A sensitivity read checks your manuscript for stereotypes and false notes. Here’s what it is, who does it, what it costs, and whether your book needs one.

Finished a draft? This 4-step first revision process helps you get distance, find the real problems, and fix them in the right order.

Accepting criticism is hard, and defensiveness is normal. Here are 4 steps for telling criticism from attack and using feedback to improve your writing.

Not every critique sounds like one. Here are 3 sneaky types of writing feedback, from “I didn’t finish it” to “No notes!”, and how to act on each.

Manuscript evaluation, developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, proofreading—they're not interchangeable. Here's exactly what each type of editing covers, what you'll receive, and when you need it.

Learn how professional proofreaders read book proofs—from checking front matter and tables of contents to catching widows, orphans, and composition errors. A step-by-step process for authors and editors.

Reading your own writing with a critical eye is one of the hardest things a writer has to do. These three self-editing strategies — scene-by-scene synopsis, backward reading, and reading aloud — help you create the distance you need to find what's not working at every level, from plot to prose.

Learn how to give writing criticism that actually helps: deliver praise broadly and criticism precisely, and why the compliment sandwich is doing it wrong.

Your manuscript has bugs. Beta readers are how you find them before your readers do. Here's how to build the beta reading team that will actually make your book better—and who to use with caution.

Traditional publishers pay you. Vanity publishers charge you. Hybrid publishers do both. Know which one you're dealing with before you sign anything — because most of them will lie about it.

The slush pile: where manuscripts go to be ignored by everyone except the lowest-paid person in the building. If you're querying, here's what's actually happening to your submission—and five ways to make sure it never hits slush in the first place.

If you’ve been frustrated by the beta reading process, if you’ve gotten vague feedback—or no feedback at all—and wanted a solution, I made this for you.