Tin House Press
Is your manuscript ready?
A professional editorial assessment in under a minute — the same evaluation a developmental editor gives before recommending a manuscript to an agent or publisher.
Real editorial feedback
Not generic AI advice. Specific notes on your actual opening pages, scored across hook, voice, pacing, structure and publishing path.
A publishing path
Query agents or self-publish? You get a straight answer about which route this manuscript is actually suited to.
Every score explained
Each of the five dimensions rated 1–10, with the reasoning — so you know what to revise, not just how you did.
Get your FREE assessment now
Your scores, and what’s already working in your opening pages — free. The full report adds line-level notes, your next steps and your publishing path.
No signup required
Haven’t written it yet? Try the Story Diagnosis Tool →
What the assessment actually looks at
Every report scores your opening pages on the same five dimensions, each rated 1–10 with the reasoning written out. These are the things an editor checks first, in the order they check them.
Hook
Whether your first page gives a reader a reason to turn to the second. Most manuscripts that get passed on are not badly written — they simply start before anything is at stake.
Voice
Whether the prose sounds like someone in particular. Competence is common; a voice a reader would recognize across a room is not, and it is the thing agents talk about most.
Pacing
Where attention tightens and where it drifts, measured against how your opening actually reads rather than against a rule about chapter length.
Structure
Whether the scene is doing structural work — establishing the question the book will answer — or arranging furniture before the story begins.
Publishing path
A straight answer on whether these pages read like something to query agents with, or something better served by self-publishing. Two different books, two different plans.
How it works
- Paste 50 to 500 words from your opening pages. Not a synopsis, not a pitch — the actual prose a reader would meet first.
- Get your scores in about a minute. Five ratings, and a plain account of what is already working.
- Read the full assessment when you want the rest: line-level notes on your specific sentences, what to revise next, and your publishing path spelled out.
Who this is for
It is for the writer who has finished something, or nearly finished it, and cannot tell any more whether it is good. That is the ordinary condition of having revised a manuscript many times, not a failure of judgment. An outside read fixes it in a way that another pass through your own draft cannot.
It is not a proofreader and it will not fix your commas. If what you need is a copyedit, you need a copyeditor. If you have not written the book yet and are trying to work out whether the idea holds, start with the Story Diagnosis Tool instead — it is built for the stage before this one.
Common questions
Is a person reading my pages?
No. The report is generated by software, and we would rather say so plainly than let you assume otherwise. That is what makes it instant and what makes the first part free. A human developmental edit is a different product at a different price, and it takes weeks, not seconds.
Then how is this different from asking a chatbot?
The questions it asks are fixed, and they are the ones a developmental editor asks in the order an editor asks them. You get the same five scores against the same standard every time, which means the result is comparable — against your own next draft, and against the version you sent three months ago. General-purpose chat gives you a different answer each time you rephrase the question.
What do I need to have ready?
Between 50 and 500 words of your opening pages, and nothing else. No account, no email address to see your scores, no upload.
Is the free part actually free, or is it a teaser?
Your five scores and what is working in your pages are free and complete — not a sample with the numbers withheld. The full report adds the line-level notes, your next revision steps and your publishing path.
What if my scores come back low?
Then you have learned it cheaply, on a few hundred words, instead of from a year of form rejections. The scores describe these pages as they stand — not your ability, and not the book you are capable of writing. Low openings usually come down to one or two specific things: a scene that starts before anything is at stake, or prose that is competent without yet sounding like anyone in particular. Both are revision problems, and revision is the part of this that responds to work.
What happens to my writing?
Your pages are sent to the assessment tool to produce your report, and your rights in your own work are entirely unaffected by using it. The full terms are on our Terms of Service page.
Are you Tin House, the literary magazine?
No. Tin House Press is not affiliated with Tin House (tinhouse.com) or Tin House Workshops, and we do not accept manuscript submissions or queries for publication. People arrive here looking for them regularly, so it is worth saying clearly.
