Submission Package Report
What is a Submission Package Report?
- Feedback on your covering letter, synopsis, and first 8,000 words
- For writers who have already edited their work and are ready to submit to agents
- Your work will be assigned to an Industry Editor
- Ready in 3-4 weeks
The Service
Your manuscript is complete, you’ve had a manuscript assessment or other editorial intervention, and you’re happy with the structure and flow of the book. You’re almost ready to start sending it out into the world, and find a readership. However, the world of so-called traditional publishing can sometimes seem impenetrable. What are agents and publishers really looking for? How can I get my ‘Dear Agent’ letter as clear and eye-catching as possible? What makes a synopsis capture the tone and frame of my story? How can I draw a reader into my book with a powerful opening chapter? These are all questions which our Submission Package Report service aims to answer.
We will look at, and give feedback on:
- The first 8,000 words of your writing project
- A ‘Dear Agent’ letter
- A one-page synopsis
Co-ordinated by TLC’s Associate Editors Rose Billington (formerly at Wylie) and Anna South (formerly at Penguin), who between them have over forty years’ experience working in the industry with the UK’s leading publishers and agencies, this service has been carefully designed to give an industry perspective as you submit to literary agents and publishers.
What do I get?
TLC’s Submission Package Report service will provide a one-page written report on your submitted extract and its overall tone and commercial viability, as well as commentary or a mark-up of your ‘Dear Agent’ letter and synopsis, to help you to refine and polish your submission package for an agent/publisher.
This is distinct from our core manuscript assessment service, which is open to writers at all stages, and is market-aware where appropriate, but whose core focus is editorial and does not look specifically at the submissions process.
What does it cost?
The cost for this service is £350 (inclusive of VAT). Our fees include VAT which is applicable to all UK residents. If you are ordinarily resident outside of the UK, there is no VAT payable. The payment portal will automatically calculate your tax rate for you based on your country of residence.
Can I just send in my synopsis and ‘Dear Agent’ letter on their own?
No. It is essential that our readers have a sense of the writing; we are an editorial consultancy first and foremost, with an interest in being able to truthfully report on the writing submitted to, from its tone and genre to its commercial viability. It’s extremely difficult to get a sense of whether the synopsis truly reflects the feel of the book without getting a look at a sample of the text (and, no agent will be interested in a brilliant synopsis if the writing is simply not up to scratch). If you are unsure about any structural or narrative-based elements of your text, we strongly recommend you submit your work for manuscript assessment, or seek other editorial feedback.
Will you recommend my work to literary agents?
TLC is well-connected in the literary world, and has successfully brokered many relationships between writers and agents. Please see our Success Stories for a flavour of this work. However, we are also incredibly serious about being non-misleading with writers at all times, and will never sell a service to you on the basis of any promise to submit your work to agents. In cases where the reader has flagged to us that they think work is ready to be submitted, we will always enter into conversation with the writer directly. We do expect that those seeking the submission package report will be naturally closer to this goal, however we do not believe it is ethical to sell this as a ‘service’ in and of itself. The aim of every TLC report is to help you hone and polish the work so that you can put your best foot forwards. We are happy to support in any way we can along the way.
