Cold Reads

What are Cold Reads all about?

Cold reads are a great way to get feedback on your voice, characters and plot—does your story make an agent or editor or reader want to read more.

You bring your first two pages of your manuscript (courier new, double spaced no more than 500 words). The two pages are usually all you have to grab an agent or editors attention and make them want to read more.

Cold reads are usually held early on the Saturday and Sunday mornings. If you don’t know how the cold reads work, they work as follows:
 
1. there is no need to register for cold reads
2. you bring with you 2 copies of your first two pages of your manuscript (courier new, double spaced, so no more than 500 words) with no name on it (all readings are anonymous)
3. you give both copies to the moderator of the cold reads who acts as the reader
4. one copy is given to the agent or editor to read along with the reading out
5. the other copy is then read out by the reader and no one has any idea of who the work belongs to
6. the agent or editor gives feedback. Some agents and editors will stop the reader where they would have put the story down and they will explain why. While some agents will let the whole two pages be read and then give feedback.
7. Sometimes an agent or editor may ask for the person whose pages they have liked to come and see them afterwards
 
So polish those first two pages and come along and get great feedback.
Who knows, you might  get a request!

 

 

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