Slush Report

The Slush Report is only concerned with the first forty pages of your manuscript. In this report, we endeavour to mimic a successful version of the processes described in The Slush Pile.

That does not mean that we simply dismiss 80% of manuscripts. We spend at least an hour on your manuscript and point out what needs to be changed.

Most tyro writers are subject to the same kind of errors: dialogue, pacing, voice, failure to write into the genre, repetition, listing, lack of knowledge of the subject matter, sentence structure, unsympathetic protagonist...

For example: realistic dialogue. Attempts to mimic 'real' conversations in literature always fail. Characters in novels do not talk like real people. Attempting to mimic 'real' conversation is a basic error. It has a formulaic 'cure'. Hardy & Knox Slush Reports are affordable because they are composed mostly from our data base of standard errors and standard treatments.

To the extent that it is necessary or useful to make specific comments on certain parts of your MS, we will. If Mrs McGulicuddy on p25-27 is a two dimensional fake Irish woman then we will refer directly to that character, on those pages, as far as necessary. If all your characters are two dimensional Irish persons floundering in a sea of 'begorra and bejaysus' we may be slightly less surgical in our commentary.

Three examples of Slush Reports can be downloaded here.
Tube Strike - An upmarket commercial women's novel set in the London fashion world
Califactions - American political satire set in the dot com boom
Cursed in Fire - Gothic slasher novel with a biblical background

Submissions

The Slush Report is produced from the first section of a completed manuscript (MS). The first section will be roughly 40 pages, but that is up to you to decide. Remember that when your MS is on the slush pile for real, no one will read beyond the first three or four pages. You may ask us to review more than 40 pages, with very good reason. For example, good reason may be that Chapter 3 ends on page 43. Good reason is NOT that Chapter 4 began on page 38. Indicate the final page you wish us to look at in your accompanying email.

Buy a Slush Report

The Slush Report is priced at £70.00.

Type the title of novel below before buying (title should be the same as submitted through submissions@hardyandknox.com)
(all transactions are secured through PayPal)

Submission Instructions

All manuscripts should be submitted as attachments to submissions@hardyandknox.com. In that email please state clearly which report you require, and, where appropriate, the last page of the manuscript you wish to be assessed.

Submissions must be in the following format. If you have very good reason to step outside this format, please email in advance to contact@hardyandknox.com.

  • Manuscript Word Document (Title of Novel_MS.doc)
  • Arial or Times New Roman
  • 12 point text
  • Line and a half spacing
  • Standard margins
Please include
  • a brief (less than a page) synopsis of your novel in a separate Word attachment (Title of Novel_synopsis.doc), with complete exposé of the whole plot, including dénouements. Please look at the sample synopsis, Dr Catuaba and the Word.
  • a personal biography of less than 200 words in a separate Word attachment (Title of Novel_bio.doc). Please look at the sample biography for Markus Haverking.