Work With Me

Are you having problems moving forward in your craft as a writer?

Or are you utterly panicked about the thought of having to market your books?

Have you looked over the approach to writing in the Writing Craft series or the articles on this website, and found that they sound appealing?

I am currently accepting clients in three areas:

  • Developmental editing.
  • Developing marketing text.
  • Consulting.

Developmental editing is a deep type of editing that breaks down how you write, and helps you learn how to carry your vision onto the page for your readers.

It can be challenging to receive a developmental edit. When I do developmental editing on a project, my goal isn’t just to “fix” the project, but to help my clients learn better fiction writing skills.

My IDEAL client is the one who has learned enough from me to no longer need my services!

(You’ll probably still need an editor to check for typos, inconsistencies, and other small errors, though.)

Developing marketing text is writing book descriptions, bios, ad text, about pages, synopses, and other material related to marketing.

A lot of writers are intimidated by promoting their own work, both for personal reasons and because it requires a different mindset and skills.

Where do you even begin?

When I help writers develop marketing text, we walk through the process of how to find your market (that is, your genre niche), how to assess whether that niche can make you money, and some possible tactics on how to approach publishing a book in that niche.

I work with clients that want to publish independent as well as traditional fiction, supporting them through the process of submitting their work to traditional and small-press publishers, or helping them develop a marketing plan for their books, from cover art to book descriptions, if they decide to publish independently.

Again, my IDEAL clients are the ones who no longer need my services—they feel confident about their books being marketed well (even if they don’t feel confident about Amazon’s or Facebook’s algorithms).

I also do consulting. If you’re a new writer and you’re just not sure what comes next, you can hire me for an hour or two to listen to your goals, assess your time and resources, and suggest a plan for a way forward to work for you.

If you’re not sure about…

  • How to format an ebook.
  • How to obtain quality (legal!) cover art.
  • Whether your book is ready to publish.
  • Whether you need to have your book edited before sending it to traditional publishers (probably not).
  • Why your book isn’t selling.

…first read the free articles on this blog. Only contact me if you’re still stuck 🙂

I want to show writers how to improve their craft, understand their readers, and write fiction that satisfies—by helping them break down craft techniques into bite-sized tasks and practices. I focus on reader psychology, not locked-in-stone rules.

My goal is to get your book into the best shape possible—and make it as easy as possible to sell.

The process works like this. First, contact me about the type of project or service you want help with.

If it’s developmental editing:

  • I’ll ask for the first 1000 words of your project.
  • I will do a “test edit” on those words and give you a guesstimate on how long it would take to edit your project from beginning to end one time.
  • If you want additional edits (or “passes”) after you make changes, that will be an additional fee.
  • I don’t work on flat rates on developmental editing! But I will let you know if it looks like the edit will take more time than anticipated.
  • I am available to talk by phone or video chat to answer questions, but the hourly rate will apply.

If it’s developing marketing text:

  • I’ll ask you describe your project and what you would like to do with it.
  • If the work is more about writing book descriptions, synopses, and other marketing material, then I will give you an estimate for that project, both at an hourly rate and a flat fee.
  • If you pick a flat fee, the number of revisions will be limited, and you’ll still need to pay an hourly rate for answering questions via phone or video chat.
  • If you pick the hourly rate, then that’s it!
  • If the work is more about developing a general marketing plan, then an hourly rate will apply.

I am not handling formatting or cover design at this time. I am also not competent to advise on audio or video production—not yet, anyway! I am also not professional artist and don’t create professional art.

What I can do is help you find professionals for all of the above.

If it’s consulting that you need:

  • I’ll ask you to describe what problems you’re having.
  • If I can resolve that problem in five minutes or less, I will do so, for free!
  • If I can direct you to resources that will help you solve your problem, I will, even if it’s on someone else’s site or helps someone else’s business.
  • If it’s more than a five-minute problem, I’ll ask you to hire me at my usual rates and give you my best guesstimate.

Rates: my rates are currently $50 an hour.

I usually take payments through PayPal, but if that doesn’t work for you, we can work out alternate methods of payment. I usually ask for half up front, or a retainer fee on short consulting jobs. If you don’t use all the time you pay for, I send the money back.

Once you get your estimate, you can take all the time you need to decide whether to hire me. I try to include helpful tips for “next actions” so you can continue working and researching while you make up your mind.

Contact me now with your problem and get a free, no-commitment estimate with tips on how to move forward on your own—or a free five-minute-or-less answer to your question.