The Profession of Manuscript Reading

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Are You Interested?

You've just finished reading a new novel, Walk With Dread. You loved the book-with the exception of a few plot twists that didn't add up. You call your friend Mary to offer to lend her your copy of Walk With Dread. The conversation goes something like this:

You: Mary, I've got a terrific whodunit you'll really enjoy. Remember how you loved Terror on Highway 2221 Well, this is somewhat similar. The plot has more twists than a corkscrew, and it's so suspenseful you'll jump if the cat walks into the room!



Mary: Gee, uh, sounds...

You: And, Mary, one of the really strong points is the way the author-Jack Garth-lays out the clues. Very subtle; they're there, but you might not catch them till later on. Garth is noted for that, but this time he really outdid himself.

Mary: Well, I've read...

You: There are a couple of plot turns that don't seem quite justified. And the character of the heroine was a bit fuzzy, but the action was really fast-paced, and the mood was truly spooky.

Mary: What's the name.

You: This is Garth's sixteenth book, you know. With each one he seems to get better and better. He's a master at making really weird goings-on in ordinary settings seem believable, and I think...

Mary: Lend me the book, for heaven's sake!

Would You Enjoy Manuscript Reading?

As you can see by the one-sided conversation above, the book's reader not only really enjoyed Walk With Dread, but she also had a sense or why she thought the book should be recommended, and she was discriminating enough to realize that there were some flaws that detracted from the overall appeal. Another slightly less obvious characteristic of the reader was her ability to summarize and generalize about the book. Although she did almost all the talking, she didn't tell Mary every excruciating tiny detail; she talked in general terms about the novel's good and bad-points."

Fiction Manuscripts

If you could picture yourself having that sort of conversation with a friend, you would probably enjoy being a fiction manuscript reader. People who have a zest for reading fiction manuscripts for pay generally read a lot of fiction for pleasure (or wish they had more time to do that). It helps if you're interested in a lot of different types of fiction: short stories, plays, and novels of all sorts-romances, mysteries, historical novels, horror stories, comedy, etc.

You must also like to read well enough that you will happily suffer reading bad-sometimes really bad-manuscripts. After all, if everything that were submitted for publication were beautifully written and a sure seller, there wouldn't be any need for manuscript readers.

Are you a critic? If you have a hard time making decisions and generally rely on others to tell you what your opinions should be, you might have a problem with manuscript reading and might want to consider another form of reading for pay.

If it pains you to say anything bad about somebody or something, you might find it difficult to be critical enough to make meaningful comments about a manuscript. If you can't recall ever having read a bad book, story, etc., you should practice reading more critically before you undertake manuscript reading. Because reading time is precious for many of us, we often check out critic's reviews, friend's opinions, and the like in order to avoid starting a book we're not going to like. If you usually do that-and you've had a bit of luck-you may not have read anything that really didn't appeal to you at all. Or you might be the sort that casts the book aside the minute you realize you don't care for it. In general, there's nothing wrong with that: why waste valuable time reading something you don't enjoy? As a manuscript reader, however, you'll have to read the manuscripts assigned to you, whether you would have chosen them or not.

Bored by romances? Try a Harlequin love story. Not into detective stories? Read an Agatha Christie. (If you want to be a fiction reader exclusively, don't bother with a text on how to assemble a furnace: you won't be looking for work in that area.)

This is just a test run, and you do have to remember that if you become a professional manuscript reader, your book will have something going for it that should make it a lot more interesting: money. When you're being paid to read it, a dull book takes on a different kind of entertainment value.

When you've found your dog of dogs, rush right out and get a copy and make yourself read the whole thing. Again, keep in mind that you'd be getting a check at the end of your ordeal if you were reading the book professionally.

If you become a professional manuscript reader, you may not have to read detective stories or romances if you don't like them. Depending on your skills and your circumstances, you may be able to confine yourself to, say, script reading, if that's what you like. However, no matter how picky you can afford to be, you won't be able to avoid reading bad work.

Some manuscript readers like the bad books better than the good ones because they have more fun developing devastating put-downs than making complementary remarks. If you fall into this category, manuscript reading was made for you: you'll enjoy everything you're given: you'll feel rewarded by the good manuscripts and you'll get a kick out of cutting up the others. Manuscript reading is serious business, but there's no reason you can't have fun doing it. In fact, you should.

Remember this is only a test to see how you'll like this kind of work. If you're slightly bored by some of your test reading, don't be discouraged. That's not fatal; very few jobs are tremendously exciting every minute. If you can't make yourself finish a book you don't like or think is badly written, however, that's another matter. Try thinking about (or jotting down) comments you'd like to make about the parts you don't care for to see if that makes you want to read on. Chances are, it will. After you develop a little expertise, you'll begin reading to look for certain things, and that will also add to the enjoyment of reading even a bad book.

Nonfiction manuscripts

If you're a person who likes to read factual material more than novels or stories, you might be more interested in being a nonfiction manuscript reader. Nonfiction manuscripts include textbooks of all sorts, biographies and other nonfiction books destined for sale to the general public, and special interest books on particular subjects, e.g., cooking or gardening.

If you have knowledge in a particular area like cooking, it's likely that you would enjoy reading new books in the field. Most probably you acquired your expertise because you were interested in that subject.

Are You Qualified?

Once you've decided that manuscript-reading for pay sounds like it would be fun and a nice way to earn money, you have to consider whether or not you have the necessary qualifications. As we've mentioned before, you do not have to have a college degree or any other special training. (Having a degree in English or another field related to the type of manuscript you'd like to read and/or a background in other editorial work would probably make it easier to get your first jobs, however.)
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