Are you ready to take the next step to your writing success? 

Introducing... the 'Blue Ribbon' Critique service

Gain an overall appraisal of your story from the experienced viewpoint of a contest judge - a university tutor with a PhD in creative writing. Your story will be rated by the seven criteria (at right) that judges and publishers typically apply when assessing a submitted work, whether a short story or a novel.

Plus... enjoy practical and detailed advice on each of these key aspects for enhancing your story's 'reader appeal'.

Plus... receive a rigorous point-by-point analysis of your story, line by line, with ready-to-use suggestions for the improvement of specific sections.

Plus... discover how selected episodes can be creatively redrafted to endow your entire story with a new power. (And we'll redraft them for you!)

You will acquire not only a helpful template for the story's revision but also a wealth of thoughtful insights that may help you to see your work in a new way and change - for the better - the very way you write.

The 'Blue Ribbon' critique service is for the writer who is already competent in his or her craft and is now ready to upgrade their skills to a professional standard. 

The fee for this service is £70 and you will receive your closely written appraisal, in excess of 1000 words, normally within 21 days of sending your story. A submitted story may be up to 5000 words, a short story or a section of a novel, and it can be emailed as a doc, docx, rtf, pdf or Open Office attachment.

 

To enrol in this service, click on the PayPal button at left. (PayPal also accepts most credit cards.)

Then submit your story by email by clicking our email link here.

Thank you! I look forward to reading your story and returning to you with step-by-step suggestions for its improvement. You will also receive profitable ideas that could enhance every future story that you write!

      Seven criteria for success

  • Power to engage the reader emotionally
  • Originality of the story concept
  • First paragraphs enlist the reader's interest
  • 'Page turning' appeal and coherent form
  • Apt and/or creative use of language
  • Absence of clichés and stylistic clumsiness
  • Competent presentation

A professional critique

All critiques are done personally by Dr John Yeoman, MA (Hons) Oxon, MRes, PhD, a university lecturer in creative writing. He has been a successful commercial writer for 40 years. His novel The Apothecary's Tales was shortlisted in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2009. 

What they told us about the 'Blue Ribbon' service 

'This serious critique service is worth every penny. It helped me to revise my other writings and to improve the one I submitted. I had generous after-sales service too.' Margaret Dunn

'As well as addressing my concerns about the story, John returned to me with a very tightly edited manuscript accompanied with notes that explained many of his edits. He suggested other edits that I might want to implement. Not only this, but he also provided a very detailed report covering a number of areas such as plot and character. He was also on hand to correspond with me following the report's completion to address a couple of issues. He is beyond generous and critical in the best possible senses, and his cogently argued report and edits provided plenty of food for thought.' Richard Gibney