Why Hire a Collaborator?

Here’s what I can do to help:

Coaching

The best time to engage a coach is at the very beginning of a book project—before you’ve written the first word. When book projects go awry, it’s almost always because the initial concept is flawed: unclear, unmanageable, unsalable, or unlikely to attract the opportunities that the author wishes to attract. So coming up with a great concept is job #1. I can also teach you the publishing ropes and help you to come up with a budget, a schedule, a working title, an outline (or an alternative plan of attack if outlines don’t work for you), and a marketing plan.

To get started: Download and complete coaching worksheet #1
Then use my scheduler to book your first appointment.
 

Manuscript Evaluation

Need professional feedback on a project that’s already in the works? Help with a manuscript that keeps getting rejected? After a thorough and thoughtful reading, I’ll tell you what’s working and explain how to fix what’s not working. We meet over the phone, and afterwards I send you an audio recording of our session.
Cost: $325 evaluation fee, plus a reading fee of 1 cent per word of manuscript length.

My “30/30 Evaluation” is for people want feedback on a shorter project—-for example, a presentation, website or blog. $150 buys you thirty minutes of reading time, followed by a 30 minute phone session.

To get started: email me.

Editing

Before publication, writing usually goes through at least two rounds of editing. The first round editor is responsible for the work’s overall clarity, organization and readability. Typically, she moves passages around to achieve a more logical order, adds brief transitional passages and rewrites the occasional garbled sentence. She may also recommend that you further expand on some ideas, add examples, cut digressions and so forth. This is the type of editing I do. The second round—copyediting—is normally done by a different person. It focuses on correctness and detail: spelling, punctuation, formatting, etc. (The reason I don’t do copyediting will be obvious if you’ve already spotted typos on this site.)

The substantive editing process begins with a manuscript evaluation. (See above.) During the meeting, I explain what I propose to change, and what it will cost. I you agree with my plan and hire me to edit, the cost of the evaluation is subtracted from the editing fee.
 

Ghostwriting

If you hire me to ghostwrite, you don’t have to do any writing yourself. I interview you about what you want to say, and do all the writing from scratch. In addition to books, I ghostwrite articles, proposals, presentations, web site copy and blogs.
For book-length ghostwriting project, the first step is at least three sessions of start-up coaching. (See above.) These meetings enable us to develop a shared vision for the book and test whether we’re a good fit for each other as collaborators before making the major commitment that a book-length project entails. If you’re not sure whether you even want a ghostwriter, the meetings will help you to decide.

For more information, check out the Ghostwriting FAQ and Why Would a Good Writer Hire a Ghost?
To set up a preliminary meeting, use my appointment scheduler, then download and complete coaching worksheet #1
 

Full Service Self-Publishing

When you sign with a traditional publisher, your editor is responsible for managing a whole team of professional helpers: copy editor, proofreader, inside page designer, cover designer, printer and publicist. If you want to self-publish with style, consider hiring me as managing editor. I can connect you with the people and resources you need, keep the project on track, and spare you a world of hassle.