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Who are the Pros?

Pro-Critiquers are freelance beta-readers, writers, agents, and editors with critiquing and editing experience.

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Beta Readers
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Experienced Writers
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Professional Editors

From a single page to a full manuscript,
our Pro-Critiquers can help you every step of the way.

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Ratings & Reviews

Detailed community ratings and reviews provide unparalleled transparency on the Pro-Critiquers' skillset and service.

Timeliness

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Sample Critiques

View each professional’s critiquing skills and style by directly reading their sample critiques posted on their profile.

Availability

Don’t waste time messaging back and forth, only to find you have to wait months for a critique. Know a professional’s availability upfront!

Critiquing Tone

The professionals rate their tone from 1: carefully positive suggestions, to 10: brutal honesty. Choose the tone that fits your needs!

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5 Easy Steps to Hire a Professional

  • Browse Professionals
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  • Payments Outside the platform
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Critique & Editing Services

Naming conventions for critique and editing services vary in the publishing industry. We have simplified and standardized the service types our freelancers offer on CritiqueMatch.

High-level critique

(Similar to a developmental edit or substantive edit.)

Feedback at the end of your manuscript discussing big-picture craft topics, including characterization, theme, plot, dialogue, pacing and point-of-view (POV). Recommendations may include significant content changes or text re-arrangement; in-line comments on your manuscript may be used but are not required.

What you should NOT expect the critiquer to provide in a high-level critique:
  • Rewrite entire paragraphs of text
  • Ghostwrite your story
  • Correct grammar, syntax, and typos
  • Fact-check your work
  • Apply a style guide (e.g., CMS)

In-line comments

(Similar to line editing in the US or copy editing.)

Mark-ups and comments on your manuscript pages—on specific words, sentences, or paragraphs—addressing inconsistencies in areas including style and tone, POV, characters, prose, and to a lesser extent, grammar. Recommendations on improving your word-choice or sentence and paragraph structure to communicate your story effectively.

What you should NOT expect the critiquer to provide in an in-line comments critique:
  • Rewrite entire paragraphs of text
  • Ghostwrite your story

Proofreading

(Also known as line editing in the UK.)

Tracked changes on your manuscript to correct grammar, syntax, formatting issues, and typos; Proofreaders focus on polishing your work prior to publication and catching any errors not identified with in-line comments; Proofreading is the last editing step before your work gets published.

What you should NOT expect the critiquer to provide in a proofreading service:
  • Rewrite entire paragraphs of text
  • Ghostwrite your story
  • Fact-check your work
  • Correct characterization, plot, pacing, and other craft areas

Query letter review

In-line comments and high-level feedback on your query letter. The focus is on improving your manuscript’s pitch by conveying just enough information to intrigue agents and editors to want to read more.

Note: Your query letter should be no longer than one single-spaced page.

What you should NOT expect the critiquer to provide in a query letter review:
  • Rewrite your entire query
  • A guarantee of representation or publication of your work as a result of the query letter review service

Synopsis review

In-line comments and high-level feedback on the synopsis of your fiction manuscript or non-fiction proposal. The focus is on improving your synopsis' effectiveness, highlighting its strengths and weakness and recommending ways to improve it.

Note: Your synopsis should be no longer than two single-spaced pages.

What you should NOT expect the critiquer to provide in a synopsis review:
  • Rewrite your entire synopsis
  • A guarantee of representation or publication of your work as a result of the synopsis review service

Beta reading

High-level feedback from a reader’s (not a writer’s) perspective provided at the end of your manuscript. The reader discusses what they liked or didn’t like about your work, things that impressed them or confused them, and how your work compares to others in the same genre or non-fiction category.

What you should NOT expect the beta-reader to provide in a beta reading service:
  • Correct your plot, grammar, and other craft areas
  • Rewrite entire paragraphs of text
  • Fact-check your work

How can I become a Pro-Critiquer?

  • Requirements

    Stack up 5-star ratings from at least ten people and complete sample critiques.

  • Pricing

    A subscription fee of $75 per quarter or $300 per year.

  • Benefits

    Full platform access, community visibility, and client growth opportunities.

Head to the Free Critique Partners section and start exchanging free critiques. Stack up 5-star ratings from at least ten different writers and become eligible to apply to become a Pro-Critiquer. Do you work in publishing or are a professional editor? Contact us to discuss.

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