“Does my story actually work?”
The book critique that shows its work.
Chapter-by-chapter developmental feedback on your manuscript, built on established craft principles. Fiction and non-fiction. Every finding traces to a named principle. The alpha reader your manuscript needs before anyone else reads it.
Free chapter analysis with every account.
One email when we launch. That's it.
“The alpha reader every novelist needs to take a manuscript from good to best seller.” — Darren S., Developmental Editor
See It In ActionFree: Does your novel read like AI?
See where your manuscript carries patterns readers associate with AI-generated writing. Not a detector. Not a verdict. A craft tool for your own revision. Genre-aware baselines, false-positive caveats, zero AI used in the analysis. Free, forever.
Run Free Perception CheckCreate a free account to get started. Your manuscript is stored securely and never used for training.
FirstReader™ analyzes your manuscript chapter by chapter against established craft principles. Fiction and non-fiction. Every finding traces to a named principle. Pricing scales with manuscript length — see the calculator below. Results within 24 to 48 hours.
What writers and editors are saying
“Recommending FirstReader! It took my manuscript and analyzed it in great detail, giving me comprehensive, thorough feedback I can actually use as I begin revising and editing. Sleek, easy interface. User-friendly. All the features, all the info, all the advice and help anyone would need. I’ll be telling all my writer friends about FirstReader. Bravo!”
— Patrick S., Independent Author
“My clients deserve more than encouragement—they deserve honest, objective feedback on the work they’ve invested so much time and effort to create. FirstReader brings a new level of insight to the editing process, providing detailed analysis, constructive critiques, and practical suggestions to strengthen every aspect of your novel. It’s the alpha reader every novelist needs to take a manuscript from good to best seller.”
— Darren S., Developmental Editor
“The continuity check alone is awesome, and the technical editor caught so many errors. I didn’t agree with everything the developmental editor gave me, but the parts I took really helped. When it flagged a section as dragging, I immediately came up with a new frightening scene. As with any AI feedback, you take it with a critical eye and decide. Highly recommend. I’ll be using it again on my next novel.”
— Michael W., Independent Author
“As a first-time novelist, this tool is indispensable for identifying the structural blind spots and pacing issues I missed in my chapters. The feedback provides specific, actionable logic to fix complex narrative errors rather than just pointing out surface-level mistakes. I’m excited to get my hands on the full version to help finalize my manuscript.”
— Fermi F., Independent Author
Why is getting honest feedback on your novel so hard?
Human editors cost $2K–5K
A professional developmental edit takes 4–6 weeks and costs thousands. Most indie authors can't justify that investment on every manuscript, especially before they know if the story works.
Beta readers are unreliable
Hard to find, inconsistent quality, and some start charging after a couple chapters. Even good ones can't tell you whysomething isn't working, just that it isn't.
Other tools stop at the sentence
Grammar checkers and prose-level tools catch surface problems. They won't tell you your subplot disappears for six chapters, your protagonist is passive through the entire second act, or your timeline contradicts itself in Chapter 14.
How does FirstReader analyze your manuscript?
Built on established craft principles of developmental editing, the same foundations professional editors use.
Upload your manuscript
Drop in a .docx, .txt, or .md file. Any length, any fiction genre. Pick the analysis tier that matches what you need.
Scene-by-scene analysis
FirstReader reads your manuscript the way an editor would: scene by scene, chapter by chapter, evaluating up to 15 craft dimensions with every finding traced to a specific principle.
Get your report
A detailed report with specific findings, cited sources, and prioritized revision recommendations. What to fix, why it matters, and where to look it up yourself.
How FirstReader uses AI: FirstReader uses AI as a reading engine, not a judge. The principles come from established craft and developmental editing frameworks. The scoring is computed by code. The citation verification is deterministic. The AI reads your manuscript scene by scene and flags where the text intersects with a specific craft principle. It doesn't generate opinions. It applies a framework.
What your report covers
Eight analysis areas, each traced to established craft principles.
Prose & Showing
Clarity, sensory detail, narrative distance, show vs. tell
Dialogue
Authenticity, voice distinctiveness, attribution, subtext
Point of View
Consistency, distance control, head-hopping
Scene Structure
Goal/conflict/disaster, sequel beats, scene causality
Pacing & Proportion
Chapter weight, momentum, act-level structure
Character Arcs
Development tracking, consistency across chapters
Continuity & Logic
Timeline, character facts, world-detail consistency
Developmental Letter
Book-level assessment, priorities, revision roadmap
Honest pricing that scales with your book
A flat platform fee plus a per-word rate. Short manuscripts cost less. Long ones cost more. No flat tiers, no surprises.
$24.99 platform fee plus a per-word rate. Live preview — actual price is locked when you upload.
Free chapter analysis included with every account. No credit card required. One-time purchase per manuscript — upgrade anytime and pay only the difference.
Professional feedback, accessible pricing
FirstReader doesn't replace your editor. It gets your manuscript ready so you need fewer revision rounds, saving you time and money.
New
Non-fiction manuscript analysis
The same principle-based developmental feedback, built for non-fiction. Memoir, self-help, business, academic, how-to, biography. Every finding traced to a named craft principle.
Upload and classify
Upload your .docx, .pdf, or .epub. Tell us the manuscript type (expository, narrative, prescriptive, or hybrid) and your target audience. Exclude appendices and back matter.
Review your argument skeleton
FirstReader extracts your central thesis and maps each chapter's argument. Review and edit before the full analysis runs, so the tool evaluates your book against your actual intent.
Get your report
Chapter-by-chapter analysis across up to 9 craft dimensions. Claims to verify, book-level coherence review, revision priorities. Interactive report with PDF export.
9 craft dimensions for non-fiction
Clarity
Direct prose free of ambiguity and unnecessary complexity.
Concision
Tight writing without filler, redundancy, or padding.
Word Choice
Precise vocabulary appropriate to the audience.
Structure
Chapter and section organization serving the argument.
Coherence
Logical flow within and between paragraphs and sections.
Argument & Thesis
Central thesis clarity, consistency, and support.
Evidence & Support
Quality and integration of supporting evidence.
Voice & Style
Consistent, appropriate authorial voice.
Audience Calibration
Complexity and jargon matched to the target reader.
Non-fiction pricing
Same calculator as fiction — switch to Non-fiction in the pricing section above to see live quotes. Structure Review is a flat $68.99 (book-level only); the other three tiers scale per-word. Same free chapter analysis, same upgrade path.
See what a real report looks like
This is an excerpt from an actual FirstReader developmental report on a 56,000-word hardboiled PI novel, 21 chapters analyzed.
FirstReader™ Developmental Report
Hardboiled / PI · 56,410 words · 21 chapters
Opening Assessment
This is a confident, structurally literate hardboiled PI novel that understands its genre deeply and delivers on most of its core promises. The murder investigation is well-constructed, causally tight, and resolved with appropriate moral complexity. The protagonist is a compelling character whose professional competence and personal damage are rendered with genuine specificity: the declining call lengths with his daughter, the clean dishes washed again, the craving that arrives not as melodrama but as weather.
The manuscript's greatest strength is its restraint. It trusts the reader to interpret silence, to feel the weight of what goes unsaid, to understand that the antagonist walking free from the same courthouse is the chapter's real climax.
The manuscript's greatest weakness is structural repetition and a persistent passivity in its protagonist that, while character-appropriate, creates pacing problems in the novel's middle and a final chapter that doesn't land with the force the preceding twenty chapters have earned.
What the full report covers
Priority Recommendations (excerpt)
The full report contains 11 prioritized recommendations with detailed revision guidance.
Generated by FirstReader | Craft Analysis for Fiction Writers
See the product in action
Explore a sample craft report with interactive drill-downs, cited findings, and highlighted manuscript text. Click scores, expand findings, and see exactly what your report will look like.
Explore a Sample ReportYour manuscript. Your control.
Stored securely for you
Your manuscript and reports are stored so you can access them anytime. When you delete, we permanently erase everything. No exceptions.
Built on real craft principles
Established principles of craft and developmental editing. Every finding traces to a named principle so you know exactly what it means.
We never rewrite your words
Findings, suggestions, and named principles. Never rewrites. Your voice stays yours. Your writing is never used to train AI models.
Frequently asked questions
Ready to find out if your story works?
Join the waitlist. One email when we launch.
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