The Conviction Engine™ — story construction and manuscript scoring software for authors.
Free · Human-reviewed · Two business daysYour book informs.
Does it move anyone?
Send us one chapter of your nonfiction book. We'll read it closely, run it against the Conviction Engine™—the six-stage framework for why some stories change people and most don't—and send you a personal diagnostic: where your chapter stalls, what it costs you with readers, and the repairs that use material you already have.
Have a finished manuscript? Skip to the Conviction Engine Report — the whole book, every chapter →
Send one chapter.
Your strongest, or your most stubborn. Up to 5,000 words—paste it or upload a file. Confirm your email and it goes in the queue.
We read it closely.
Your pages are evaluated against the Conviction Engine and reviewed before anything is sent. No form letters—your own sentences, quoted back with a diagnosis.
Get the diagnostic.
A four-page report in your inbox within two business days: the verdict, the stalled stage, the repairs, and what to watch next.
Submit Your Chapter
protected
Your work stays yours. Your chapter is read for this diagnostic and reviewed before delivery. It is never used to train AI systems, never shared outside Straw Dogs Development, and deleted from our systems within 30 days of delivery. You retain all rights to your work—including every repair we suggest.
One chapter tells you where. The manuscript tells you why.
Books don't stall in one place—they stall in a signature. The Conviction Engine Report reads every chapter, ranks the repairs by leverage, and names the pattern your book keeps repeating. $1,295, human-reviewed, five business days.