Authenticity Reading Services
What is authenticity reading?
Authenticity reading (also called sensitivity reading) is a type of beta reading that provides feedback on specific representations or identities in your writing with which I have lived or firsthand experience. During this type of review, I provide comments within your text, as well as a final summary report (but no direct changes are made in the text, as with editing).
Why do you need an authenticity reader?
If you are writing fiction and including representations or identities with which you may not have firsthand experience, you might want to have an authenticity reader who does have that knowledge evaluate your depictions and details to make sure that they ring true (i.e., are authentic), are correct, and do not introduce any biases or harmful language and elements.
For example, I have done authenticity reading for Italian content in two YA novels. One novel took place in Italy, and I provided feedback on some of the cultural elements depicted in the story that did not seem authentically Italian, according to my experience. In addition, many Italian words were scattered throughout the English text in both texts and needed to be corrected or replaced. The author took my suggestions and made changes accordingly, resulting in more authentic and stronger stories.
For more information on authenticity reading, see Penguin Random House's summary and Crystal Shelley's blog post.
Topics I Read For
- Italian American/Italian Canadian experience
- Italian culture and language (as I lived in Italy several times)
- US and Canadian (English-speaking) culture
- Type 1/juvenile diabetes caregiving
- Cancer caregiving
- Academia (and leaving academia)
- Catholicism
- Motherhood
- Medieval manuscripts and Latin
