For the first time ever, in 2023…
I am offering manuscript assessments and mentoring, across four packages.
I welcome writers at all stages of career and development.
Bookings are open now but places are limited.
I’ve got the credentials. I’m a bestselling author with 10 traditionally published books so far, across fiction and non-fiction, in Australia and internationally. My first book received multiple offers and I’ve never been out of contract since. I’m an English teacher by trade and I especially love working one-to-one with people. I also worked as a professional editor and still write freelance articles and marketing & promotion material as well as new books.
I’ve taught in schools, international corporations, in my lounge room, at conferences and writing festivals, in libraries, on weekend mountain retreats, in draughty halls, in the Abergavveny Community Centre in Wales, online, and I now homeschool my son. Teaching is what I’ve always done. I truly consider it an honour to combine this skill with my love of writing to help others realise their dreams.
Choose someone who is easily identified and you can trust. I would never trust my manuscript with a faceless “anonymous” assessor. (Would you see an anonymous doctor or lawyer?) And if the assessment price seems too good to be true, that’s probably because it is (and I highly suspect smart bots are “reading” your work, or it’s being sent overseas).
Ready to Book? Click the Image for each Package for More Info and Booking.
Still Want to Know More? Check out These Kind Words from Others…
And All That is Exceptionally Lovely to Hear, But For Me, Everything I Do is About Connection and Passion.
(or I just won’t do it… and my super long chequered CV can confirm that…)
The thing is… I remember what it is like to be the person who wants nothing more in the world than to write books for a living. I remember what it is like to be rejected, over and over and over again. I remember wondering: Why? Why can’t I get a book published? What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with my work?
I remember wanting (hurting!) to see my work as a real, physical thing, that I figured out how to self publish it (before you could do it on Amazon), just so I could hold it in my hands and know that I had truly made something – that the thousands of hours I had spent writing this story now meant something because it was real. I remember all of it.
And through it all, I what I wanted more than anything was someone to help me.
If you are an NDIS client, you may be eligible to claim your tuition via your funding package if you have goals aligned with, and resources allocated to, improving communication or increasing skills. Please check with your plan manager or with NDIS if you are unsure. Email me for more info.
When A Manuscript Assessment Might Be Right for You…
This is An Excellent Time to Get an Appraisal
Getting an appraisal earlier rather than later can save you from taking your story into directions that aren’t helpful. An appraisal can help show you where the gold is among the rubble, allowing you to ditch the rubble and let that treasure through. In our first drafts, we often can’t see the wood for the trees. We are ‘word blind’ to our own work because we’ve been staring at it for so long. We need fresh, expert eyes to see what’s really going on. (And that’s all of us… beginners or multiply published writers.)
If They’re Not ‘In The Arena’…
I’m sorry to say that they are unlikely to be able to give you what you need. Think of it this way. Your mum could probably do a fair bit of skilful first aid when you came off your bike, but if you had bones exposed and wounds of gravel, you needed a doctor! Family and friends can give amazing support. (They can also do the opposite. If so, we need to talk.) Usually, friends & family’s best support is spent in practical ways (… childcare, cash, coffee, study time, a room of one’s own) and emotional support. But if it’s hard core writing craft you want, you need an expert in the field (in ‘the arena’).
You Are Correct!
Agents and publishers will rarely (if ever) look twice at something you’ve pitched. I know it is hard to wait. I know it’s hard to do yet another draft of your story. Everything moves so slowly in the publishing world. But… the upside of that is that because everything moves so slowly, you have time. You have time to do another draft. You have time to rework your manuscript, but only if you are taking it in the right direction! Trust me, as someone who has ditched 50,000 words of a manuscript that was going in the wrong direction… it HURTS! Don’t spend years going in the wrong direction. The sooner you know, the sooner you can turn around and get back on track. Or, as happened to me, clear the deck for the right story to arrive instead.
Oh… I Feel This!
I wrote 10 manuscripts in 12 years before I got a contract. During that time, I won short story competitions, I wrote freelance, I was shortlisted for two publishing awards, I had agents request my work and then reject it. I was scammed by dodgy publishers with dodgy contracts. I was scammed by writing competitions (that then publish your work and then sell the work back to you). My spreadsheet of rejections hit 100 (and then I deleted it in disgust). (Oh, and I had been working full time, part time, casually, in my own business, running a charity and while pregnant.) I had reached the end of my tether. It took just one final piece to get me over the line. For you, that final piece might be a manuscript assessment.
The pain!
Even published authors sometimes need manuscript assessments! I mentioned above that I once had to ditch 50,000 words of a novel. A novel that was on contract. With a deadline. I knew ‘something’ wasn’t right. This was going to be my fourth contracted novel, so it was surprising when I realised I was absolutely stuck. I paid for a manuscript assessment with my favourite editor, who I trust, completely. And like a really good editor, she didn’t tell me what to do. Instead, she asked questions and made astute observations and in reading her report I knew I had to abandon that manuscript. (There is a happy ending to this story, which I will share with you when we begin work together.)
Listen to That Voice
So you just read that bit above where I had to ditch 50,000 words, right? If I had listened to my inner voice, my gut feeling, just a little bit earlier, I might not have had to lose so much time, energy, and spinal integrity while sitting in a chair, working on something that was built on shifting sands.
Josephine Moon 