Critique gives you a focused, expert look at whether your opening is doing that work and what you can do to make it stronger.
What’s in it for you?
Insight from an industry professional with 15 years of experience working in traditional publishing on bestselling books—for a fraction of the price of a full edit.
Here’s what I look at:
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Opening scene buy-in
Inciting incident setup
Scene flow and early pacing
Stakes and tension setup
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First impressions
Initial motivation and stakes
Early voice differentiation
Relatability and believability
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Authenticity and dialogue flow
Dialogue purpose
Narrative tone and readability
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Info-dump analysis
Immediate grounding
Rules of the world setup
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Genre expectation alignment
Target audience clarity
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Point-of-View consistency
Clarity of scene transitions
Style trend identification
I’m Rebecca, an editor, coach, and your personal publishing consultant
About
The publishing world has a reputation for being exclusive.
But here, you and your book are welcome, and I want to hear your story.
I’ve worked on everything from New York Times and USA Today bestsellers and Indie Next picks to self-published debut novels. I’ve worked with authors who have a lot of letters after their names, attended the most prestigious schools in the world, and have a lot of famous friends. But I’ve also helped people who take money out of their retirement to follow their dreams and write a book.
I’m so proud of all the corners of the publishing world I get to play in. No book is more important to me than another. What matters most to me is in the end, it feels like you. I’m so proud to have helped hundreds of authors elevate their voices and amplify their messages. This work is more important now than ever.
Are you ready to get started?
