MANUSCRIPT FINISHING SCHOOL
Edit & position your memoir draft to the high standards of traditional publishing to give it the best chance of success!
My memoir made it to the publishers acquisitions meeting! Learning about the unconscious desire and your process around the Midpoint Reversal, helped me completely revise my memoir draft.
Marlane Ainsworth
YOU’VE DRAFTED YOUR MEMOIR… NOW WHAT?
You’ve drafted your memoir manuscript, but you don’t know what to do next!
❌ Should you send it off to be professionally edited before you submit to a publisher? (NO)
❌ Should you give it to your sister / mother / best friend / dog to read for feedback? (ALSO NO)
❌ Should you start pitching to a publisher because won’t they have their own professional editors who can look for typos? (HARD NO)
❌ How on earth do you know when it’s ready at publication standard?
You’ve scaled the first mountain: You wrote the first (agony) draft!! Now learn the professional process so you can…
✅ Ensure your manuscript has a compelling beginning, middle and end
✅ Revise, assess and edit your manuscript from a chapter and scene level so your agent keeps turning the pages!
✅ Understand your narrator’s character arc particularly for memoir
✅ Learn a professional editor’s process to write you a feedback report & write your own!
AHH the relief of knowing how to get your book publication-ready!
- KNOWING your memoir ticks the boxes for a compelling and sellable manuscript
- TRANSFORMING your draft into a polished narrative that’s ready for potential publishers to see!
- FEELING the puzzle pieces of your book fall into place as you re-structure the story
- Moving EFFICIENTLY through your memoir writing journey, saving time, energy, AND and money with the exact process a published author follows to prepare for memoir manuscript submission!
MANUSCRIPT FINISHING SCHOOL IS A SELF-STUDY EDITING AND REVISION PROGRAM TO TAKE YOUR MEMOIR DRAFT – AND YOU – TO A PLACE WHERE YOU FEEL CONFIDENT SENDING IT OUT ON SUBMISSION
WHAT MAKES MANUSCRIPT FINISHING SCHOOL BETTER THAN PAYING AN EDITOR?
Most first-time authors don’t realise that published authors don’t pay a separate editor to revise their work: to develop the necessary skills to become a published author, every writer needs to learn professional methods to revise their work on their own.
Yes, when you are signed to a traditional publishing house, they will assign you an editor, but to get to that stage you need to have a manuscript as good as you can possibly get it on your own. And sending your memoir draft out too early – is the most common reason most memoir writers don’t reach their dreams of publication.
In Manuscript Finishing School I teach you the process I’ve followed to edit my published memoir manuscripts before sending them out on submission, giving you guides, templates, examples, walk-throughs of different techniques. It’s an editing course JUST for memoir authors! You also learn valuable tools and techniques to save you time and make you a much better author to work with when you’re assigned to a publisher!
WHAT’S INCLUDED IN MANUSCRIPT FINISHING SCHOOL
World class step-by-step training & curriculum
✔️Revise your manuscript using different plotting and structural techniques such as the 3 Acts, the Midpoint Reversal, and more.
✔️ Learn valuable craft lessons to polish your memoir from a chapter and scene level
✔️Learn how to assess your own manuscript objectively, knowing what to cut and keep
✔️Learn time-saving copyediting techniques to avoid embarrassing grammatical errors
Bonus Trainings to uplevel your writing
✔️My synopsis writing template (and commissioned example)
✔️ Archetypes Masterclass specifically for memoir
✔️Secrets of Bestselling Memoirs e-book
✔️Hero’s Journey Storytelling Guide
Templates, Checklists, Guides & More.
Each template, checklist, guide and download has been strategically curated to save you time. These downloads are yours to keep and you will use them for any future books you prepare for submission.
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL DO INSIDE MANUSCRIPT FINISHING SCHOOL
You’re going to learn to objectively assess and structurally revise your memoir manuscript with my own process used to plot and restructure two memoir drafts for traditional publication (and no, you won’t need to get feedback on your draft when you know this process!)
Included in the final module is my ripper start checklist: all that the first 50 pages of your memoir needs to include to get a response from an agent or editor.
MANUSCRIPT FINISHING SCHOOL IS FOR YOU IF YOU’VE FINISHED YOUR MEMOIR DRAFT AND YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT BEFORE YOU START SENDING IT OUT ON SUBMISSION
✔️Learn how to objectively assess your memoir manuscript from the big picture
✔️ Includes step-by-step exercise and guide to find your 3 Act Structure
✔️Learn to identify the 12 stages of the bestselling Hero’s journey framework in your memoir manuscript with the masterclass, exercise & guide
✔️ Using the case studies and examples, spot any gaps in your manuscript that need filling out before you submit your work for publication
✔️Learn craft and plotting tricks to improve your manuscript from a chapter & scene level
✔️ Learn how the all-important Midpoint Reversal interacts with the 3 Act Structure to keep the reader compelled so you don’t send out your manuscript with a ‘flat’ middle
✔️Assess every single chapter with a professional tool-kit so you know EXACTLY what it needs to include before you send it out!
✔️Understand your narrator’s character arc from a personal development perspective
✔️ Spot any gaps in narrator’s arc so the story is both compelling & believable
✔️Becoming a dream author by learning to write your own editorial report!
✔️ Learn what a professional editor looks for & write your own ‘report’ you can then use to revise your manuscript
✔️Learn time-saving tricks and techniques to fix grammatical and spelling issues
✔️ Identify language and tense issues that might prevent your reader from enjoying your story
✔️Learn what goes into a RIPPER START for your memoir sample chapters so you can confidently send it out on submission!
✔️ Character Archetypes in Memoirs masterclass (with bestselling memoir examples!)
✔️ Downloadable Secrets of Bestselling Memoirs & Hero’s Journey Storytelling Guidebook
✔️Synopsis writing guide, examples, template to save time & manuscript submission checklist
Manuscript Finishing School will help you prepare ANY memoir manuscript to the high standards of traditional publication, so you can use it again and again – that’s why you get lifetime access to the program!
Hi! I’m Louisa…
I’ve been writing, editing, teaching and publishing since graduating from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s Professional Writing & Editing program in 2001. I’ve written thousands of articles for publication and edited magazines, newspapers, websites, digital publications, books and more. But what has taught me the most has been preparing my own manuscripts for publication. I’ve published two memoirs: Love & Other U-Turns (Allen & Unwin, 2010) and A Letter From Paris (Scribe, 2018). I did not get critiques or workshop the drafts of either of these memoirs, and I don’t believe memoir authors should get feedback, but rather learn to objectively assess and revise their own work.
By learning my step-by-step process, you can save time (and the heartache of rejection!) in your own memoir publication journey.
CHOOSE THE PAYMENT PLAN THAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU:
Investing in your program was the BEST thing I have ever done for my writing and was the absolute highlight of my year!
Lani FoulgerThe program was amazing and it has pushed me to finally finish my book!
Courtney LacomblezNOT SURE IF YOU’RE READY FOR MANUSCRIPT FINISHING SCHOOL?
MANUSCRIPT FINISHING SCHOOL IS FOR YOU…
MANUSCRIPT FINISHING SCHOOL IS NOT FOR YOU…
THERE ARE STRICTLY NO REFUNDS FOR THIS OFFER. READ THE FULL REFUND POLICY HERE.
YOUR QUESTIONS… ANSWERED!
What happens after I join?
Once you pay your enrolment fee – either one payment of 1K or the $400 payment plan using the safe checkout, you will be sent an email with your course login just a minute or two later. You can get started literally within minutes of joining – if you have internet access!
You also receive email encouragement from me for six weeks, and links to further trainings. Once you join, you get access to all future updates to the programme, too!
Do I need a finished draft to take this course?
Yes! The program is designed to take you through a step-by-step revision process which requires an actual manuscript to edit.
How much time do I need to commit to the course?
The program is delivered to you with videos and downloadable guides via a digital membership site, so you can work at your own pace. The videos will take you about 3 hours to watch and there’s about 10-12 downloadable guides for you to read. Each Module could take you a few hours or a few weeks to complete, depending on your own speediness. And you’ll want to repeat some of the steps after each revision! Some students like to binge-watch the content before getting started, and then repeat each lesson when they do the exercises.
How long do I have access to Manuscript Finishing School?
You get lifetime access to the digital program! So you can log in and re-take the course again and again, which many of my students do!
Do you teach us how to write a book proposal?
No, this program teaches you how to revise your manuscript and write a synopsis before you start the submission process. It is NOT a book proposal workshop – if this is your first memoir / book, you will need to write the entire manuscript before you get a book deal anyway. You learn what goes into the sample chapters of your memoir submission in the final module of Manuscript Finishing School.
What currency is the course price?
The course is priced in USD.
Get answers to all your payment FAQs here.
What if i don’t like the course? Do you offer a refund?
In short, no. There are strictly NO refunds for any of my programmes. You can read the full refund policy here.
