How to Write a Reader's Report

Literary agencies and publishing companies review thousands of new manuscripts every year, but they can’t take on all of them. In fact, most in the field estimate that these companies will only end up accepting 1-2% of the submissions they receive. So how do they decide what makes the cut?

Two words: reader’s reports.

A reader’s report is a clear and concise overview and evaluation of a manuscript. They are about the length of a page and written by assistants and/or interns for editors and/or literary agents who haven’t read the submission yet. Ultimately, the report’s goal is to give these incredibly busy people an idea of whether or not the manuscript is worth their time reading and pursuing.

Reader’s reports usually look different depending on the company. Some may want a tagline and an author bio, while others might want more information focused on the book’s marketability. All reader’s reports, however, do share a few things in common: the manuscript’s basic information (title, author’s name, genre, etc.), a plot summary, analysis of its strengths and weaknesses, the reader’s final opinion, and a tagline.

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Now, to illustrate what writing one can look like, I’ll expand on some of these sections in a bit more depth.

To start, let’s talk taglines. Though not all companies require this, many of them do. 

Taglines are a sentence or two that sum up the book’s premise and tone. Short and sweet, they’re meant to describe the core of the plot while highlighting what makes it interesting and unique. Reader’s report taglines are a little different than the catchy phrase you might find on the cover of a novel.        

The taglines in reader’s reports look more like the summary you can find on the book’s copyright page. Consider Veronica Roth's Divergent. “In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five determined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.”  

Speaking of summary, let’s talk about the plot summary section, which should fall somewhere in the range of one to three paragraphs. This might not seem like enough space, and it’s certainly a challenge, but there’s some good news! You won’t have to sort through an entire book’s worth of information, because you won’t have read the entire manuscript. Report writers just need to have read enough to understand the book’s basic content and get an idea of what reading it feels like.

In order to make the most of the space you have, describing the plot’s core as clearly and concisely as possible is crucial. This means no adverbs and as few adjectives as you can. The agent or editor doesn’t need to know that Johnny ran sadly from the castle, only that he ran from it. 

Next comes what should be the longest part of your report, which is analyzing the strengths and weaknesses. There are many, many things to think about when evaluating a manuscript, but here are a few you should keep in mind: effective use of the Core Concepts, writing style, ideal audience, stakes, how it compares to similar works, if the book actually does what it sets out to do, if it feels too crammed, how engaging the premise is, and if the plot has momentum. 

Remember to try to be objective. Don't only go by what you personally like to read, and ignore small, easily fixable issues within the manuscript like grammar or spacing. Do not, however, ignore more serious formatting issues, such as failure to comply with submission guidelines.

The last thing to write is your final conclusion and opinion on whether or not the manuscript is worth a read. This should only be around a sentence; after all, you’ve essentially just explained your reasoning in the previous section. This final part is just to sum up your findings and to clearly and outright state whether or not you recommend the manuscript.

Happy writing!

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About the author: Carly Pearlson is an undergraduate studying creative writing and psychology. A self-proclaimed nerd and proud of it, they enjoy board games, TTRPGs, puzzles, theater, and, of course, all things fantasy. When she’s not lost in another world (or lost in this one) you can find her procrastinating while surrounded by books, animals, or both. Favorite pastimes include spoiling their dogs, indulging in their latest hyperfixation, and eating too much chocolate.