Consulting Services for Your Book Idea, Question, Book Outline, or Project in the Early Stages
30-MINUTE BRAINSTORMING CALL / $249
Let me be your writing coach! This service works just as well for writers just starting out and those who are publishing veterans with agent, house, or career questions. Even if you don’t have pages to show me, you can still pick my brain about your story concept or the publishing industry. Come prepared with good questions about agents, publishing, and market trends. Bounce around your potential stories and get instant feedback.
You can send me writing samples or background information before we get started so that we spend as much time as possible focusing on your ideas and burning questions. I will review up to 2,500 words of material before the call (this can include writing, your query, a synopsis, or any combination thereof, with material from up to two separate projects, if you'd like to do a comparative analysis). You’ll be surprised by how much you can learn. An hourlong call with feedback on up to 5,000 words from up to three different projects is available for $399. You can add more material for a nominal charge per word.
Please note that written editing of your pages is not included. All feedback is delivered during the call. You are welcome to inquire about a call via my contact form, at the bottom of this page, or book one directly by following this link to my scheduling page.
“After 30 minutes of talking with Mary, I knew exactly what my project needed to move forward in the right direction. I knew what I was doing well and what needed shifting. It was invaluable to me to get that feedback and advice from someone so knowledgeable in the industry. I also just really enjoyed speaking with her!”
OUTLINE EDIT / $999
This novel framework editing service is one of my favorites. The transformations I see here are astounding. Maybe you’ve written part of a manuscript but you’re hitting some stumbling blocks, or maybe you’re itching to start writing but you don’t know where to begin. You come to me and say, “I have this book idea. I think it’s really great. But I don’t know if it’s worth pursuing. Is there a story here? Is this project worth sinking the next year of my life into?” Sure, there may be times when an idea doesn’t have a lot going on. If that’s the case, I’ll tell you gently and there’s no charge. More often than not, though, there is something to the idea that’s in your head. But how do you make your brainstorm into a compelling story that’s worth transforming into a manuscript?
With this service, I will ask you for a long outline of your idea, where you go chapter-by-chapter and describe your plot and character development in detail. I’ll do a developmental edit that will highlight areas to work on, themes to nurture, and sections that have or lack potential. I’ll give you customized next steps to get you writing in the right direction from the very beginning, and we’ll set some goals and checkpoints. The outline maximum length is 20 double-spaced pages at this price. Longer outlines will incur an additional fee. Alternately, we can work on your outline for three revisions of back-and-forth feedback and questions, so that you create a truly robust road map for your idea. Three rounds is the Outline Overhaul service, and is discounted per round of feedback to a $2,499 bundle price. Other services and editing can be added on, depending on your needs.
NOVEL OVERVIEW / $400 AND UP
With the Overview, I will read your complete or partial manuscript and then put it together in a summary report full of big, big picture feedback. If you have a known problem with your project, if you're unsure about a few aspects, like narrative arc, or if you just want to talk in broad terms about your work, this is a great way to avoid the cost of in-depth line editing. It's an ideal way to receive professional feedback on a manuscript in the early stages, too. Know your strengths and liabilities at the beginning of your writing process, rather than learning about them a few years down the road. The service is appropriate for manuscripts 10,000 words or longer, and is assessed at a charge of $.04/word. As an example, I would charge $400 for a 10,000 word manuscript, or $2,000 for a 50,000 word manuscript. If you are interested in this service, please inquire with your word count, and describe known issues that you’d like for me to be aware of, if any.
“You provided the most thorough comments I’ve ever received and I appreciate how you gave me suggestions without trying to teach me a totally different way of approaching my manuscript. Your suggestions were logical and easy to digest. You gave me a clearer vision of the potential of my work.”
“I want to let you know how grateful I am that you offer this service. You’ve saved me precious time fumbling around in the dark. It’s fantastic to have such an astute close reader to help clarify my vision. As I’m sure you know, when you work on something up close for a while, you tend to lose perspective. Assumptions get forgotten, logic gets warped. It becomes all tree trunks and weeds, and no forest.”