Critiques by Kristi Holl

When you think about the hours, months and possibly even years it took you to write your book, you should be the first to acknowledge that having your work professionally edited is the next logical step. It is the one step you should never, ever skip. I am not going to go on and on about this, I am going to introduce you to a very special woman.

Ms Krists Holl

Kristi Holl is an award-winning author of 41 books for children, two nonfiction books for writers (Writer’s First Aid and More Writer’s First Aid), and over 150 stories and articles for children and adults, as well as conference speaker. Two-thirds of her books are middle-grade novels. She also taught writing for 27 years and has done freelance editing for two publishers.

Kristi understands that publishing has changed and is unlikely to go back to the times when her first books were published by Atheneum. At that time, editors had much more time to critique an author’s work and help him or her get it ready for publication. Her critique service fills a void that was left after corporate take-overs and reduced staff left many editors too swamped to work closely with writers to polish their work. These days, to stand a chance with a traditional publisher, your book manuscript must land on an editor’s desk in very “clean” shape.

“I prefer to critique middle grade (8-12) or tween (10-14) or teen (12-16) novels or nonfiction,” Kristi says on her website. “I like to receive the entire manuscript in the mail, double-spaced and printed on one side of the paper. I make comments directly on the manuscript as I read. Then I write a lengthy (4-6) single-spaced letter of comments to go with the manuscript critique, pointing out areas of strength and weakness, plus writing instruction to improve the manuscript.

“I charge $40 per hour. The average 25,000- to 30,000-word novel takes me about 5-6 hours. I return edited manuscripts with critiques to writers within two weeks—usually less. I ask for a $50 deposit to be included when you mail me the manuscript, then the rest is due after I complete the critique. I send a bill for the remainder when I return the manuscript. Keep the bill for your tax records, as it is deductible as a business expense. If this interests you, let me know, and I'll send you my street address. Contact me at Kristi.Holl@gmail.com.”