Manuscript Review Service

Manuscript Review Services: $85 Per Hour

Manuscript Reviews provide content-focused, big-picture feedback on an entire manuscript (not copy editing). Feedback is sent via email through the Program Director and is provided as a summary and comments written directly on the manuscript. There is no back-and-forth emailing with the reviewing consultant and no face-to-face mentoring (unless the reviewer agrees to meet as part of the Hourly Mentoring Service). The turnaround for this service is usually less than a month. A typical reading rate is 12 double-spaced pages/hour (depending on the commentary requested/required). Manuscripts must be submitted electronically as Word documents (double-spaced, 12-point standard font). Payment is required in advance of the Manuscript Review.

Perfect For Experienced Writers Looking For:

Holistic review on an entire draft
Written feedback on a completed draft
Critique summary on an entire draft
No personal interaction/conversation with a writing coach
Detailed review/beta-reading of a completed manuscript that has been through revisions and editing, and is being prepared for publication

Things To Know Before You Solicit Services:

The Mentoring Review Service is not intended for discussing portions of a work-in-progress with a writing coach. Find out more about Writer Mentoring Services.**
Mentors and consultants make every effort to help the author strengthen the current manuscript but they, and the Carnegie Center, make no guarantees that the author’s manuscript will be acquired by a publisher, or that it will achieve a specific level of sales.
Mentor, consultants, and the Carnegie Center have no ownership interest in the author’s work; the author retains all rights, including copyright.
Opinions, feedback, critiques, and reviews reflect the experiences and preferences of the mentors and consultants. The author determines what content in the sessions resonates with their project and writing style.
The Carnegie Center is not responsible for mentor or consultant comments or the content of sessions and reviews.

Consultant Direct Contact Policy & Fee Reduction Requests

DO NOT DIRECTLY CONTACT MANUSCRIPT CONSULTANTS. The Manuscript Review Service is offered as a cut-and-dry, single electronic exchange and is different from the Carnegie Center’s Writing Mentor Service, which pairs writers with mentors in a manner designed to encourage in-person and/or ongoing conversation.

If you would like to request a reduction of fees based on financial need, you may send your request via email to the Program Director. Include a brief explanation of your financial need in the body of the email.

Questions & Match Guidance

For more information about the Manuscript Review Services or for help choosing the best mentoring option for your project, contact Program Director Z Valentine at zjackson@carnegiecenterlex.org.

How To Schedule A Manuscript Review

1. Choose your Consultant
Browse bios of the Carnegie Center Manuscript Consultants.

2. Request Services
Send an email request for a Manuscript Review to the Program Director Z Valentine: zjackson@carnegiecenterlex.org:

Include REQUEST FOR MANUSCRIPT REVIEW in the subject header.
In the body of the email, list the name(s) of your preferred reviewing consultants (if you are not sure and would like recommendations, please indicate that here)
Provide the length of your manuscript (word count and number of pages)
Identify the genre of your manuscript
Give a brief summary of your manuscript
Attach the first ten (10) pages (double-spaced, 12-point standard font) of your manuscript

3. WAIT FOR A MATCH
Once received, the Coordinator of Author Services will make every attempt to match your manuscript with a consultant. A match is not guaranteed due to genre constraints and availability of slots per consultant.

4. SIGN MATCH AGREEMENT
Once a match has been determined and the consultant has reviewed your emailed information, the Coordinator of Author Services will send you an agreement detailing cost and timeline. The decision whether or not to sign the agreement form and begin the Manuscript Review consulting process is up to you.

5. PAY FOR SERVICES
Once you have signed the agreement and returned it to the Coordinator of Author Services, you will need to pre-pay the total amount for the Manuscript Review consultation online. Be sure to include the number of hours stated on the agreement and your mentor in the ‘notes’ section during checkout*

6. MANUSCRIPT REVIEWED
Once the manuscript consultant has completed the review, the Coordinator of Author Services will forward the review and the reviewing process is complete.

MANUSCRIPT CONSULTANTS

Ashley Blooms

Bio

Ashley Blooms (they/she) is the author of two critically acclaimed novels, Where I Can’t Follow and Every Bone a Prayer. Their work has been nominated for the Crook’s Corner Book Prize, Weatherford Award, and Judy Gaines Young Book Award, and they have been named a South Arts State Literary Fellow for Kentucky. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, The Oxford American, Reactor, and elsewhere. They received their MFA as a John and Renee Grisham Fellow at the University of Mississippi and have been awarded residencies and scholarships from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, Clarion Writers Workshop, Appalachian Writers Workshop, and others.

Laurie Calkhoven

Bio

Laurie Calkhoven, an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach and former publishing professional, is the author of more than 50 books for young readers ranging from beginning readers to YA. In addition to her own novels in the Boys of Wartime and Roosevelt Banks series, she has authored six novels for American Girl, worked as a ghostwriter for people more famous than herself, and penned many books of nonfiction. Laurie is a frequent workshop leader at the Highlights Foundation and at regional SCBWI conferences. Laurie is available for mentoring in all aspects of children’s writing and revising.

Laurie is based in New York and unavailable for in-person meetings.

Liz Carey

Bio

An award-winning journalist in Ohio, Kentucky and South Carolina, Carey has been an in-depth/investigative reporter, a beat reporter covering government, education and features, and now is a freelance writer contributing to nationwide news outlets. Carey also serves as an instructor for the Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning, and is the co-founder of the Blah, Blah, Blah Writers’ Group. Currently, she covers the 250Lex year-long celebration of Lexington, Ky for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Whether it’s writing about the stripper mistress of a former city treasurer who embezzled millions to support his girlfriend, “Hauntrepreneurs” (people who create haunted houses for a living) or the impact of Covid-19 on rural communities across the country, Carey has worked to help bring the interesting and the informative to life. As an author, Carey has written several books including her children’s book “My Little Zombie, a collection of historical stories in “Hidden History of Anderson County” and a look at tales we tell about the weird and unknown in “Rural Monsters, Myths and Legends.” Carey is also a ghostwriter, and has penned more than a dozen books for people across the country.

Originally from Versailles, Kentucky, Carey lives in Lexington, with her dog and cat just steps away from the University of Kentucky. You’ll often find her on her porch, lounging in her swing, sipping an okay wine and reading whatever good book she can get her hands on.

Sarah Combs

Bio

Sarah Combs has led writing workshops at the Carnegie Center for more than 20 years and is the author of the YA novels Breakfast Served Anytime and The Light Fantastic (both published by Candlewick Press).

Tony Crunk

Bio

Tony Crunk‘s first poetry collection, Living in the Resurrection, was the 1994 selection in the Yale Series of Younger Poets. He has published numerous subsequent collections, as well as additional work in fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books. He has held fellowships from the National Writer’s Voice and the Centrum Center for Education and the Arts, and he has taught creative writing and literature at the Universities of Virginia, Montana, and Alabama, as well as in a number of community education programs, including Hellgate Writers, Inc. (Missoula, MT) and Magic City Community Writers (Birmingham, AL). He also served for nine years as Teaching Writer-in-Residence in the Writing Our Stories program in the Alabama state juvenile correctional system. He welcomes opportunities to work with, and learn from, writers of any level of experience (or inexperience).

Amanda Davis

Bio

Amanda Davis is a teacher, artist, writer, and innovator who uses her words and pictures to light up the world with kindness. Amanda is the author of the award-winning picture books, 30,000 Stitches: The Inspiring Story of the National 9/11 Flag, and Moonlight Memories. Her author-illustrator debut, Sometimes Stormy, releases in fall of 2025 and she has three more books on the way. She also has poetry and illustrations featured in The Writers’ Loft Anthology: Friends & Anemones: Ocean Poems for Children and Gnomes and UnGnomes.

Tracee de Hahn

Bio

Tracee de Hahn is a published author of both fiction and non-fiction. A frequent instructor in topics related to writing, editing, and “getting published,” she enjoys helping writers identify their path and set a course for success. She has experience across the gamut of publishing, from Big 5 and Indy houses to self-publishing. She has also created, authored, and edited a range of magazines for major universities. Her latest book is A Well-Timed Murder, the second in the series from St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books. Currently, she is working on a mystery set in Kentucky.

Writing Mentor Service Topics: YA and adult fiction, writing for magazines, and topics in non-fiction (arts and humanities)

Marcia Thornton Jones

Bio

Marcia Thornton Jones is the author/co-author of 137 traditionally published books for children with sales totaling more than 45 million copies worldwide. Her books include the mid-grade novels Woodford Brave and CHAMP, picture books The Tale of Jack Frost and Leprechaun on the Loose, and seven chapter book series including the bestselling The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids. Marcia is the co-author of Writing for Kids: The Ultimate Guide and a former columnist for Writer’s Digest Magazine. Marcia’s latest books are the Graphix Chapter Books Ghosts Don’t Eat Potato Chips, Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots, Frankenstien Doesn’t Plant Petunias, and Dragons Don’t Cook Pizza.

Marcia is available for writer mentoring, manuscript reviews, and as an Author Academy mentor for writers of picture books, early chapter books, chapter books, midgrade novels, and young adult novels.

Elizabeth Kilcoyne

Bio

Elizabeth Kilcoyne is an author, playwright, and poet, born and raised in Kentucky. Her first novel, Wake the Bones, a YA Southern Gothic from Wednesday Books, is a finalist for the William C. Morris Debut Award, and received a starred review from both Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus, who described her as “a new standard-bearer in YA Horror.”

Mary Knight

Bio

With an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University, Mary Knight is the author of Saving Wonder, a middle grade novel published by Scholastic and winner of the 2017 Green Earth Book Award, as well as the author of the mixed-genre novel, What the Seahorse Told Me, also nominated for a Green Earth Book Award. Mary loves working with writers who are committed to their craft.

William “Bill” McCann

Bio

William “Bill” McCann is a playwright, poet, and essayist. He is a former arts columnist for the Winchester Sun and a 2024 graduate of Eastern Kentucky University with an MFA in creative writing. Mr. McCann was nominated for the 2025 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for his chapbook God Hires Gardeners (Finishing Line Press, 2023). He has two more books forthcoming in 2025: Yearnings: A Memoir in Prose and Poetry (Cyberwit.net) and The New Adventures of Jesus (Finishing Line Press). He was commissioned in 2023 to write a play for the Pikeville, KY Bicentennial. That play “Fiddlesticks and Dynamite” premiered at the Appalachian Center for the Arts in Feb. 2024; in December 2024 a radio drama version was produced and broadcast on WEKU (88.9 FM) as part of Eastern Standard’s Theatre of the Mind series. His full-length play :”Boats Against the Current” premiered at Flashback Theatre, Somerset, KY in 2019.

Stephanie Mojica

Bio

Stephanie Mojica is a writer, editor, and mentor with extensive experience in content writing, copywriting, editing, and public relations. She holds a Master’s in International Human Rights Law and is currently completing a Master’s in Technical and Professional Writing. Stephanie serves as a online Teaching Assistant at both Harvard University and Oregon State University, in addition to working as a Guest Lecturer and Online Writing Center Specialist at Westcliff University in Irvine, California. She also teaches Writing I online at Bluegrass Community and Technical College.

With over 25 years of experience, she has edited and proofread hundreds of books and mentored people through their writing projects, traditionally published books, self-published works, theses, and dissertations. Stephanie supports clients in English, writing, and academic research, with a focus on project completion accountability, self-publishing mentorship, and agent-finding guidance.

Stephanie is available for virtual meetings only.

Christine Van Zandt

Bio

Christine Van Zandt is a professional freelance editor with 12+ years experience helping writers achieve their publication goals. Her skills include all levels of editing and author coaching. She’s there for you from creation to publication. Working from Hollywood, California, she knows what it takes to succeed in today’s marketplace. Her education includes a master’s degree in English literature with a specialization in children’s literature. Christine is also an award-winning author; her traditionally published work for adults and children includes a nonfiction picture book, fiction short stories, and both fiction and nonfiction articles. Find out more at WriteforSuccessEditing.com and ChristineVanZandt.com.