WRITING AND PUBLISHING SUPPORT SERVICES FREE MANUSCRIPT ASSESSMENT

Send me a ten-page sample of your work, by e-mail or snail mail, along with a brief description of the whole project, and I will e-mail you a one- to two-page assessment along with an estimate of what I’d charge to work on it with you. If I think someone else might better suit your needs, I’ll offer to refer you to them.

EDITING

Send me a description of your requirements, along with a sample. I will return an estimate of my fee. That will vary, according to how much substantive editing (for style and content), copy-editing (for grammar, punctuation, syntax, consistency, etc.), and proofreading is needed. The fee scale will differ for commercial and creative work. Note, too, that with creative work, I favour an interactive rather than authoritarian approach. Meetings, long e-mail messages or phone calls may then be desirable, though these could involve extra cost.

BOOK PACKAGING

A particular specialty of mine is helping an author shape and refine a manuscript to make it ready to be accepted by a publisher, or else presented to a typographer/ designer after prior acceptance. My services are tailored to the individual, and could include help in finding a publisher, involvement in the production of the book itself (anywhere from proofreading to obtaining back cover blurbs), and/or publicity and promotion. I would start with a sample but would want to confer with the author and see the entire work-in-progress before giving an estimate. Fees could range from $500 to $800, depending on how far along the manuscript is, and on the range of services provided. I offer similar services for chapbooks at a lower cost.

MENTORING/TUTORING

I welcome opportunities to guide emerging poets and other writers in the development of their craft and toward discovering new ways to express their talents: including readings, performance, desktop publishing, and multi-media. I favour brainstorming and lateral thinking just as much as close attention to detail. All this is possible in face-to-face meetings, via e-mail, or a combination. For someone enrolled in a creative writing course and/or attending a workshop or other writers’ group, informal tutoring could be a vital supplement. Some writers may prefer flexible one-on-one sessions, customized for their unique needs, to being tied to a classroom. If interested, send me a ten-page sample and an outline of what you are looking for.

CONSULTING

Writers of all sorts can benefit from informed, personalized advice on how to diversify and strengthen their work in various ways, how to get it published, and how to promote the finished product. I am aware of, and have connections with, many courses, workshops, reading series, writers’ organizations, publishers, venues, editing services, and other resources across Canada (not all of them widely known), in whose directions I could very selectively point. Give me a sense of the nature of your project and where you want to go with it, and I’ll give you recommendations and leads.

Copyright Aeolus House 2005