The Dark One
Auror
In a different thread (somewhat derailed) it occurred to me that it would be a good idea to start up a ms appraisal and rating system (paid for) which gave an author both constructive feedback and a rating out of ten. Seven or above meant it was deemed to be of publishable quality and anything less than seven was effectively a rejection. The idea being that this was in recognition of the fact that many books rejected by mainstream publishers are of publishable quality, they simply don't fit with publishers' programs at the time.
Authors could learn from effective rejection and feedback and resubmit until they got the requisite score. This would also be a guarantee of quality to the book consuming public that any book that bore the independent rating (above seven) was worth purchasing.
Authors would submit their ms with the appraisal fee and it would be read and rated by two professional readers, both of whom would provide at least (say) 500 words on the strengths and weaknesses of the novel.
What do you think? Does anything like this already exist? Who would be interested in using the service and what should it cost?
Authors could learn from effective rejection and feedback and resubmit until they got the requisite score. This would also be a guarantee of quality to the book consuming public that any book that bore the independent rating (above seven) was worth purchasing.
Authors would submit their ms with the appraisal fee and it would be read and rated by two professional readers, both of whom would provide at least (say) 500 words on the strengths and weaknesses of the novel.
What do you think? Does anything like this already exist? Who would be interested in using the service and what should it cost?