what i do
Book Manuscripts
After months or many years of solitary, hard work, you’ve completed your novel, nonfiction book, or memoir. You’ve reread it hundreds of times, shared it with friends, and taken it through multiple revisions. Here’s what I can do for you.
1. Carefully read and evaluate your manuscript. My review will have two primary focuses:
I will look at whether the writing itself is at a level that would be considered competitive by other industry professionals, and if it isn’t, I will make suggestions on how you can move it to that level. These suggestions might include anything from character development to pacing to credibility to structure to style. I will also edit the manuscript as needed.
I will assess how marketable the book is in the current publishing climate, and will recommend the best course of action. Among the things I’ll examine are subject matter, originality, and potential readership.
2. Share my ideas with you and suggest a clear plan for any revision. I will also outline your next steps in seeking an agent and/or publisher.
Nonfiction Proposals
You are an expert in a particular field and see a gap in the bookstore shelves that your expertise can fill. Whether you’re considering writing a new business guide, a self-help book, a book on the environment, a parenting book, the story of a historic event, or even a story from your own life, here’s what I can do for you.
1. Determine the specific concept, scope, and structure for a book that will be engagingly written, original and salable.
2. Work with you to create a book proposal for you to present to agents and publishers. My work will include evaluating and editing all of the elements of the proposal, including the overview, table of contents, sample chapters, biographical note and marketing plan.
3. Offer specific advice on taking the next steps in seeking an agent or publisher.
Contracts Review
You have managed to sell your book to a publisher without an agent’s assistance. A multi-page agreement arrives in your inbox with some very confusing language describing best and worst case scenarios for your book and listing rights and formats you may never have even heard of. Here’s what I can do for you.
1. Over my twenty-plus year career in publishing, I have negotiated hundreds of publishing agreements. I will carefully review your contract and will red-line it, indicating the changes and additions I recommend to ensure it is fair to you and in line with industry standards.
2. While I won’t negotiate your contract directly with your publisher—you can do that since you’ll be armed with my altered copy and experienced negotiating tips—I will be on the sidelines to help you respond to any of the publisher’s further questions, as well as counteroffers or compromises that may arise.
Query Letters
You are not seeking editorial guidance at this time, but wish to contact agents or publishers about your work. You’ve been told that you need to come up with a letter that has the “perfect pitch” to capture the attention of busy publishing professionals. Here’s what I can do for you.
1. Read your proposal or at least twenty pages and an outline of your completed manuscript in order to gain a clear understanding of the nature and style of your work.
2. Work from your query letter draft and follow the specific guidelines requested by agents to create a succinct letter that compellingly describes the style, subject matter and marketability of your work, and highlights your relevant personal and writing accomplishments.
Career Guidance
You are an established writer and have already published your first, second or maybe even tenth book. You are having difficulty selling your next one, or you want to increase your readership, or you can’t decide what to write next to remain successful in this difficult publishing climate. Here’s what I can do for you.
1. Listen to your “publishing story” and read some or all of your works-in-progress.
2. Advise you on next steps in your writing career, covering such issues as whether or not to find a new agent, which ideas to pursue or reconsider, and how to look at your writing career in a new way so that you can be better positioned for a successful book.
