Author Services

I do not publish many books. I have no desire to be Houghton-Mifflin or Random House. I am, however, committed to publishing good books, books I enjoy reading, books that can and often do win literary awards. I enjoy working closely with my author through the entire process. And, unless I have been involved at the ground floor-level, I do not offer publishing or promotional services to anyone.

I edit autobiography and memoir. I am especially interested in African American and Jewish American stories. I love editing sci-fi. Max Brand is my favorite author, so, my friends, I tend to like a quick pace. I enjoy editing how-to. My love of editing poetry, I’m sure, is because I am a from-the-cradle Episcopalian, reared on the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, and the cadence of Morning Prayer and the Communion service. Above all, in an author, I value originality. Originality above all else. If you were the first or the only, I get it. I’d love to hear your story. 

There are a couple of non-negotiables about working with me. Five non-negotiables, actually. First, I do not use the so-called “singular ‘they.'” Second, I always use a serial comma. Frankly, speaking of punctuation and grammar, I consider myself a subject-matter expert about American English best practices, so it’s my way or the highway when it comes to every punctuation mark and grammar decision in your book. Third, I am a terrible snob about what I read. Terrible. I do not read “trash.” I do not read manuscripts I consider to be in poor taste, which typically includes manuscripts with gratuitously violent and/or sexual content. Fourth, if you think that success as an author is just going to fall in your lap and that you won’t need to do the serious, heavy lifting required to publish an excellent book and then promote it, we are not a good fit. Fifth, no AI. No “ghostwriting.” Anything beyond spell check and simple Photoshop is cheating. Cheating. If you disagree with any of my five deal-breakers, we are not a good fit.

Oh, I thought of #6. No drama. I understand that drama can “come upon you” during the editing/publishing process, but if you have drama now, right now, we are not a good fit. No divas. No wimps. Publishing is not for the faint of heart. 

The Reading (and the fee!). At this point, though, assuming you’re okay with items 1-6, what you probably need is my most basic service: The Reading. If you are an author or aspiring author and are interested in a serious, no-nonsense, early-stage editorial evaluation of your manuscript, to get a feel for where you are on your publishing “journey,” please get in touch. I charge a reading fee of $2200 to evaluate a 12,000- to 15,000-word manuscript, and I provide the author with clear, actionable advice about characters, plot, pace, sentence structure, and word choice, and, sometimes, offer marketing insights for use down the road, which could include the wording of the title and chapters, book layout, book cover, and illustrations, as well as my opinions about wide-ranging promotional activities, which could include website development, advice about literary competitions, and social media and book tour strategies. This is not at all a final edit. Nope, all I’m doing is taking the pulse of your manuscript to make sure it’s alive. The Reading is no substitute for my full-blown editorial and publishing process. And, besides, I might not want to work with you; I might think we aren’t a good fit. I have to read the manuscript first! If, however, I am interested in publishing your book, I will offer you a “Proposal to Publish,” and, if accepted, I will take the reading fee right off the top of the cost.

My process. I typically do four paper edits with my client, then two proof copy edits before we publish. I am old-school, people. I love paper. And, while we are editing like crazy, I’m cleaning up your illustrations, building a website, designing your book cover, writing your back-of-the-book matter, tweaking chapter titles, preparing your Amazon presence…and always conferring with you. We are working together to build a little author empire. I will put you to work, too, and will design a book tour for you, with newspaper coverage of your in-person speaking events and lectures. It’s a lot of work, no doubt, but it’s really fun. Being a published author is all about lifelong learning, because I guarantee you that you’ll be a better writer after working with me than you were when we started. A better writer, and you’ll know your way around a semicolon, too. How cool is that?

There is no cookie-cutter way to publish a book. If someone offers you a “package,” run. All authors are different. All manuscripts are different. However, my process has been proven to work, again and again and again. My process ensures that your book will be as great as it possibly can be, is so good that it is the recipient of literary awards and/or Five-Star reviews, and that each author is a better writer after working with me.