Well done, your latest or first manuscript is complete. It has taken you months, maybe years of blood, sweat, tears and frustration. You have broken through the many days of writers' block and regained creativity. So what now?

Who do you send your manuscript to? The options are endless, but many are roads that lead to nowhere, especially if you are a first time writer. Although script editing is a necessity and key element in the marketing process, you must ensure you make an informed choice, but also remember there is a lot of editing you can do yourself. Many book editing companies offer to polish your manuscript ready for publishers and agents, and the prices vary for different services as well as numerous competitions to enter. But before you get your chequebook out, ensure you have gone through the following vital steps which are often overlooked by writers.

Proofreading, technical and content editing, and polishing are integral final steps novelists rarely do. Be critical but fair. Think like a publisher and reader. There are 5 main areas to consider: CONCEPT, MARKETABILITY, STRUCTURE, CHARACTERIZATION and DIALOGUE. Mark each area from 1-5 with 5 being excellent and 1 being poor.

Who is your target market/audience? Women? Children? Sci-fi enthusiasts?  

Once you understand who your target market is going to be, then examine if the language and plot suit that market.

Identify the genre in simple terms. Is it a drama or a comedy? From there, build upward and outward, but don’t over categorize, keep it simple. Then write a synopsis of the manuscript no more than 1 A4 page, covering the key aspects and plot of the story.  

Now you are ready for the manuscript analysis.

1. Concept – Draft your logline. Most writers struggle to condense the whole manuscript into a sentence or two. But the process is simple. There are three questions to ask. Who is the main character? What are they trying to accomplish? What do they need to overcome to reach their goal? There are many examples of loglines for famous movies on the internet you can check out for inspiration.

2. Marketability – It is important to research the agents and publishers you contact with your manuscript. Publishers who represent horror writers are not very likely to want your romantic novel set in the backdrop of WW2. Also, could this novel be made into a movie at a later date?

3. Structure – Does your manuscript have a clear structure? Is there an event at the beginning of your book that produces a central question? How many sub-plots do you have? One or two are perfect, and are these sub-plots as fleshy as the main plot? Do the sub-plots complement the main plot or are the sub-plots better than the main story?

4. Characterization – Identify the two key characters – Protagonist and Antagonist. These are the foundations of your whole story. Then write a few sentences on each character, name, their function in the story, their goal, what are they fearful of and how do they relate to the other characters. When does the Protagonist appear? Before page 5 hopefully; the sooner the better. Is each character unique, are they fleshed out sufficiently with their own backstory? The reader must be able to recognise each character and imagine them in their mind’s eye.

5. Dialogue – Ensure your main character has the most dialogue. Is each character unique in their speech? Ask yourself, if you removed the character's name, would the reader know who was speaking by their tone, word usage or speech pattern? Is the dialoge quick and catchy or is it long winded? Are you giving the reader too much information and not allowing their imagination to fill in the blanks?

Once your analysis is complete, you are ready to send to publishers, also ask others to read it for their feedback. Some companies will give you an honest review for free. There are also many competitions you can enter and, who knows, your manuscript maybe exactly what they are looking for.

Best of luck.