12 Willows Academy

Your first pages, read by a publisher.

The Publisher’s Read is a close, honest review of your opening, up to 5,000 words, from the person who decides what 12 Willows Press publishes. You’ll find out what’s working, where readers drift, and what to fix first.

Founding price: $149 for the first 10 writers. See below.

What you get

• An editorial letter, two to three pages. What your opening does well, where it loses the reader, and the one or two changes that will matter most.
• Margin comments on your pages. Specific notes where something works, stalls, or confuses, so you can see the patterns for yourself.
• Your review within 14 days of receiving your pages.
• 30 days of follow-up questions by email. If something in the letter isn’t clear, ask.

Who it’s for

The Publisher’s Read is for writers with a finished or nearly finished manuscript who want to know whether the opening holds up before they query agents, submit to presses, or publish on their own. It’s also for anyone who has revised so many times they can’t see the pages anymore.

It isn’t for:

• Writers looking for a full manuscript edit or a copyedit. This is a read of your opening, not a line-by-line cleanup.
• Signed 12 Willows authors. You already get my notes.
• Anyone hoping a review leads to a contract. It doesn’t, and it won’t hurt your chances either.

How it works

1. Book your review. Checkout takes a minute.
2. Send your pages. Email a Word document to submissions@12willowspress.com with “Manuscript Review” and your name in the subject line:
   * Up to 5,000 words (about 20 pages)
   * 12-point font
   * Double-spaced
   * With your name and working title at the top
   * One manuscript per order
   * I stop reading at 5,000 words, so if your opening runs long, end at a natural break
3. I read. I read your pages myself, more than once, and write your letter.
4. You get your review within 14 days. Your letter and marked-up pages arrive by email. Questions afterward? Write back any time within 30 days of receiving your review.

Founding clients

The first ten reviews are $149 instead of $225. In return, I ask for honest feedback on the review itself: what helped, what didn’t, and whether you’d recommend it to another writer.

If you’re willing, I may quote you on this page, labeled as a founding client, using only the name you choose. Your feedback doesn’t have to be glowing. It has to be true.

Who’s reading your pages

I’m Steven Long, founder and publisher of 12 Willows Press, a small independent press in Winterport, Maine. I’ve worked in publishing for thirty years: thirteen as a freelance editor, nearly a decade as a senior editor at Kepos Media, and since 2023 as a publisher.

Our books include The Secret of the Catapus (Maine Literary Award, Young People’s Literature), A Moon in All Things (IAN Book of the Year Awards finalist), Ice’s End (Gold IBPA Book Awards; Foreword INDIES finalist), and The Miracle Forest (Silver Nautilus Award).

I read submissions regularly and decide which ones to publish. Most of those decisions are made within the first few pages.
The Publisher’s Read gives you that same read, plus the part a rejection never includes: why.

Questions

Will a review help me get published by 12 Willows? No. A review has no bearing on publication with 12 Willows Press. Booking one won’t help or hurt your chances if you submit to us later.

What kinds of writing do you review? Novels: middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction, including literary, mystery, and speculative or climate fiction. I don’t review nonfiction, memoir, poetry, picture books, or screenplays.

My opening chapter is longer than 5,000 words. Now what? Send the first 5,000 words, ending at a natural break. That’s usually enough to see how the opening is working.

Will you fix my grammar and typos?
No. This is a structural review, not a copyedit. Send pages you’ve already revised and proofread as well as you can. I won’t correct commas and typos, but if errors are frequent, I’ll tell you because, to a publisher, they’re an immediate red flag. Most of us stop reading when we see them.

Are my pages kept private? Yes. I don’t share your pages with other people.

Can I get a refund? Yes, a full refund any time before I start reading your pages.

Confidence from Page One