The package is fourteen things, and a list of fourteen things tells you very little. So here is a single novel carried the whole way through — from the brief that started it to the keywords it would be listed under.
The Water Line is an example built to demonstrate the service, not a customer’s book. Nothing a customer commissions is ever shown without asking.
R. J. Aldred
Ruth Aldred goes back to the Lincolnshire coast to clear her late mother’s house and finds it has been searched. Not burgled — searched. Nothing taken except a box of her mother’s letters. The village knows what happened the week it was evacuated in 2007, and will not say.
That premise came from the customer’s own Book Brief. Everything below was built from it.
Professional front cover
A finished ebook cover with title and author treatment, art-directed to the genre and to the cover direction in your brief — in this case: bleak coastal, grey-green, a lot of sky, and absolutely no silhouetted woman walking away.
Complete novel manuscript
A complete first-draft novel, delivered as an editable Word document and a PDF reading copy. Typically 80,000–200,000 words — the structure decides, not a quota.
Book blurb
Retailer-ready copy built around the hook and the promise the book actually makes, not a summary of the plot.
Nineteen years ago, the village of Saltfleet End was evacuated for a week. Nobody was told why. Nobody asked for compensation. And when Ruth Aldred comes home to clear her mother’s house, she finds it has been searched — drawers opened and closed again, nothing taken but a box of letters. The village is polite. Helpful. Useless. Her mother was the district nurse here for thirty years, which means she knew everybody’s business and was trusted with all of it — and the handwriting in her day book changes for a fortnight in 2007. The sea defences are being rebuilt. In April, a section of the old wall will be poured over and whatever is beneath it will stay there for a hundred years. *A novel about the cost of being protected by someone who loves you.*
Character bible
Every character who matters: who they are, what they want, what they are hiding, how they change, and how they are bound to everyone else. The people you named stay exactly as you named them.
RUTH ALDRED — 54, structural engineer, divorced, one grown son. Wants: to clear the house and go home. Needs: to stop treating being told things as a transaction she was cheated in. Flaw: mistakes being right for being owed an apology. She is right about nearly everything in this book and it does her no good at all. Arc: from demanding the truth as a debt, to giving it freely to her own son. COLIN FENWICK — 70s, ran the garage. Knows what happened. Will not say. Not out of malice: he made a promise, and the promise was made to Margaret rather than about her. Function: the most decent person in the book and still the principal obstacle. MARGARET ALDRED — Ruth’s mother. Dead before chapter one, present throughout. District nurse for thirty years. The person everyone told things to, who told nobody.
Story timeline
Every event in the book and the backstory behind it, in order, so you can see the whole shape at once — including the things that happened before page one.
2007 — FEB The week. Village cleared on a Tuesday, told it was a gas main. 2007 — FEB Margaret agrees to what is asked of her. Day book handwriting changes. 2007 — MAR Everyone back. No compensation. Nobody asks. … PRESENT — FEB Margaret’s funeral. Ruth arrives to clear the house (ch. 1). PRESENT — FEB The kitchen drawers are wrong. Letters missing (ch. 1). PRESENT — MAR Village hall meeting, arranged because of her (ch. 9). PRESENT — APR Sea wall: final section poured. The window closes (ch. 24).
Continuity report
A structured check across the finished manuscript: character facts, relationships, locations, who knows what and when, objects, dates and story state — with anything that contradicts itself flagged by chapter.
CHARACTER FACTS 142 tracked · 0 contradictions KNOWLEDGE STATE 38 tracked · 0 contradictions · Ruth learns of the pouring date in ch. 7. No earlier chapter has her act on it. · Colin’s promise is revealed ch. 19; his refusals in ch. 4 and ch. 11 are consistent with it in retrospect. OBJECTS 21 tracked · 0 contradictions · The day book: found ch. 6, read ch. 6 and ch. 14, surrendered ch. 22. DATES & TRAVEL consistent across 24 chapters.
Plot & structure analysis
The major beats, the arcs, what is set up and where it pays off, and how the pacing moves — the architecture of the book, written down.
STRUCTURE Five-act, with the turn at the centre rather than the end. MIDPOINT Ch. 12. Ruth stops asking what happened and starts asking what her mother did. The question changes; the book changes with it. SETUPS / PAYOFFS · Day book handwriting (ch. 6) → the fortnight identified (ch. 14) · Sea wall schedule (ch. 7) → the April deadline forces ch. 21–24 · Daniel’s phone calls (ch. 3, 11) → the final call (ch. 24) PACING Slowest in act two by design; the clock starts at ch. 7.
Chapter-by-chapter guide
What happens in each chapter and what it is doing for the book — useful for revising, for pitching, and for finding the one scene you want to change.
CH. 1 Ruth arrives. The drawers are wrong before anything is missing.
Function: establishes competence, and the first wrongness.
CH. 6 The day books. The handwriting changes for a fortnight.
Function: the first thing Margaret cannot explain from the grave.
CH. 9 The village hall meeting. Everyone polite, nobody answering.
Function: Ruth understands the meeting was arranged because of her.
CH. 12 MIDPOINT. The question changes.
CH. 24 She finds out. It is smaller and sadder than she expected.
She does not forgive her mother. She rings her son.Keywords, categories & positioning
Where the book sits in the market, who it is for, and the retailer keywords and categories to list it under — the practical part of publishing it.
CATEGORIES Mystery, Thriller & Suspense › Crime Fiction › British Detectives
Literature & Fiction › Literary Fiction
KEYWORDS lincolnshire coast mystery · small village secrets · mother daughter secrets · slow burn british crime · coastal gothic · literary mystery older protagonist
READERS OF Tana French, Jon McGregor, Elizabeth Strout, Broadchurch
POSITIONING A literary mystery for readers who want the village, not the forensics.Promotional copy
Short hooks and straplines for retailer listings, social posts and anywhere else you need to describe the book in a line.
· "We agreed it was better." Nineteen years on, Ruth wants to know who "we" was. · A village that was evacuated for a week, and has never once discussed it. · Her mother knew. That is the part Ruth cannot forgive. · In April they pour the last section of the sea wall. After that, it stays buried.
Complete Novel Manuscript
A complete bespoke first-draft novel developed around the agreed story direction. Final target length is agreed during the project brief.
Professional Front Cover
A finished ebook/front-cover design concept with title and author treatment.
Book Blurb
A polished retailer-style description built around the hook and reader promise.
Title & Positioning
Title/subtitle development where needed, plus genre, subgenre, audience, tone and market positioning.
Keywords & Categories
Suggested retailer/search keywords, genre descriptors and publication categories.
Story Analysis
Premise, themes, genre, tropes, conflicts, reader promises and narrative strengths.
Character Bible
Main characters, motivations, relationships, conflicts, backstory and progression.
Story Timeline
A chronological reference for key story events and relevant backstory.
Continuity Report
A structured check of character facts, relationships, locations, knowledge, objects, dates and story-state consistency.
Plot & Structure Analysis
Major beats, arcs, pacing, setups, payoffs and structural progression.
Chapter-by-Chapter Guide
A concise record of what happens in each chapter and its role in the novel.
Series / Sequel Potential
Where appropriate, opportunities for further books, continuing characters or unresolved story possibilities.
Promotional Copy
Short hooks, straplines and descriptions suitable for retailer listings and promotional use.
Publication Checklist
A clear next-steps guide for taking the completed package through final editorial preparation and publication.
Founding offer — £399
Limited to the first 10 commissioned books