Manuscript Review

All paid members in good standing, new or renewing are entitled to the one-time offer of a free manuscript review by one of our published authors and editors.  The offer will work as follows:

1. Any paid member in good standing can submit a manuscript for review.
   
   
2. The manuscript should be submitted in hard copy.  No disks or CDs please.  (This is to protect our reviewers from the possibility of inadvertent viruses).
   
3. Our reviewer will review your manuscript within 60 days of receipt.
   
   
4. If your manuscript is a novel, novel-length work of nonfiction or short story, our reviewer will provide you with the following:
   1. A one- to two-page overview of your manuscript that includes our reviewer’s opinion of overall content, general tone, grammatical errors (if any), characterization (if applicable) and other appropriate commentary.
   2. A sample edit of several pages of your manuscript.
      
      
5. If your manuscript is a magazine or newspaper article of less than 800 words, the reviewer will include the overview mentioned above plus an edit of the entire work.
   
   
6. Our reviewers may also make other suggestions such as where your work is most likely to be published or other information that may be useful to you.
   
   
7. Please be aware that our reviewers are offering their opinion only and are under no obligation to provide other free services to you such as a more comprehensive edit, or advice on publishing or marketing your manuscript.
   
   
8. If you choose to have the reviewer do further work on your manuscript for a fee, such an arrangement is between you and the reviewer.
   
   
9. Articles or stories which have been edited by our reviewers in their entirety will not be eligible for entry in the PSWA writing competition.  Book-length manuscripts that have been reviewed by PSWA reviewers will be eligible for entry in the writing competition since only a small portion of the work will have been edited.
   
10. Our reviewers retain the right to refuse to review manuscripts if they contain pornography or overly explicit or discriminatory language.  In such a case, the manuscript will simply be returned to you with a note explaining why the manuscript was refused.
    
    
11. All manuscripts must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed return envelope.
    
12. Manuscripts must be accompanied by the following form.

Name
Address
City/State/Zip
Phone
E-Mail
Manuscript Title:

To help our reviewers review your manuscript, please include further information about the manuscript such as why you wrote this work, who you think the intended audience would be, where (or if) you might intend to publish this manuscript and anything else about the manuscript that you think might be useful for us to know.

Please also include a short bio. 

Please send this form, a self addressed stamped return envelope and your manuscript to:

      Public Safety Writers Association

      2024 Falcon Court

      Bellingham, WA  98229