Free tool
Free manuscript critique of your first page
Paste your opening (up to 500 words) and Fred, Wordsmith's AI book editor, reads it the way an agent or a reader in a bookshop would. In under a minute you get three things that are working, three to look at, and one thing to try next. Free, no sign-up.
By the Wordsmith team · Last reviewed
- Hook
- Voice
- Clarity
- Point of view
- What the reader wants next
Your words stay yours. Your text is sent to our AI provider to generate this read, not to train models. We store the read and excerpt to make its link work. Anyone with that link can see the critique and a short excerpt preview. Unclaimed links expire after 30 days; stored records are removed during routine cleanup. Signing up keeps the read. You can delete it sooner from the browser that created it.
Questions writers ask
Is the manuscript critique really free?
Yes. You can have a free first-page critique of up to 500 words without an account or a card. You get three free reads a day, so you can try a revised opening and see what changed.
What does Fred look at in a first page?
The things that decide whether someone turns to page two: the hook, the voice, how clear the who, where and when are, whether the point of view holds, and what the reader is left wanting to know.
Is this the same as an AI beta reader?
It is a beta reader's first impression with an editor's eye: it tells you what lands and what does not, and points to the exact words. It reads your opening only. For a read of the whole book, Fred reads complete manuscripts on Wordsmith.
Will my writing be used to train AI?
No. The critique uses an AI provider configuration that does not use your text to train models. The read and a short excerpt preview are accessible to anyone with the link, but the result page is excluded from search indexing. Unclaimed links expire after 30 days and stored records are removed during routine cleanup. Signing up keeps the read. You can delete it sooner from the browser that created it.
Can a free online critique replace a human book editor?
Not for a whole book. A first-page read is a quick, honest check of your opening. Many writers use it before querying agents or before paying for an edit, to fix the obvious things first.