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Reading Service
EVENT's Reading Service for Writers
If you are a new writer or a writer with a challenging or troublesome manuscript, EVENT's Reading Service for Writers may be just what you need.
Every year EVENT receives hundreds of manuscripts. Many are good, but since we can't publish them all, we send many of them back, sometimes with a brief note, sometimes with only a stock reject form. Now we have an option for the writer who wants more from us.
You can now receive a commentary on your manuscript from EVENT's editors. Your manuscript will receive an assessment of 700 to 1000 words, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the writing with attention to such aspects of craft as voice, style, point of view, credibility and characterization. That way you'll see how one group of experienced editors reads your work.
Eligible manuscripts include poetry (up to a maximum of eight poems), and short fiction and creative non-fiction under 5000 words. Drama, chapters of novels, and journalistic non-fiction are not eligible. All manuscripts read by EVENT's Reading Service for Writers are, of course, considered for publication. You should expect to wait four to six weeks for the commentary to arrive.
EVENT's Reading Service for Writers costs a nominal fee: attach a cheque or international money order, payable to EVENT, for $150.00 (includes applicable taxes) to each manuscript, and please indicate the submission is for the Reading Service for Writers.
Because you'll want to know the kind of work we publish, you'll receive a complimentary one-year subscription, or a renewal, of three issues (worth $29.95) with the reading fee.
For more information write to:
EVENT
Attn: Reading Service Editor
PO Box 2503
New Westminster, BC
V3L 5B2 Canada
Testimonials
“It was a good balance of positive and critical comments and suggestions… I was pleased with the critique—it was clear and made sense to me…. The combination of of edited copy and an overall summary helped me sort through the recommendations easily.”
— Janet Hepburn
“Just wanted to thank you for the excellent Reading Service critique. Both the summary and the manuscript mark-up are brimming with useful advice and suggestions, which will certainly guide me through the rewrite/s…. And what a neat experience, as an editor, to be edited by not one but two other professional editors. I won’t hesitate to use this service again in the future, and have already recommended it to a couple of the writers I work with.”
— Jacqueline Argent
“Very comprehensive—attention paid on all levels to each poem. I especially appreciated the overall impression and assessment…. I was very pleased overall with the careful attention those few poems were given. Since I am self-taught, the view from a professional eye is important and necessary to my growth as a poet. Thank you!”
— Lynne Burnett
“The service has become an important part of the learning and writing process….the feedback has allowed me to proceed with the process that I enjoy. I appreciate this very much. I have found the criticism very constructive and helpful every time."
— Toni Atkinson
“The commentary told me what worked and that information guided my revisions of the piece. The weaknesses in my work were clearly identified…. I was able to see how the piece could be improved. The commentary was both detailed and general. I liked the overview you provided in the letter as well as all of the editing and comments in the text…. The best $100 I ever spent! I appreciate the care and time you gave to my writing. I felt that I was in good hands as I read your extensive notations. I particularly liked the fact that two people read and commented on the piece. The two different perspectives were useful in the revision process. Many thanks.”
— Gail Benick
Reading Service Editors
GILLIAN HARDING-RUSSELL has published three poetry collections, most recently I forgot to tell you (Thistledown, 2007) and a chapbook, Apples and Mice (Alfred Gustav, 2008). She has a new chapbook Poems for the Summer Solstice (Leaf Press) and along poem Stories of Snow (Alfred Gustav) appearing later this year. Her work has been published in such journals as Antigonish Review, Carousel, Descant, Fiddlehead, Prairie Fire, Queen’s Quarterly, The New Quarterly, Windsor Review. She was poetry editor for EVENT from 1988- 2005. A regular reviewer for Prairie Fire’s Review of Books, she does editorial/freelance work from her home in Regina.
IAN COCKFIELD is the Managing Editor of EVENT magazine. He also runs EVENT’s Reading Service for Writers, is a past Fiction Editor of PRISM international, and has a MFA in Creative Writing from UBC. His fiction, non-fiction and poetry have appeared in various Canadian journals, including Prairie Fire, Descant, PRISM international, EVENT, Rampike and the Carleton Arts Review, and in the anthology Exact Fare Only II (Anvil Press, 2003, which he also edited). He has also recently edited the non-fiction books Godless Religion: Finding the Profound (Profound Press, 2010) and Douglas College: The First 40 Years (Douglas College, 2010). From 2005 to 2007, he served as President of the BC Association of Magazine Publishers, and has edited for UBC Press, Anvil Press, the Vancouver School Board, Douglas College and the UBC Creative Writing Department.
