A thorough analysis of your reader magnet, concentrating on hook, voice, pacing, character investment, series/author brand alignment, and genre conventions.
You’ll receive a structured editorial document (Word .docx), approximately 1,500–2,500 words, delivered within 5–7 business days.
Your reader magnet needs to do more than entertain. It should create attachment, build trust, and make readers eager to immerse themselves in your world.
The Reader Magnet Critique evaluates whether your piece is accomplishing those goals. You’ll leave with a clear understanding of what’s working, where readers may disengage, and which revisions will have the greatest impact on reader retention and series interest.
Whether you're launching your first reader magnet or refining one that isn't getting the response you hoped for, this critique ensures the piece is doing its job.
Leave readers wanting more.
The Service
The Reader Magnet Critique is a developmental assessment of a complete reader magnet (up to 10,000 words). Reader magnets can take many forms — prequels, bonus stories, alternate points of view, holiday stories, exclusive epilogues, and whatever else can be imagined. While the format may vary, they all share a common goal: turning a new subscriber into a committed reader.
This critique evaluates whether your piece is accomplishing that goal, both as a satisfying work of fiction and as an introduction to your voice, world, and overall reader experience.
You'll receive a detailed editorial document covering:
Hook and opening effectiveness — whether the piece creates immediate reader engagement and curiosity.
Character investment — whether readers have a reason to care about the characters and remain emotionally engaged throughout the piece.
Pacing and structure — flow, clarity, scene progression; whether the piece builds momentum effectively toward its ending.
Narrative arc and ending effectiveness — whether the piece feels complete, satisfying, and delivers on the expectations established by the opening.
Narrative voice and prose style — the distinctiveness and consistency of the voice, and how effectively the prose reflects your author brand
Conflict and momentum — whether enough narrative tension exists to sustain engagement throughout the piece.
Tone, mood, and genre fit — whether the piece creates a cohesive emotional atmosphere that aligns with reader expectations for the genre and feels consistent with your series world.
Series and brand alignment — whether the piece effectively represents your voice, world, and reader promise — and whether it creates the kind of attachment that makes a new subscriber want to read everything you've written.
You'll also receive a clear summary of your piece’s greatest strengths, the two or three highest-priority revision areas, and a clear recommendation for your next steps.
Who this is for:
This service is a strong fit if you are:
Launching a new reader magnet and want to confirm it's creating the right first impression before sending it to your mailing list
Refining an existing reader magnet that isn't getting the reader engagement or enthusiasm you hoped for
Unsure whether the pacing, emotional impact, or ending are landing the way you intend
Wondering whether the piece is creating enough curiosity and attachment to encourage readers to explore the rest of your work
Looking for professional developmental feedback on a complete piece before investing in a larger editorial service
What this is not:
The Reader Magnet Critique is a developmental assessment, not a line edit. It evaluates the big-picture function of the piece — reader engagement, narrative effectiveness, series alignment, and overall reading experience — rather than focusing on grammar or sentence-level correction. If a pattern at the sentence level is affecting the reading experience it will be noted as part of the assessment, but this service does not include in-line edits, copy editing, or proofreading.
This is also not a development consultation or a publishing strategy session. The critique focuses entirely on the submitted piece — whether it works as fiction and how effectively it functions as a reader magnet. It does not address broader questions about series structure, mailing list strategy, or publishing direction.
A note on genre:
Illuminate works primarily in cozy mystery, psychological thriller, domestic suspense, women's fiction, and upmarket fiction.
The critique is tailored to the demands of your specific category. For genre fiction, that means close attention to reader expectations, tension, pacing, genre conventions, and whether the piece feels consistent with the broader series experience. For women's fiction and upmarket fiction, the focus shifts more heavily toward voice, emotional resonance, character dynamics, and the overall reading experience created by the piece.
If your piece falls outside these genres, reach out before booking and we can discuss whether the service is a good fit.