Service I
First-Act Story Audit
Find out exactly what's working in your opening chapters — and what needs to change before you invest in deeper editing.
What It Is
The most important chapters you'll ever write.
Your opening chapters carry an enormous weight — they set genre expectations, introduce your protagonist, establish stakes, and convince readers to keep going. Most authors can't objectively evaluate their own opening because they're too close to it. The First-Act Story Audit gives you an outside perspective with a written report that tells you exactly what's landing and exactly what's causing readers to disengage — before you spend months on revisions or thousands on deeper editing.
What's Included
Everything in the report.
- ✦The strongest elements of your opening chapters
- ✦The most likely reasons readers may disengage
- ✦Priority revision issues ranked by impact
- ✦Explanation of why each issue matters
- ✦Practical guidance for addressing each problem
- ✦Narrative hook and first-page momentum assessment
- ✦Protagonist agency and reader investment analysis
- ✦Stakes clarity and genre alignment check
- ✦Structural red flags across the first act
- ✦Character introduction and pacing evaluation
Transparent Pricing
One price. No word-count math.
Covers manuscripts up to 15,000 words — roughly your first three to four chapters. Your manuscript can be a work in progress; you don't need to have finished writing.
The Process
Simple, transparent, and fast.
Submit your manuscript
Send us your first three to four chapters (up to 15,000 words). Your manuscript can be a work in progress — you don't need a complete draft.
We read and assess
Your editor reads your opening chapters closely, evaluating narrative momentum, protagonist agency, stakes, structural integrity, and genre alignment.
Receive your report
Within approximately two weeks you receive a written report covering your opening's strengths, the highest-priority revision issues (ranked by impact), and clear guidance for addressing each one.
Common Questions
Answers before you start.
Does my manuscript need to be complete?
Not at all. You can submit while you're still drafting. Many authors use the First-Act Story Audit early in the process to validate their direction before writing the full manuscript.
What's the maximum word count this service covers?
The First-Act Story Audit covers up to 15,000 words — approximately your first three to four chapters. If your opening section is longer, we'll work with the first 15,000 words.
Is this the same as a line edit?
No. This is a high-level assessment, not a line-by-line edit. The report gives you a clear picture of what's working and what needs attention structurally — it's the diagnostic step that tells you where to focus your revision energy.
Get Started
Let's see if
we're a fit.
Show us what you have and we'll show you what we can do. Start with a First-Act Story Audit for $59 — a professional review of your opening chapters with no commitment required.