If you work at a literary agency or book publisher…

“I have an author-client who needs help creating or perfecting a manuscript, and I don’t have the time or attention to give the project what it deserves.”

Who You Are

You’re an industry professional who works at a literary agency, book publisher, or book packager. You specialize in prescriptive or practical nonfiction in categories like health and wellness, mind/body/spirit, home and garden, business, relationships, and other topics of interest to women readers. Your work life revolves around finding experts with strong voices, unique ideas, and robust platforms that will help sell a lot of books. And right now, you have:

an author-expert with a great platform but no interest or ability in writing
a tight deadline and a manuscript in desperate need of an overhaul
an almost-there book or proposal draft but no more time or attention to give

What You’re Struggling With

Perhaps you do some editorial work, or maybe you never do…either way, the majority of your time is taken up with pursuing new projects and ushering acquired projects to market, which means lots of meetings, phone calls, research, and paperwork. You just don’t have time to do more than a couple rounds of development on a project. You love the idea of discovering the next big bestseller, but too often you find that the would-be authors with the right platforms simply don’t have the writing skills or the time necessary to create a strong, engaging proposal or manuscript. Sometimes the idea is there, but little else. You feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to accomplish everything you want to do for your existing authors, let alone new clients. More and more, you find yourself looking for projects that are “print-ready,” which leaves you feeling a little sad…you’ve had to pass on a number of projects with excellent potential because they needed more help than you are able to give.

Worse, you may recently have had a project come in that was in far poorer shape than you anticipated. The author, for various reasons, simply wasn’t able to deliver a manuscript ready for production or submission. It needs a complete overhaul, and you don’t have the time to do it. You don’t want to cancel the book or turn away the client, but you certainly can’t move forward with what they’ve given you.

How I Can Help

What you want right now is a seasoned professional who knows what it takes to create a great book, someone who can take your author or manuscript draft in hand and guide the process toward perfection. You need someone to make you look good, someone who is pleasant to work with and will reduce your aggravation, not add to it. But you want more than just a skilled worker—you need a reliable ally who understands the publishing process inside and out and who is sensitive to your needs and your authors’. Someone with experience on both sides of the desk. Someone who can craft a compelling book proposal and content that keeps audiences reading while informing and instructing them. Someone who can see the shining gems amidst the morass of material sitting on your desk, pluck them out, and make the book work.

With a background in Big Five publishing and several written books under my belt, I’m the perfect person to collaborate with your author, doctor your manuscript, or edit your draft and guide it toward its highest potential. I have a few programs and services designed with you in mind, including:

Ghostwriting/Collaborating includes:

choosing the best idea for your author-client’s biz right now
assessment of any existing material in relation to your goals
creating a structure that effectively conveys you author-client’s message to her ideal reader
developing her principles and practices into a detailed table of contents and outline
help creating illustrative anecdotes, exercises, and instruction anyone can follow
a professionally written, bestseller-quality manuscript in your author-client’s preferred voice
exploration of content repurposing options so the book works harder for everyone

NOTE: I only write custom book proposals for projects on which I am the ghostwriter or collaborator. If you’d like your book proposal draft evaluated or edited, please check out The Writer’s Ally, my editorial services business.

Book Doctoring includes:

assessment of your existing manuscript in relation to your goals
identifying weak points and creating a plan to address them
ensuring the book’s structure effectively conveys its message to your ideal reader
reorganization and recharacterization of material as necessary
guidance in adding new content to bolster the overall reading experience
light to moderate rewriting and line editing to tighten, clarify, and polish content

Developmental Editing:

If you have a completed manuscript or book proposal and want some professional feedback or editing for your author-client, please check out The Writer’s Ally, my editorial services business.

Contact me today to discuss your needs and find out how I can help you make your book project a painless success.

Interested in learning more? I’d love to hear about your project so we can determine if working together is a good fit.