Over the past few years, in order to buy peanut butter and bread and pay rent, I’ve taken on a number of manuscript assessments for various readers. I was first put on to them by my friend Michelle MacAleese (a next-level freelance editor and consultant), and have done them as part as the recently closed Humber School of Writers Agency (now offered through Humber Publishing Services), and, mostly, as individual projects for the prospective author. Some of these authors are professionals in another arts field, trying their hand at a novel or collection of stories, and some of them are fledgling authors who are bravely trying to break into this business of writing and publishing a book.