Click here for testimonials from recent clients.
Why I might be the right person to read your manuscript:
I’ve written ten commercial romances – published between March 2019 and April 2024 – and two of them were award nominated. I have a passionate love for the genre and an understanding of what makes a romance craveable for readers and sellable for agents and publishers.
I’m also an academic with a nineteen year scholarly publication history of articles and book chapters (under my name Dr. Kirsty Bunting). A PhD in nineteenth century collaborative fiction and an MA in Shakespeare Studies from The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, mean I’ll bring honed critical thinking skills, nuanced historical and literary knowledge, and a trained eye for detail to my critique of your manuscript.
I was a full time Senior Lecturer in English Literature for over a decade in my last role before moving to my current post as part time Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the prestigious and dynamic Manchester Writing School in 2019.
My academic career is underpinned by my PGCE in Teaching in Higher Education (Man Met Uni). Teaching has given me years of experience of constructively and fairly evaluating students’ writing.
The service I offer:
I currently read and critique complete and partial manuscripts offering structural feedback on plotting, character development, commercial appeal and readability.
I’ll be honest, constructive and kind. You’ll hear what’s working and what needs a little more attention.
I’ll offer ideas and suggestions for how you might enhance your manuscript for publication in commercial markets while understanding that, ultimately, the story is your own and your voice should be preserved.
I offer ‘in manuscript’ commentary as well as comprehensive notes summarising my key points in a separate document.
I only critique romance manuscripts, i.e. stories in which there is a romance strand at the centre of the storytelling and an HEA or a HFN (Happy Ever After or Happy for Now). I’ll be glad to read romances which cross genres as well as any romance subgenre and heat level. I welcome manuscripts centring LGBTQ+ relationships.
I know how hard it can be to send away your work for critique. It’s nerve-wracking, but it does get easier with experience and where there is a shared understanding that the goal is to hear an unbiased and honest view and to take your manuscript to the next level.
Charges are a flat fee per full A4 double spaced page (Times New Roman, 12 point). Between us we would agree a date of return before going ahead.
If you want to chat further about your work and to see if we’d be a ‘good fit’, or to ask about about fees and my no-obligation quote, please click here. My reading diary is already busy for 2024 but there are limited critique spaces left.
Thank you for considering making use of my Manuscript Critique Services for Romance Authors.