Manuscript appraisal service

Claire Dyer’s novels are published by Quercus, The Dome Press, Matador and Pegasus. Her latest novel is ‘What We Thought We Knew’. She has also had four poetry collections published by Two Rivers Press. Claire teaches creative writing and runs Fresh Eyes, an editorial and critiquing service, is Poetry Consultant to the Council of the SWWJ, Reviews Co-ordinator for Two Rivers Press, and volunteers as a poetry archivist at the University of Reading’s Special Collections department. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London and is represented by Broo Doherty at DHH Literary Agency.

Claire brings a wealth of editorial experience and a fresh pair of eyes to your work and, whatever stage you’re at in your writing career, can help make your opening chapters WOW your reader; help you spot plot holes or narrative inconsistencies; give advice on settings, timelines and characterisation, and make your manuscript submission ready via either a detailed read-through of your first 3 chapters with editorial comments, a summary report & submission advice, or a structural edit of your novel with a summary report and submission advice. Full fees and T&Cs are available on request and Claire offers a 15% discount for SWWJ members. Some recent successes for clients have included agent representation, book deals and poetry publication.

An award-winning author with 21 books to her name which include children’s novels, romance and non-fiction. She has also had more than 1,000 magazine and newspaper articles published. She is a former feature writer for the Coventry Telegraph and now works as a full time freelance writer and author. She runs writing classes and regularly does author visits to schools running workshops and giving talks. She is a contributor to a number of different magazines and is currently working on a crime novel, a romance and a YA novel. You can find out more about Ann by looking at her website. Please email enquiries and a sample of your work (maximum of 3000 words or opening chapter and synopsis) as a MS Word or RTF attachment to: ann-evans@btconnect.com. Emailed critiques will be completed using MS Word’s Mark-up system, together with a summary.

Doris is an experienced poet, tutor and Writing Magazine columnist, and a SWWJ Poetry Consultant. Doris is willing to read/critique and give free informal advice to SWWJ members about their poetry in progress. You can contact her by email on doris.stump@btinternet.com

Doreen is a published playwright, a trained journalist and news editor. She was a staff reporter on newspapers based in East London and Essex. As well as working as a Public Relations Officer for local authorities, she is a former editor of the SWWJ’s own magazine, The Woman Writer. Doreen has won a number of awards for her one-act plays and is also involved in writing audition and exam pieces for professional actors. Enquiries, articles (3000 words max) and scripts up to 50 minutes long may be sent to Doreen at: doreen.friend@swwj.co.uk

Vivien is an established short story writer and creative writing tutor, specialising in emotional, romantic, humorous and family-based stories for the women’s magazine (‘womag’) market. For more than thirty years, her stories have appeared regularly in many weekly and monthly UK magazines, including Woman’s Weekly, Take a Break’s Fiction Feast, The People’s Friend, My Weekly and The Weekly News. She is also a successful novelist, writing women’s fiction/domestic dramas for One More Chapter and Bloodhound Books. Vivien offers detailed and honest appraisals, and can advise on all areas of perfecting and preparing your manuscript for submission to your chosen magazine. Fees will depend on length of story, with 20% discount offered to SWWJ members. All enquiries, with a short (200 words) extract of your work in progress, by email in the first instance please: vivienhampshire@btinternet.com