Written Manuscript Critiques

We have extended the signup deadline for critiques past the original February 1st deadline to February 29th. However, due to this, you need to upload your manuscript when you purchase the critique in order for our faculty to have sufficient time to work on it. Please be sure to upload it within 24 hours.

A number of faculty are offering manuscript critiques (TEXT ONLY), which you can purchase at the time of registration until they are sold out. If you miss the submission deadline, you will not get a refund.

Genres accepted for critique by each faculty member are listed using the following abbreviations: PB - Picture Book, MG - Middle grade, YA - Young Adult, GN - Graphic Novel, NIV - Novel in Verse, CB - Chapter Book, BB - Board Book

Scroll down to see the marvelous faculty who have agreed to offer critiques.

Details on formatting and manuscript submission are at the bottom of the page.

 Due to time constraints, you must have your manuscript(s) ready to submit at the time you register, as you will need to upload it/them by February 1st. If you miss the deadline, you will not get a refund.

1. Each critique costs $55. 
2. Pay attention to what format(s) and genre(s) each faculty accepts and submit your manuscript only to the appropriate one(s), as you won’t be able to change your mind later.
3. You’re only allowed to sign up for one paid critique when you register. If additional critique slots are available later in the registration timeline, you will be contacted. 
4. Novels: first 10 pages of the ms (even if this cuts off mid-chapter or mid-sentence), double-spaced, one-inch margins, and in standard 12-point font. Your optional synopsis may be single-spaced and must be contained within your maximum 10 pages.
5. Picture books: may not exceed 1,000 words. No illustrations.
6. Poetry: this includes rhyming picture books, novels in verse, and stand-alone poetry collections. Poetry submissions should conform to the PB and novel guidelines above; however, they may be single-spaced with a double space between stanzas, per industry standards. Please separate poems and collections of poems, with a page break if possible. If poems are small, then a few lines spacing between them is fine. Again, 10 pages maximum.
7. Graphic novels/format: use one of the many acceptable GN script formats; pages don’t have to be separated by actual page breaks, but total physical pages should be 10 max. Submit GNs only to faculty who accept them.
8. Your name, e-mail, title, age category (picture book, middle grade, YA, etc.), and genre (romance, mystery, biography, etc.) must be at the top of the first page. No title page is necessary; text may start immediately after the identifying information. No introduction letter. No illustrations.
9. The manuscript should be labeled as “your name_title_critiquer last name”. 
10. A Jotform link for uploading your manuscript can be found under MEETING INFO under WRITTEN MANUSCRIPT CRITIQUES in your MY EVENTS section of your SCBWI Member Home Page after you complete registration. You may need to scroll down through your events to find it!
11. You must have a manuscript ready to submit at the time you register if you want to buy a critique as you’ll need to upload it right away.
12. You must choose and pay for the critique(s) at the time of registration; you can’t go back to add it.

There are no refunds for critiques.