Developmental Editor, Book Coach, Best-Selling Author

• Manuscript analysis--fiction and nonfiction.
• Book proposals: writing, research, and/or editing.
• Queries and query packages.
• Storytelling tips and techniques, including demonstrating ways to "show, don't tell."
• Constructive editorial feedback and suggestions that serve as a blueprint for revisions.
• Running commentary that provides a rare glimpse into the mind of your reader.
• Developmental expertise to help you refine and crystallize your concept, story and character arc, theme, scope, structure, content, and/or style.
• Guidance, encouragement, and support every step of the way.
• Coaching to take you beyond what you thought was possible.
• Expert, on-the-page editing for content, structure, and/or style.
• Jacket copy, web copy, posts, and newsletters.
• Consulting on publishing strategies and more.

FOR FULL OR PARTIAL DRAFTS AT ANY STAGE. 

 

YOU WILL RECEIVE THE 4D ANALYSIS IN THE FOLLOWING FORM:

• Your manuscript, annotated with margin comments (typically around 450 to 900 comments for a book-length work).
• A separate editorial analysis document (typically around 20 to 60 single-spaced pages for a book-length work).
• If appropriate for your project, I will also do a sample edit of one or more passages in your book, in order to demonstrate certain editorial suggestions.

THE 4D ANALYSIS OFFERS YOU:

 

An in-depth, detailed analysis of the strengths and challenges of your book. From a bird's-eye view to the finest details on the page, you'll receive constructive feedback and suggestions from these four angles:

1. Overview notes on what works and what doesn't and why in the major applicable areas of character, story, the hero's journey, storytelling techniques such as point of view and scene vs. summary and more, and how each of these elements affects reader engagement and emotional investment.
2. Chapter-by-chapter notes on how story, character, and storytelling elements play out in each chapter.
3. Page-by-page, section-by-section, and/or line-by-line editorial comments in the margins of your manuscript.
4. Page-by-page, section-by-section, and/or line-by-line reader reactions in the margins of your manuscript.

A rare glimpse into the mind of your reader.

• With me, you get not only a skilled professional editor who knows how to give constructive feedback that illuminates your strengths and provides accessible suggestions for improvement, you also get a window into the mind of an avid reader and writer who lives, loves, and breathes story.
• In addition to my editorial comments and suggestions throughout the margins your manuscript, you'll receive a running commentary of my emotional reactions to your book, in real time, as I am reading.
• I'll tell you what makes me laugh, moves me to tears, puts me on the edge of my seat, makes me want to punch the villain, dance for joy, or kiss the hero.

• I'll tell you what's confusing me, or taking me out of the story, or making me impatient for the story to move forward.

• This dimension of my analysis is a big hit with the authors whose work I am privileged to analyze. For the first time, they really find out where and why a reader gets hooked and where they are losing interest, which scenes resonate on a deep level and which aren't quite there yet, which jokes are landing and which aren't, which characters feel trustworthy and which don't, and so much more.

A blueprint for improving your work.

• Throughout your manuscript and my separate analysis document, I'll provide specific, detailed suggestions on how to fix what isn't working well and improve what could work better.

A real sense of what you are capable of doing.

• I'll show you where your talents shine in your book, how to build upon those talents, and where else in your book you can apply them.
• I'll do a breakdown of what works well in your book and show you the mechanics of what you've accomplished so that you can replicate those skills and talents in other areas that need it.

THE 4D ANALYSIS ADDRESSES SUCH ELEMENTS AS:

• Story arc.
• Character arc.
• The hero's journey, including their goal and the obstacles they face/overcome in order to achieve that goal.
• Portrayal of characters, their motivations, appeal, and authenticity.
• Point of view (POV).
• Story structure/architecture.
• Clarity, continuity, readability.
• Ideas about how to show the action rather than tell it.
• Dialogue.
• Theme.
• Tone.
• Pacing
• Sensory description
• Particularity ("the detail that individualizes," according to Sol Stein)
• Suspense and tension
• Conflict
• Word choice
• Use of adjectives and adverbs
• Use of simile and metaphor
• and many other substantive and stylistic possibilities.

 

FEE FOR 4D ANALYSIS:

• For a book-length work or long partial, I will charge a flat rate based on the number of words in your manuscript. 
• For shorter partials, I will charge either a flat fee or an hourly rate, based on the length and complexity of the assignment.

Please contact me for a free, one-hour initial consultation, including my thoughts on the first ten double-spaced pages of your book-length work or the first three double-spaced pages of your shorter work. Please send me your pages in advance of our call. If you and I think we might be a match, I'll prepare a proposed scope of work and fee quote for you.

 

 

On-the-page editing designed to be of the greatest service to your book, and at whatever level you desire. Authors often request my line-editing services after having engaged me to do an analysis of one or more drafts.

 

In a line-edit of your work, I can:

• Edit for consistency, flow, clarity, and style, while always staying respectful of and true to your voice.
• Reword, reorganize, and or move text around for clarity, readability, and style.
• Add transitional, introductory, connective, or clarifying words, phrases, or segues.
• Edit, streamline, tighten reorganize, or otherwise revise individual sentences or passages for clarity, readability, pacing, tone, and narrative progression.
• Support readability and flow by breaking long sentences/paragraphs into shorter units where appropriate.
• Vary the beginning of sentences.
• Support the forward movement of the story by editing out material that stops or slows down the story, if appropriate; or suggest cuts rather than making cuts.
• Edit out extraneous or repetitive phrases or sentences.
• Edit for effective similes and metaphors.
• Break long sentences, passages, paragraphs into smaller units if/where appropriate.
• Basic copyediting for grammar, punctuation, spelling, to get your work submission-ready.
• Address any other relevant elements of content, storytelling, and style, via on-the-page edits and/or in separate comments, as needed.
• Support pacing and suspense by pointing out opportunities to create suspense and tension, wherever possible; and/or by executing those opportunities on the page.
• Sharpen dialogue and/or point out where dialogue needs to be sharpened.
• Include critique notes: If there are any other issues that come up during the course of the edit that would need to be addressed by you, such as outstanding story, character, structural, coherence, POV issues, or other issues of content or style, I would discuss these in margin notes and/or in a separate document rather than polish these passages on the page. 

—A la carte services upon request, such as:

• Writing additional material such as sentences, paragraphs, and/or passages. In one case I wrote an entire chapter of a memoir upon the author's request by interviewing the author and shaping the raw material into prose that fit seamlessly into the book.
• Researching additional material.
• Choosing quotes for nonfiction books.
• Editing or writing photo captions.
• For authors who are indie-publishing, I can also provide or supervise final copyediting services to get your book print-ready. 

FEES FOR LINE-EDITING SERVICES: 

• For a book-length work or long partial, I will charge a flat rate based on the length and complexity of the assignment.
• For shorter partials, I will charge either a flat fee or an hourly rate, based on the length and complexity of the assignment.
• Please contact me for a free initial consultation, including my thoughts on the first ten double-spaced pages of your book-length work or the first three double-spaced pages of your shorter work. Please send me your pages in advance of our call. If you and I think we might be a match, I'll prepare a proposed scope of work and fee quote for you.

 

If you'd like to learn or further develop the fundamentals of creating a compelling story, I offer customized coaching and tutorials in the art of "show, don't tell," built around your work in progress and designed especially for you.

 

FEES FOR CUSTOMIZED COACHING: Please contact me for a free initial consultation, including my thoughts on the first ten double-spaced pages of your book-length work or the first three double-spaced pages of your shorter work. Please send me your pages in advance of our call. If you and I think we might be a match, I'll prepare a proposed scope of work and fee quote.

 

BOOK PROPOSAL ANALYSIS.

 

The comprehensive analysis of your book proposal will be delivered to you in the following form:

• A copy of your manuscript, annotated with margin comments, including a running commentary on my reactions to the material and the style, in which I tell you what does work and what doesn't work and why, along with suggestions for improvement
• A separate analysis document, typically around 10 to 30 single-spaced pages in length for a full book proposal.
• An optional post-critique phone consultation at no additional charge.

 

Here's what my comprehensive analysis of your proposal will provide:

 

• Notes on sample chapters and chapter summaries that address a variety of elements, such as story and character arc, characters and character motivations, dialogue, organization and delivery of information, structure, clarity, readability, reader engagement, storytelling techniques for delivery of information and illustrating concepts, ideas about how to show the action rather than tell it, theme, tone, pacing, particularity, point of view, maintaining suspense, word choice, use of adjectives and adverbs, metaphors and similes, and many other substantive and stylistic possibilities.

• Notes on the body of your proposal that address a variety of elements, such as organization and delivery of information, persuasiveness, clarity, tone, unique position in the marketplace, ability to reach target readers, biographical information about the author, and many other substantive, strategic, and stylistic possibilities, including storytelling techniques for delivery of information and illustrating concepts.

• I will point out strengths as well as challenges in the work, show you what works and what doesn't and why, thus guiding you to replicate your strengths in one area of the proposal to other areas of the proposal that need help.

 

BOOK PROPOSAL EDITING, DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH, AND/OR WRITING.

 

Depending on your wishes and the needs of your project, I can do whatever is needed. I have worked on book proposals in a number of ways, such as researching and/or writing the competitive analysis, researching and /or writing the market section, writing the promotion section from raw material provided to me by the author and adding additional ideas to it, analyzing and line-editing chapter summaries and sample chapters, helping to develop and hone the direction, focus, and mission of the book, polishing the overview, writing the overview, doing additional research for the author, writing and/or revising the author bio, and more. 

 

FEES FOR BOOK PROPOSAL WORK: 

For full or partial proposals, including sample chapters, I charge an hourly rate that is based on the length and complexity of the assignment. I will look at the work to be done and provide an estimate of a range of hours to complete each assignment or part thereof. 

 

FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION:
Please contact me for a free initial consultation, including my thoughts on sample pages of your book proposal (if available) plus sample pages from your book. In your email, please tell me about your book, how much of it you have written, and whether or not you have drafted any part(s) of a book proposal. With that information in hand, I'd let you know which pages to send me for a sample analysis. You would send me those pages in advance of our consultation call, and when we talk, I'd give you my thoughts on your pages. If you and I think we might be a match, I'll prepare a proposed scope of work and fee quote for you. 

• Writing and editing query letters, synopses, author bios, and jacket copy.
• Writing and editing book proposals.
• Writing and editing web copy, blog posts, social media posts, and newsletters.
• Consulting on all aspects of publishing.
• Consulting on page-to-screen adaptation.
• Research.
• Ghostwriting.

FEES FOR MORE SERVICES:

• I typically charge by the hour for consultations and for works that are shorter than book length or shorter than substantial partial manuscripts. My hourly rate is based on the length and complexity of the assignment.
• Please contact me for a free initial consultation, including my thoughts on sample pages of your work, if available. In your email, please give me as much detail as you can on what type of writing, editing, and/or consultation services you are seeking. Let me know how much and what type of pages you have available (such as a full book, a partial book, a book proposal, screenplay, query, web copy, et al), and I will let you know how many sample pages to send me in advance of our call. If you and I think we might be a good match, I'll prepare a proposal and fee quote for you.