Before sending out a manuscript to editors or agents, writers can benefit from a thorough, in-depth critique of their work. A manuscript consult includes a close reading of your work and a thorough letter analyzing the strengths and weaknesses, including discussion of story arc, plot trajectory, character development and believability, language and voice, and suspense. The most important threads of your story will be drawn out and discussed, with suggestions for how to sharpen the tension and highlight the central conflict. A manuscript consultation will give your novel the best chance of securing that dream agent.

Rates:

Novel: $800 + reading fee ($3/1000 words)

Short story: $250 flat rate, max 25 pages

Struggling with line-by-line questions of language, music and mood? Seeking big-picture manuscript advice? Content Editing is a comprehensive examination of your writing, including line-by-line edits of your manuscript or story, with feedback on language, style, voice, and clarity. I'll highlight strengths and weaknesses of the language and offer suggestions for focusing and honing the power of your voice, and help point out clichés or over-familiar phrasings. Content editing can help you polish your project on a sentence level and bring out the full potential of your story.

Rates:

Novel: $800 + reading fee ($5/1000 words).

Subsequent edits: $200 + reading fee ($2/1000 words)

Short story: $300 flat rate, max. 25 pages

Many agents and editors only want to read the first chapter of a manuscript before they decide whether they're interested. Give your manuscript the best foot forward with an in-depth consult of the first chapter of your work. If you purchase a first chapter consult, you'll receive a comprehensive letter of your manuscript chapter's strengths and weaknesses, as well as analysis of where the best place to begin might be and some line editing on language and style.

Rate for single chapter consult, max 40 pages: $20/page (5 page minimum)

The manuscript is ready to head out the door — but how do you get agents to want to read it? It's time to polish that query letter or book proposal so that your manuscript makes it past the first gatekeepers of the publishing world. A query letter consult will receive an in-depth edit of your letter and book blurb, with suggestions for how to draw out the central conflict of your manuscript in an enticing way.

Rates: $50/page

Looking to put your best foot forward with a strong, compelling MFA application? I’ll read through the stories or writing materials you’ve chosen to include in your application, offering editorial advice and my inside tips and strategies for making your application stand out from the crowd.

Rates: $250 flat rate, max 25 pages

Looking for a mentor and workshop experience in a more personalized, one-on-one setting? In writing coaching sessions, we’ll discuss your burning questions about your writing. I will read up to ten pages of your writing to offer verbal comments, thoughts and suggestions in the meeting, along with book recommendations, prompts and exercises, and advice tailored to your needs as a growing writer learning your craft. We can discuss the realities of publishing, what to focus on, and where to go from here in your writing career.

Rates: $80/hour; conducted over Zoom