There aren’t many terms & conditions, but I mention them now so that we remain good friends throughout the process.
- You’re guaranteed up to 4 emails (ie 4 sent by you) for questions, discussions and so on – to ensure you understand the advice and what to do next. Clients usually write queries directly on the report in a contrasting colour and we have a back-and-forth conversation like that. Which is quite fun. You can include reworked sequences (no more than a few pages in total).
- If you need a revision reassessed I have to charge for that again as I have to approach it as a completely new book, the way an agent would, and set aside the same amount of time as I did for the original.
- As soon as you pay me I will make a firm deadline to send you your critique. Up until I have made that deadline you are free to cancel or postpone, but no cancellations will be accepted once you have paid me and we have a deadline – this is because manuscript assessment is intensive and time consuming and I have to turn away other work in order to do it.
- I can’t guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted by an agent or editor or that it will sell well if you self-publish. Success is down to luck as well as talent and hard persistence – unfortunately! But your best chance is to write your book well, and I can guarantee I will give you an honest, professional and very constructive critique, to help you do that.
- The comments I make in reports and emails are for teaching on a work in progress. Please don’t use, extract or quote them as endorsements, publicity or blurb comments for the finished book – they have not been given in the context of a recommendation to readers.
- Obviously your ideas are confidential and I will not share them with anyone. I will also never copy them! Please don’t be offended, but my agent advises that I state this explicitly: so any similarities between the work you show me and what I produce in the future are pure coincidence, and by submitting your work to me you agree this is the case.
- Disclaimer: The content of any published manuscript is your responsibility. I am not responsible for any persons who are defamed or otherwise injured in any way as a result of the content of your book, as the content was supplied by you. Please be careful with any facts you assert, and any events and people you include.
- The copyright in your manuscript remains yours. Even if I contribute ideas, you are the person who will execute them. You might even ignore them. I have no claim on your manuscript whatsoever (unless we’ve made a ghostwriting agreement and such terms would be expressly discussed as part of that). The short version: the copyright in your manuscript is yours.
That’s the tough stuff done. I look forward to helping you create a brilliant book.
Updated June 2016
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