FEES & SUBMISSIONS

How to Submit

We advise you to refer to the TLC’s Terms & Conditions and read these alongside the information here.

Please note that we will not read manuscripts without the correct fee attached and a SAE (stamped addressed envelope) provided.

Due to the postal strikes we understand that clients are anxious about sending us their manuscripts. We would like to reassure you that most of our post is getting through to us at the regular rate, but if you would like to ensure that we receive your work on time you are welcome to email submissions and make your payment via a bank transfer (email submissions will be charged 10 pence per page for printing costs). There are also many alternative mail services that may provide a more reliable and relatively inexpensive service. Please let us know if you are interested in sending your submission via email.

Once a manuscript arrives with us at The Literary Consultancy, we will treat it with the utmost care. We will acknowledge received work via post or email. Your work will be carefully matched to its most suitable reader from our team. As the most firmly established literary consultancy in the UK, we have over the years built up an extensive team of readers – writers who use our services can feel truly confident that their work will be allocated to a reader who will best meet their needs.

Readers will read your manuscript thoroughly and write a detailed and constructive critique of your work, which will be sent to you within 4-8 weeks. We also offer a ‘quick turnaround’ service, where you will receive feedback within 7-14 working days. Please click here for more details

The average length of a TLC critique of a full-length manuscript is between 5 and 10 pages (this is a guideline only). We believe that each writer should be treated as an individual in relation to their own background and needs. Thus our readers’ critiques are not written to fit a fixed generic formula, they are written in the most constructive manner for the writer.

• If you wish to submit your manuscript to us, please remember that manuscripts will not be read without the appropriate fee. See Fee Structure
• Include a suitable stamped addressed jiffy bag or envelope for the return of the manuscript if you would like your work returned. Please note that we cannot be responsible for lost post, so please ensure you have a backup copy at home.
• No initial letter or phonecall is required. However, if you do wish to contact us with any queries we are available to discuss any queries or concerns you may have at any stage.
• Include a short covering letter with some brief information about what sort of manuscript it is you're submitting (thriller, literary, fantasy, romance etc), a bit about yourself, and any history of previous submissions to publishers or agents. Include any specific anxiety you may have about the text itself, and if there is anything you would particularly like your reader to address or advise you on.
• Texts must be printed out in 12 point font, double spaced, on one side of A4, preferably in loose sheets, with each page numbered.
• If you wish to have the critique emailed to you, rather than posted, please make this clear on your covering letter and include an email address.
• We cannot accept work on disk. We also discourage sending work via email as it is best for our readers to work from the printed page rather than onscreen. Printing off work and then sending on to our readers is also time consuming in our small but very busy office – we hope you understand our reasons.  If sending us a printed copy of your work is extremely problematic for you, then do call us to discuss.
• Speed reads – for an additional fee (50% of our ‘standard fee’ added on) we can provide feedback within 7-14 working days. If you are interested in this option please telephone/email us first so we can check availability.

Please see contact us for all enquiry details

Fee structure

Due to our successful company turnover, we are obliged to include VAT costs within our fees. All the below fees are inclusive of VAT. Please make cheques payable to The Literary Consultancy Limited. If you have any further queries please contact us

Fiction/children’s/non-fiction	Prices
1-2 page synopsis and up to 50 double-spaced pages	£150
1-2 page synopsis and up to 100 double-spaced pages	£250
Manuscripts of 101-200 double-spaced pages	£300
Manuscripts longer than 200 pages @ £1.50 per double-spaced page for the first 300 pages and £1.00 per page thereafter.	£1.50/page+ £1.00/page
Illustrated children’s books (up to 36 pages)	£100

Short Stories	Prices
Up to 3000 words	£75
Each additional 2000 words (over 3000)	£10

Please note: Stories are charged individually

Poetry	Prices
Up to 300 lines	£90
300 to 1000 lines	£175

Fees for film/theatre/radio/TV scripts are on the Scriptwriting page.

Quick turnaround

We can provide feedback within 7-14 working days for an additional 50% of the standard fee added onto the overall cost. If you require this service, please contact us first so we can check editor availability.

Overseas clients

We prefer overseas payment by bank transfer. An additional bank charge of £8 is required for all clients within the E.C. Please contact us for bank details. We do not accept cheques in a foreign currency. While we understand that overseas clients who live outside the E.C. are exempt from V.A.T., we have kept the prices the same to cover additional bank and administrative costs.

Terms & conditions

• For the fee we undertake to provide a one-off independent critique. If a report is deemed unclear both in the view of the client and TLC, we undertake to seek clarification from the reader and advise accordingly. Whilst we will endeavour to be as helpful as we can to new writers, the fee covers the read only as described.
• We will decide in-house who the most suitable editor for the job is, and aim to make a good match each time. TLC’s decision is final in the choice of editor.
• We reserve the right to return your work and payment to you should we fail to find a suitable editor.
• We aim to provide an assessment within 4-8 weeks but cannot guarantee this.
• If you have paid for a speed read, you can expect to receive your report within 7-14 working days.
• TLC is unable to read submissions without the correct fee attached.
• Manuscripts must be double-spaced, in 12 point font and printed on single sides of A4, unbound and numbered.
• We cannot return your manuscript without a SAE with sufficient postage to cover the weight of your work. If no SAE is included your manuscript will be recycled.
• We cannot take responsibility for work lost in the post. As a result please never send the only copy of your work.
• Your work will be treated in the strictest confidence.
• The copyright of your work is automatically yours and remains yours at all times.
• The copyright of the report remains with TLC. Permission should be sought from TLC before quoting a report, for example to agents or on personal websites.
• We will only make recommendations to agents or publishers if we feel your work is potentially marketable.
• In the event that we wish to forward your work to agent or publishers on your behalf, we will never do so without seeking your permission first.
• TLC has linking agreements with a number of literary agencies. This is not to the financial detriment of the author. We will disclose all information pertaining to this upon request.
• TLC endeavours to help new writers in as responsible a way as possible, so will make no false promises or mislead the writer in any way.

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